That brings to more than 20 the number of medical schools that in recent years have launched such programs, with night education courses for the public on the latest scientific and medical advances. For six weeks beginning this month, top UCSF faculty members will teach the two-hour classes. Professors slated for lectures include Nobel Laureate J. Michael Bishop, MD, a famed cancer researcher who codiscovered how normal genes can be converted to cancer genes, and Daniel H. Lowenstein, MD, professor of neurology, who has won numerous national teaching honors. UCSF isn't offering its mini-medical school to make money. Pioneered in 1990 at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, mini-medical schools have become hugely popular with the public.
Some schools also offer courses on alternative medicine, diet and nutrition, and geriatric care.
Other mini-medical schools are offered at the University of Florida, the University of Tennessee, the Medical College of Virginia, the University of Texas at Houston and Emory University. All Rights Reserved.