This course introduces the exciting basic science that underlies modern medicine, and shows how we use that knowledge to understand medicine today. The course is designed for the general public, including high school students, who are interested in learning more about how the body works. There are no prerequisites. We want to help people take a more active role in their own wellness, and talk effectively with their healthcare providers.
Many who have taken Mini Medical School have gone on to careers in the health care professions. It's a chance to see how medicine is developing: what progress is being made, what the big challenges are that still remain, and the sort of subjects that are taught in a major School of Medicine.
The course is arranged in seven Modules. Most of us will be able to move through the course at the rate of one Module per week. The course will remain open for a few weeks after 20 November 2017 so people who joined late, or want to spend more time, will be able to complete it.
Each Module consists of 8 or 9 Units, video presentations which average about 6 minutes, so they easily fit into busy schedules. Complete transcripts of each Unit are provided; these are especially helpful for people whose main language is not English. There are links to fascinating (and sometimes very funny!) sites that may interest you. An optional quiz is available at the end of each Module. A Certificate of Completion is given to all who complete all course Units.
There is a very active Discussion Forum for each Module where you can ask questions, make comments, and interact with your classmates and University of Colorado students and faculty. All Discussion Forums will remain open as we move through the Modules, though most of the activity will, of course, be in the Forum relating to the current week's content.
OBJECTIVES
- Participants will learn that they can talk productively with a health care provider if they insist on a conversation in everyday language.
- They will learn enough to help make well-informed decisions about illness, wellness, and life-style choices.
- They will continue to seek out reliable and up-to-date information in order to make better decisions in the future.
- They will become active in their communities in promoting decisions that increase wellness and appropriate health-care services.
- Those who are thinking about careers in health care will have a better idea of the breadth, scope, and excitement of the field, to help them make their plans.
