The Conditioning of our Youth

This was a very good conversation about the conditioning of our youth between Mr Morgan and Mr Jackson. I encourage all to take a moment to view this clip

If you believe then anything is possible...

Mini-medical schools helping people age in better health

This is a very good story about the teaching others to tend for themselves.... Self-empowerment

This story is taken from Sacbee / Medical News


Mini-medical schools helping people age in better health
acreamer@sacbee.com

PUBLISHED TUESDAY, OCT. 18, 2011


Dr. Michael McCloud started off thinking small. He expected only a handful of people to show up in early 2002 for what he thought would be a one-time series of classes on healthy aging, his spin on the growing "mini-medical school" concept.

In general, mini-medical schools – a public outreach program with a catchy name – provide classroom sessions on the health sciences for laypeople. Universities across the country have used them primarily to showcase their institutional research.

McCloud, a UC Davis Medical Center geriatrician, liked the mini-medical school idea, but wanted to finesse it for older adults. Classes would be free, taught by medical school faculty members. At the end of the series, participants would receive diplomas.

He just hoped enough people would sign up for classes on aging that he could fill the 150-seat Maidu Community Center meeting room in Roseville.

"We put some posters up around the retirement communities in Roseville and Rocklin, and within two weeks, more than 200 people enrolled," McCloud said.

In all, 510 people attended his first mini-medical school – and over the past decade, more than 3,500 Sacramento region residents, ranging in age from 23 to 92 and including more than a few people interested in careers related to gerontology, have graduated.

"I have no idea why this has struck a chord," McCloud said. "It's a surprise it's still going strong. I thought it was a one-time event."

With the 10th anniversary season approaching of what's become "Aging and Medical Science: A Mini Medical School to Prepare for Life's Second Half," the program teaches its students what normal aging is and how to deal with a range of older-age medical problems – and it emboldens them to speak up to their own physicians. Enrollment for the six-class 2012 session, which takes place on the main UC Davis campus, begins Nov. 1.

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 70 universities in 34 states and three countries – including Malta – are now home to mini-medical schools. Nationally, the UC Davis program is one of the few that specializes in the medical aspects of growing older.

Stanford University's mini-medical program this fall covers human biology. The current Georgetown University sessions deal with general medicine, including gross anatomy and hypertension. At the University of Iowa, participants are learning about cutting-edge medical research.

Some critics dismiss the mini-medical school concept, born in 1989 at the University of Colorado, as merely a public relations tool for medical school faculty members. But at medical schools across the country, enrollment has soared, with sessions filling up rapidly.

Fred Harrold, an 85-year-old retired car dealer, thinks he knows why the UC Davis Mini Medical School program is so popular.

"The value for older people is, you read all of these ads for this pill and that pill," said Harrold, who enrolled in the classes three years ago. "Maybe a lot of things seem obvious to the educated person. But the doctors straighten you out on what to watch out for.

"The classes don't seem dumbed down too much for the students. And the message isn't as simplistic as, 'Eat your vegetables and you'll be healthy.' "

Besides, a rapidly aging population is eager to learn what to expect as it grows older: what can be prevented and what might go wrong along the way.

McCloud changes the curriculum each year – the 2012 session will include classes on digestive health after age 50 and the science of sleep – and, if donor support allows it, he wants to expand his mini-medical program to twice-yearly sessions that can dig deeper into issues such as medical ethics as well as aging and sexuality.

"We actually promote our mini-medical school more to the pre-senior, because there's more opportunity for us to make a difference for them," said McCloud. "If we can teach these principles to somebody who's 50, we can make sure they arrive healthy at the senior age group."

Two years ago, the National Institute on Aging drew from the UC Davis curriculum in creating its own mini-medical school series on healthy aging, geared toward its ongoing "Aging Under the Microscope" program.

Now a geriatrician from Singapore plans to be on hand for the 2012 local program, to take what she learns back to Asia.

"One of my goals is to give value to the mini-medical school diploma, so that health insurance will give special rates to people who've received one," said McCloud. "It would be just like the reduced car insurance rates for people who take senior safe-driving classes."


© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

all that matters is what's within... everything else is nominal.

SELF REFLECTION & PERSONAL ACCOLADES...

The last week of medical school has been very difficult for me to adjust to. It had nothing to do with academia but everything to do with unnecessary conflicts between three of my classmates and myself. Unfortunately, first impressions are so defining and my first impression to these three individuals was so bad that they are still judging me off of that interaction three months later. They are labeling me as overly aggressive and confrontational simply because I was unwilling to accept another one of our classmates to bully one of the less assertive members of our student council. I must admit, it is never good to address aggression with aggression and I am now suffering from that interaction... This moment in life has allowed me to reassess my position and think of possible ways for me to better handle similar situations in the future. Although I cannot accept individuals that may seem dominant to use that appearance to force less aggressive, and sometimes docile, individuals to do what they want, simply because they know that those individuals may not stand up for themselves.... Bullying is never an option... never.

On a better note, I was just given an $11,000 scholarship from my school!!! Although this does not pay my entire tuition, it is a great step in the right direction. I’m hoping that I can accumulate additional $50,000 in scholarships before the school year is out and possibly $200,000 in scholarships before I graduate. I also received my grades from the first Block of school and I Aced it!!! If I keep this up then there will be no reason why I will not be able to get more scholarships.

Nobel Prize (Medicine) given a few days too late.

The Nobel Prize committee just announced the winners of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine and the award went to three scientist in which one died a few days prior to this announcement. I guess some people may view this as bittersweet but that would just make me bitter. think about it, You spent your entire career trying to reach the pinnacle and to the moment you reach that echelon it occurs post-mortem. This is a feat that I hope I never have to encounter. I would love to be able to embrace my accomplishments and enjoy the fruits of my labor (as any person would).

Here is the link to the article
Nobel winner died days before award announced