News Release

This fall, Johns Hopkins University is offering its annual "Mini-Med School" for people interested in learning about medical science but who don't want to take the MCATs.

"Frontiers of Medicine: A Mini-Med School," is an eight-week lecture series that offers participants the opportunity to learn about the latest breakthroughs and debates in medical science and how these issues might relate to their own health. The series is offered through the Johns Hopkins' Odyssey Program, its non-credit liberal arts program for adults, and features a line-up of speakers whose very work is making headlines.

Throughout the series, leading physicians and researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and other area institutions will provide a basic framework for understanding medical science as they talk frankly about their specialties. Topics include the use of heart catheters, genetics, stem cell research, emerging global infections like SARS, robotics in the operating room, the aging process, sleep disorders and acupuncture.

"There is an enormous amount of medical information in the news right now, so we picked subjects that are part of that discussion and show great future promise," said the program's coordinator Neal Salomon, a retired Hopkins cardio thoracic surgeon. "These are issues that are just stepping through the door, so to speak, that are in the process of being taken from clinical research into modern medical practice.

A growing trend among research universities and medical schools across the country, mini-med schools offer the public the chance to learn about developments and issues in medicine from the doctors and researchers who are working in the frontiers of their fields. The Hopkins program, now in its third year, is modeled after a successful lecture series developed by the National Institute of Health ten years ago.

In addition to the lecture series, Hopkins' Odyssey Programs offers courses from a wide range of subjects -- art, music, science, literature, politics, popular culture and others. Odyssey also has programs in environmental studies, aging, foreign languages, and creative writing as part of an extensive curriculum designed to provide professional development and personal enrichment. Some 130 courses and lecture series are offered annually.

The series begins Tuesday, Oct. 7 and costs $99 for the eight-week session. For more information, call 410-516-4842 or visit www.odyssey.jhu.edu.