Indeed, it was Flanders herself, after hearing one of Cohen's lectures in Colorado, who convinced the University to adopt the project. Steinert didn't need much convincing. There's a great need in the general community for medical information. By introducing its mini-med school, McGill will be reaching out to educate the public at large, while also helping to recruit potential students. Another important outcome in launching mini-med courses, Cohen says, is how the lectures provide health educators with an opportunity to talk about their profession in lay terms.
People crave the opportunity to use their brains and medicine is always of interest to everyone.
Having followed one of Cohen's lectures on the human body, Flanders agrees the mini-med teaching method is informative. On the latter point, Flanders explains, McGill is leaning towards charging a nominal fee. The idea being that if the University charges, people will be more inclined to follow the series the whole way through. But those are mere details, Flanders says. What we'd like to see is for our mini-med school to go on not just for one year, but for years to come, since it's an effective way of informing the public about what McGill does.