For people with a keen interest in modern medical issues or who wish they had gone to medical school but never got the chance, the Pitt School of Medicine’s Mini-Medical School program provides an opportunity to explore timely topics in health care from an academic perspective.

Mini-Medical School returns for its eighth year with a new lineup of free public presentations on healthcare trends by top faculty experts. The 2006 Mini-Medical School theme is “Medicine in the Media.”

“Every year since 1999, this highly popular program has provided hundreds of participants with interesting and relevant information in a relaxed, informal setting—plus a taste of what real medical school is like,” said Mini-Medical School coordinator Margaret C. McDonald, Pitt associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for the health sciences. “Giving people a chance to hear from and interact with local experts engaged in first-class healthcare delivery makes medicine real for participants. It also provides them with new knowledge for managing their personal health care.”

All sessions are scheduled from 7-8:30 p.m. in Auditorium 6 of Scaife Hall.

This year’s program features the following sessions:

April 18—“Making Medical Headlines” will look at medical news and how to distinguish reliable information from the dubious variety. Panelists: Lisa Rossi, associate director of the UPMC News Bureau; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette medical writer Anita Srikameswaran; KDKA-TV News reporter Mary Robb Jackson; and Brian Primack, associate professor in the medical school’s Department of Family Medicine.

May 2—“Weight Loss: How to Be the Biggest Loser” will explore weight loss in children and adults, problems of obesity, and shedding pounds safely and effectively. Panelists: David E. Kelley, Pitt professor of medicine, and Goutham Rao, visiting assistant professor in the University’s Department of Family Medicine.

May 16—“Outbreak: Emerging Infectious Diseases” will deal with topics straight from the headlines: the threat of deadly infectious diseases, what can be done to control them, and how to protect against them. Panelists: Lee H. Harrison, professor of infectious diseases; Andrea Gambotto, assistant professor in Pitt’s surgery department and Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry; and Simon Barratt-Boyes, assistant professor of immunology.

May 30—“Makeover: From the Everyday to the Extreme” will address trends in plastic and reconstructive surgery, the first partial face transplant, and other recent advances and safety concerning elective cosmetic procedures. Panelists: W.P. Andrew Lee, professor and chief of the medical school’s Division of Plastic Surgery, and Kenneth C. Shestak, associate professor of plastic surgery.

June 13—“When Good Drugs Go Bad” will explain what happens when drugs fail to perform as expected—or, worse, are found to be downright dangerous—and how the drugs made it to the market in the first place. Panelists: John S. Lazo, Allegheny Foundation Professor in the medical school’s Department of Pharmacology and director of the University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, and Barry I. Gold, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Pitt’s School of Pharmacy.

June 27—“Learning from the Dead” will take a page from popular TV shows like CSI and Bones and examine the kinds of medical evidence that can be gleaned from the human body after death. Panelists: Lawrence Nichols, assistant professor in the medical school’s Department of Pathology; John B. Schumann, associate professor of neurobiology; and John R. Wible, curator of mammals at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Preregistration is required and can be done online at www.minimed.pitt.edu or by calling 412-647-UPMC (9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays) and selecting option 1. Participants may preregister for individual sessions or for the entire series. Complimentary parking is available. An informal reception will follow each session.