Have you ever wondered what sort of role artificial intelligence could play in healthcare? Do you want to know more about the new Canadian alcohol use guidelines? Are you curious about various skin conditions and concerns?
Join medical students Michael Smith (IMP Class of 2026) and Derek Anderson (Vancouver Fraser Medical Program Class of 2026) as they address these varied topics and more in their Mini Med School lecture series.
Everyone is welcome to attend any or all the series’ six talks, which will be held virtually on Saturday mornings between November 2023 and February 2024. The dates and topics are as follows:
Nov. 18, 2023 @ 9 a.m. — New Canadian Alcohol Use Guidelines
Nov. 25, 2023 @ 9 a.m. — Accessing a Family Doctor in BC
Jan. 13, 2024 @ 9 a.m. — Skin: Conditions and Concerns
Jan. 20, 2024 @ 9 a.m. — Depression in the Elderly
Feb. 3, 2024 @ 9 a.m. — Ozempic and other GLP-1 Agonists
Feb. 10, 2024 @ 9 a.m. — Artificial Intelligence in Health Care
When it came to choosing presentation topics, Michael says, “the decision came down to a combination of diversifying from what previous Mini Med School programs have presented on – which involved including what we feel is relevant for our target audience of people aged 55 and older – and focusing on what are some current events and issues today that people may be curious about. Subjects such as accessing a family doctor in BC and the new 2023 Canadian alcohol use guidelines meet all these criteria as they are new, informative, and current!”
Each lecture will last 1 – 1.5 hours, with additional time for questions at the end.
To register for any or all of these lectures, please fill out this registration form. Zoom links and other instructions will be provided via email after registration. Please register no later than 24 hours before your desired talk(s) to ensure you receive the meeting information. All of the Mini Med School talks will also be recorded and posted online for the public to view. You can access the recording on Dr. Gair’s website under “Student Presentations” → “2023 – 2024 Presentations.”
If interested, attendees can fill out this optional survey before the lecture series. The data collected will help Michael and Derek with their research on whether Mini Med School is an effective platform for answering participants’ health questions. “With the state of primary care in BC, having medical questions answered by a doctor directly can be difficult. We want to know if our participants can have their questions answered during our lectures,” says Michael.
“We feel they [participants] will be more likely to have questions about relevant and new health care topics,” he adds. “We are excited to present all our topics since we feel that we can attract a diverse audience who all may benefit from the content we cover and from having their questions answered.”
Participants will also be invited to fill out post-lecture surveys. Anyone who views the lectures asynchronously on their own time can still opt to complete the pre- and post-lecture surveys if they wish.
For more information, please contact the Mini Med School team at uvicminimed@gmail.com. This project is sponsored by Dr. Jane Gair. She may be reached at jgair@uvic.ca.