School Violence Addressed At Mini-Med School

Richard Harding, M.D., speaking at a session of the School of Medicine’s Mini-Med School

“Do you ever remember being afraid in school?” Dr. Richard Harding, chair, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, and the evening’s speaker, prefaced his address with a question to the audience. Speaking on the topic of “Are Our Schools Safe?” he recalled, “When I was a kid it never entered my wildest imagination that there could be guns, knives or bombs in middle school or high school.” Yet as Dr. Harding detailed in a one-hour presentation, violence, even deadly violence, is a very real threat for today’s children and a serious public health problem.

Dr. Harding was not originally slated as a speaker, yet called on as a replacement for Dr. Donna Schwartz-Watts, an associate professor in his department who got tied up providing medical testimony in a court case. His ease with taking over her lecture and the audience’s interested queries during the 30-minute question and answer period proved the evening to be quite a success despite the change in speakers.

“Are Our Schools Safe?” was one of a lineup of six sessions offered in the 2003 Mini-Med School. An educational outreach program for the community, USC’s Mini-Med School provides Midlands residents with an opportunity to learn about timely health and social issues. Offered for the past three years on the School of Medicine campus, the free program has included such topics as “Diabetes: Too Sweet For Your Own Good,” “Colon Cancer Screening- A Movie You Don’t Want To Miss,” and “What’s That Pain I Feel – Gallbladder, Appendix Or What?” Participants are welcome to pick and choose from the selection of classes, held on six consecutive Tuesday nights in the fall, or register for them all. “Not only are there people who attend all the sessions, but some who have come all three years,” said Director of Development DyAnne Dunham, whose office coordinates the program annually.

In offering the Mini-Med School, the School of Medicine is in company with over 70 medical schools, universities, research institutions and hospitals in more than 35 states across the nation. The local program has become so popular that it’s not unusual for the classes to fill to the limit the auditorium will hold.

Retiree Kay White attended the Mini-Med School for her second consecutive year. “At my age you experience or foresee a lot of medical problems. This is a way to learn more about health outside the doctor’s office,” she said. Dr. Carol McMahon, assistant dean for Minority Affairs and assistant professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, served with Dr. Jamee Lucas as a 2003 Mini-Med School dean. She sees White’s interest in educating herself as a growing trend. “People are hungry for information about ways they can improve their own health and thereby their lives,” she said.

Feeding the public’s quest for information is a task the Mini-Med School takes seriously, putting considerable thought into the specific selections to be offered and the faculty chosen to deliver them. “We knew that to be successful we needed timely, interesting topics,” said Dr. Tan Platt, associate professor, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, and a Mini-Med School dean for two years with Dr. Phil Watson. “We also knew that we had to present the topics in an informative and entertaining way that the lay public could easily understand,” he added.

In addition to equipping participants with useful medical information, the Mini-Med School serves a dual purpose of providing education about the medical school. “It gives us the opportunity to showcase the fine quality of the school,” said Dr. McMahon, who introduced each session and provided audiences with highlights of the medical school’s history since its inception in 1977. “We want people to know that despite our youth we have come a long way and produced a fine product,” she said.

Participants’ comments on feedback sheets indicate a high level of satisfaction with the program. “We get a lot of compliments on how well it is organized,” said Dunham, who readily hands over credit to her staff, Debbie Truluck and Susan Greer, who plan and carry out the myriad of arrangements for the Mini-Med School. “It’s a six-month process from the time we identify our deans to the end of the last session in which participants receive graduation certificates and T-shirts,” she said.

While Mini-Med School participants enjoy a learning experience in a relaxed environment, the School of Medicine embraces the successful mode of community outreach. “If we can provide local residents with resources to make them better informed health consumers, then it’s a win-win for everyone,” said Dr. Platt. “We get to provide a public service and they get to learn about the medical school as well,” he said.

Reprinted from Connections newsletter, March 2004

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