No, I didn’t go to medical school. I haven’t taken medical boards. Probably the last formal science courses I took were 9th biology and 10th grade chemistry. Graduate school focused on health care and research. Yet, because I manage the Johns Hopkins Medicine annual women’s health conference--A Woman's Journey--and am fortunate enough to interact with some of the world’s leading physicians, my family, friends and their friends call me for medical advice.
Weekly, I field telephone calls and emails: How should they treat a growing list of ailments? Which treatment option has better outcomes? Who is the best expert? How many international units of Vitamin D should they take? Should pathology reports be overread? or Does a patient need a second opinion? Many times I am able to confidently refer friends to the right specialist. Most times I remind them of the shortcomings of my “medical education.” And, always, I urge them to attend A Woman’s Journey so they can learn and personally question the real experts.
Before the conference in November, sign up for the Woman’s Journey monthly e-mail which contains reports of relevant medical advances from Hopkins. It’s a good way to learn about health care hopefully before we need it. Take it from me; this is good advice.
Leslie
Showing posts with label medical school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical school. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, October 23, 2009
The Power of Women
October 23, 2009: Mary Elizabeth Garrett
Yesterday I had the pleasure of touring The Anne and Michael Armstrong Medical Education Building, the new home of medical student education at Johns Hopkins. The building is beautiful: a glass atrium, center staircase, digital classrooms and an advanced anatomy lab to usher in a new era of medical education. The expansive halls exhibit portraits of Hopkins Nobel prize winners, men and women who made medical history and outstanding donors of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
A life-size copy of John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Mary Elizabeth Garrett caught my eye. In the late 1800’s Ms. Garrett, a strong advocate for women and a family friend of Mr. Johns Hopkins, organized the national “Women’s Medical School Fund.” This campaign sought to raise the remaining funds necessary to open the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In the end, it was Ms. Garrett’s personal gift that achieved the campaign goal enabling the completion of the School of Medicine. The women’s gifts, however, were contingent upon a pledge that the School of Medicine would admit women and provide women the opportunity to fully participate in clinical care, academic teaching and medical research. The trustees accepted the generous gift of Ms. Garrett and others, and in 1894 the School of Medicine opened its doors with 15 men and three women in the institution’s first medical school class.
The display speaks to Ms. Garrett’s extraordinary gift as well as her personal commitment to the advancement of women. I sometimes reflect upon the satisfaction she might have had knowing about A Woman’s Journey and the Johns Hopkins’ annual women’s health conference’s dedication to educate today’s women about advances in medicine.
Leslie
Yesterday I had the pleasure of touring The Anne and Michael Armstrong Medical Education Building, the new home of medical student education at Johns Hopkins. The building is beautiful: a glass atrium, center staircase, digital classrooms and an advanced anatomy lab to usher in a new era of medical education. The expansive halls exhibit portraits of Hopkins Nobel prize winners, men and women who made medical history and outstanding donors of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
A life-size copy of John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Mary Elizabeth Garrett caught my eye. In the late 1800’s Ms. Garrett, a strong advocate for women and a family friend of Mr. Johns Hopkins, organized the national “Women’s Medical School Fund.” This campaign sought to raise the remaining funds necessary to open the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In the end, it was Ms. Garrett’s personal gift that achieved the campaign goal enabling the completion of the School of Medicine. The women’s gifts, however, were contingent upon a pledge that the School of Medicine would admit women and provide women the opportunity to fully participate in clinical care, academic teaching and medical research. The trustees accepted the generous gift of Ms. Garrett and others, and in 1894 the School of Medicine opened its doors with 15 men and three women in the institution’s first medical school class.
The display speaks to Ms. Garrett’s extraordinary gift as well as her personal commitment to the advancement of women. I sometimes reflect upon the satisfaction she might have had knowing about A Woman’s Journey and the Johns Hopkins’ annual women’s health conference’s dedication to educate today’s women about advances in medicine.
Leslie
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