New Osher Lifelong Learning Classes for the public begin at UCSF

By Michael Fortes

The public is invited to join the world’s leading experts in medicine and the health sciences at the spring quarter of UCSF’s Mini Medical School, presented by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UCSF. 

The new program begins May 8 with three courses: “Pharmacy 102 - Your Medicine, Your Health, Your Money;” “Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Integrating Care for Your Health & Wellness;” and “Brain, Mind and Behavior: A Remarkable Universe.”

OLLI Mini Medical School invites Bay Area adults to lifelong intellectual explorations in health and leading edge health sciences research. The lectures feature the same world-renowned faculty who teach UCSF students in the health professions.

The “Pharmacy 102” course will provide perspectives on breakthrough medicines, drug safety,  drug clinical trials, preventing medication errors, and drug costs. The course will be held Tuesday evenings, May 8-June 12.

The “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” course will address healthy aging, spirituality and health, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and mind-body-spirit medicine and herbs and supplements. Classes will be held Wednesday evenings, May 9-June 13.

The “Brain, Mind and Behavior” course will discuss new discoveries in brain sciences that allow us to better understand how the mind works, memory and desire, emotions and health, pain, seizures, stroke and psychiatric drugs. Classes will be held Thursday evenings, May 10-June 14.

All classes will be held on the UCSF campus, 513 Parnassus Ave, from 7:00- 8:45 pm. Each class includes a one-hour lecture followed by a question-and-answer session. Tuition is $75 for one course, $130 for two courses, and $185 for all three courses. Parking in the UCSF campus garage is $3 per evening.

For more information or to register, call the UCSF Public Affairs office at (415) 476-2557 or visit the website at www.lifelonglearning.ucsf.edu.

The complete schedule for UCSF Mini Medical School follows:

## “Pharmacy 102 - Your Medicine, Your Health, Your Money”

• May 8: ” Breakthrough Medicines” by R. W. Soller, PhD

• May 15: ” Social Change & Health Crises: The Basis for Drug Safety Today” by R. W. Soller, PhD

• May 22: “The International Crisis in Health and Drug Access: Impact on the Nation” by Brian McGee, PharmD, MS

• May 29: “Drug Studies: Who, What, When, Where, and Why” by John Flaherty, PharmD

• June 5: ” Preventing Medication Errors” by Dan Dong, PharmD

• June 12: “Pharmacoeconomics: Measuring the Value of Drug Therapy” by Chris Leibman, PharmD, MS

• Course chairs are R.W. Soller, PhD and Lorie Rice, MPH.


## “Complementary and Integrative Medicine:  Integrating Care for Your Health & Wellness”

• May 9:  “Healthy Aging:  Ways to Optimize Your Health” by Donald Abrams, MD

• May 16: “Spirituality and Health:  What Does the Medical Literature Say?” by Michael Rabow, MD

• May 23: “Mind-Body-Spirit Medicine” by Kevin Barrows, MD

• May 30: “Traditional Chinese Medicine:  Acupuncture, Meridians and Chi” by Beverly Burns, MS, LAc

• June 6:  “Ayurvedic Medicine: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times” by Sudha Prathikanti, MD

• June 13: “Herbs and Supplements 101: What Every Consumer Needs to Know” by Ellen Hughes, MD, PhD

• Course chair is Ellen Hughes, MD, PhD.


## “Brain, Mind and Behavior:  A Remarkable Universe”

• May 10: “Why Do We Give Drugs for Depression?” by Steve Hamilton, MD, PhD

• May 17: ” Mixing Memory and Desire:  The Interplay of Brain and Mind ” by Sophia Vinogradov, MD

• May 24: “Emotions and Health: The Promise of Mind-Body Medicine” by Jason Satterfield, PhD

• May 31:  “Pain and the Brain” by Allan Basbaum, PhD

• June 7: “Epilepsy: ‘The Sacred Disease’” by Daniel Lowenstein, MD

• June 14: “Management of Stroke:  New Advances” by Scott Josephson, MD

• Course chair is Marieke Kruidering-Hall, PhD.


Mini Medical School is supported in part by the Bernard Osher Foundation, and by the UCSF Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy, the UCSF Medical Center and the UCSF Public Affairs Department. 

UCSF is a leading university that advances health worldwide by conducting advanced biomedical research, educating graduate students in the life sciences and health professions, and providing complex patient care.