Hands-on learning: Gail Skeens, a mini-medical school student, examines a pig heart.
Phoenix Campus Shares a Wealth of Health Information With Arizona's Largest City
Outreach in Maricopa County has been a primary goal of the AHSC Phoenix Campus since its inception four years ago. "Through community education and outreach, we are able to serve the people of Maricopa County by opening wide the doors of the Arizona Health Sciences Center to share the wealth of health care information and expertise," says Jacqueline A. Chadwick, M.D., vice dean of the Phoenix campus.
"These programs allow us to initiate and foster an ongoing relationship among medical researchers, teachers and the general public, responding to the health care needs of the community and stimulating interest and understanding of health care challenges."
The groundwork for this important relationship is being established through some exciting programs, such as the UA Phoenix Mini-Medical School. Offered twice a year, this interactive six-course program replicates the curriculum of the UA College of Medicine. Designed for the general public, the mini-medical school aims to increase interest in biosciences and medicine and allow community members to interact with leading College of Medicine faculty members.
"Students" attend weekly lectures on everything from anatomy to neurology to cancer. Some lectures also include laboratory experiences such as dissecting pig hearts, viewing cancerous pathology samples, or examining human brain specimens.
"We believe that academic medicine has an obligation to help people better understand biomedical science and medical advances,"
Dr. Chadwick says. "This program is a unique opportunity for the general public to get firsthand information and answers regarding health care through lectures on the basics of modern medicine. We hope the program helps people understand more about everyday health care issues and news."
Courses include Anatomy: The Achy Breaky Heart; Cancer: Conquering the Conqueror; Watching the Mind at Work: Imaging the Brain; Sugar: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Your Immune System: The Fortress Within; and The Evolution of Health Care in the United States - A Panel Discussion.
"The mini-medical school is an incredible, unique experience," says Robyn DeBell, who attended the spring session. "Learning the anatomy of the heart by actually dissecting a pig heart was an unforgettable experience. I learned so much about medicine and health care through this program."
The Phoenix campus also plays a unique role in community education by hosting provocative public forums on current medical and health care issues. A recent forum on physician-assisted suicide drew nearly 600 people and featured a prestigious panel that discussed the complex and emotional aspects of the issue.
"These community-service forums provide an atmosphere in which the public can have a meaningful dialogue with local leaders who have educated opinions on specific issues,"
Dr. Chadwick says. "There appears to be a great desire from the community to participate in such events."
Coinciding with Arizona Public Health Month in April, the Phoenix campus also hosts a forum to discuss significant public health threats in Arizona, including tobacco use, tuberculosis and emerging diseases, such as hantavirus. The Phoenix campus hopes to host more forums on topics such as medicinal use of marijuana and alternative health care.
"Communicating the excitement, complexity and hope embodied in medical education, research and health care in a meaningful way may be a bridge to rejuvenating public interest in research and the sciences," Dr. Chadwick says.
"It also is a way for the Phoenix Campus to serve and partner with our community. We hope in time, the Valley truly will recognize that The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center is a campus without walls, here to serve Maricopa County and the entire state."
-By Sarah Gentry
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Hands-on learning: Gail Skeens, a mini-medical school student, examines a pig heart. |
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University Medical Center Opens Phoenix Transplant Office University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for The University of Arizona College of Medicine, has consolidated its services to transplant patients in the greater Phoenix area with a comprehensive transplant medical office. The UMC Transplant Medical Office, located at 926 E. McDowell Road, Suite 134, provides pre- and post-transplant medical care. UMC performs heart, heart-lung, single-lung, double-lung, liver, kidney and bone marrow transplants. "More than a third of our transplant patients come from Maricopa County," says Greg Pivirotto, UMC chief executive officer. "This medical office makes the entire process of transplantation easier on patients and their families." Physicians and transplant coordinators from each transplant program travel weekly to the medical office from Tucson; two additional transplant coordinators are based at the greater Phoenix-area office. The heart and lung transplant program, as well as the bone marrow transplant program already held patient appointments in Maricopa County. "There is no other place in the world I would want to get a transplant," says Scottsdale resident James B. Fleming, UMC heart transplant recipient No. 195. "Being able to do follow-up care in Phoenix makes life much easier for me and for those patients needing care before they get a transplant."
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