Mini med school: MUN opens up medical seminars to everyone

If you have an interest in medicine or if you've always wanted to take a medical course, here's your chance.

Memorial University is holding a "mini med school" for the next several weeks, and while the sessions will be held in St. John's, they'll be available across Newfoundland and Labrador through the internet. 

Dr. Vernon Curran, the associate dean of education at Memorial's Faculty of Medicine, said the program has been offered over the last four years.

"It is an opportunity for med schools to outreach to the community and to highlight and showcase the expertise and the faculty and the types of topics and areas of learning that our students learn about," he said. 

While anyone can sign up, Curran said attendees typically include high school and university students.

Seniors, too, have been coming out to the class. 

"We have lots of older folks who like to come in and continue learning," Curran said.

Variety of topics

Topics covered include what full-time medical students learn in their curriculum, and include material as diverse as X-rays and dealing with the opioid crisis. 

"We have faculty who are presenting on different topics in psychiatry such as adolescent depression," Curran said.

"We have faculty from our community health and humanities division presenting on different topics like occupational health and nutrition. We have a faculty member presenting on the use of simulation in the field of medical education." 

The sessions, which will be presented through a webcast every Wednesday night through May 10, will also be interactive, with participants allowed to ask questions of the instructor. 

The presentations will be webcast on Wednesday allowing anyone with access to a computer the ability to take part. The sessions will be interactive, with participants able to ask the instructor questions throughout the evening.

Memorial has also partnered with some provincial libraries for the project. Libraries that are open on Wednesday evenings and are able to host the webcast will provide the sessions on the library computers free of cost.

Those who would prefer to attend from their own computers or in person will be required to pay a fee, after they enrol through the medical school's website.