The Stony Brook School of Medicine at the Health Sciences Center will be running its popular “Mini-Medical School” lecture series. The series, which is open to the general public free of charge, addresses a wide array of medical and health topics. One of the topics that will be covered during the seven weeks of the Fall 2002 series is the history of Bio-terrorism and it’s relevance to current world events.
This semester’s “Mini Med School” will take place every Wednesday evening, at 7:00 PM, beginning Wednesday, Oct. 2. The lecture entitled “Bio-terrorism: Can We End Life As We Know It?”, which is scheduled to conclude the series on Nov. 13, will look into the risk of bio-terrorism and potential new lethal weapons. Dr. Peter Vicceillio, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Vice Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the School of Medicine and advisor to the New York State Legislature on bio-terrorist threats, will be presenting this final lecture.
‘Most people wish they knew more about medicine,’ said Peter C. Williams, M.D., Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Medicine. ‘This program exposes adults from all walks of life to this specialized area of knowledge in an easy-to-understand and practical format.’
Participants who attend at least six of the seven lectures will be presented with certificates of achievement at the end of the series. Attendees will also be provided with free parking and a light snack. There are no tests or grades given for the courses, which will be held in the Coller Learning Center Health Sciences Center lecture halls. Participants are required to pre-register and commit to attending the weekly two-hour sessions, however.
Dr. Williams will be opening the series with a lecture entitled ‘Dispelling Popular Myths About Your Body’. This initial lecture will provide an introduction to academic medicine by examining popular misconceptions that persist about modern scientific knowledge. Succeeding discussions will focus on such topics as vascular disease, ophthalmology, the mechanisms of pain, techniques for obtaining and evaluating health information and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’#146;s disease.
‘The public’#146;s interest in medicine and health and particularly about the leading role played by Stony Brook in these areas, is strong,’ said Norman H. Edelman, M.D., Vice President of the Health Sciences Center and Dean of the School of Medicine. ‘We are pleased to have the opportunity to educate the public in the science of medicine and the medical resources we have here at the Health Sciences Center and to make the information relevant.’
Applications for the series are due Sept. 17. For additional information or an application call (631) 444-2080.
