The Stanford Mini Med School: A Free Course Now Online

in Science, Stanford | January 20th, 2010 15 Comments

Starting this past fall, Stanford’s School of Medicine and Stanford Continuing Studies (my day job) teamed up to offer The Stanford Mini Med School. Featuring more than thirty distinguished faculty, scientists, and physicians, this yearlong series of courses (three in total) offers students a dynamic introduction to the world of human biology, health and disease, and the groundbreaking changes taking place in medical research and health care. 250 lifelong learners (like yourself) attended the first course on Stanford’s campus this fall. And you can now access it on iTunes. We’ve posted the first two lectures (in video), and eight more lectures will soon be coming online. (Update: You can now find the videos on the Stanford Med School web site, and on YouTube.) Below, I’ve added the course description for the fall course, and you can also find it listed in the Biology Section of our ever-growing collection of Free Online Courses. When the winter and spring courses arrive, I’ll be sure to give you a heads up.

This Fall, the Stanford Mini Med School will get started with a journey inside human biology. We will start by familiarizing ourselves with the world of very small things. We will take a close look at DNA, stem cells, and microbes, and see how these and other small players form the building blocks of the human body. This will allow us to understand how human organs develop (and can also regenerate), how our nervous and immune systems work, and how diseases can afflict us. From there, the course will move beyond the individual and take a more global view of health. How do pandemics take shape? How does the environment affect our collective health? And how can we finally implement a healthcare system that makes sense for our nation? Various experts from the Stanford School of Medicine will address these and other big picture questions during the first course in the Stanford Mini Med School.

For a description of the current Mini Med School course (which we will eventually post online) please


Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via emailShare on LinkedInShare on TumblrSubmit to StumbleUponSubmit to reddit

by | Permalink | Comments (15) |

Comments (15)
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
  1. ML Cohen says . . . | January 21, 2010 / 5:23 am

    Dan, I am a huge fan of your blog (it is one of the very few that I follow). As a Med School professor, I was looking forward to checking out the Stanford Mini Med School. Unfortunately, my commitment to open education (please see website, above) does not include iTunes, precluding my ability to benefit from this resource. I do very much enjoy those resources that I can access independent of iTunes. Thanks, and keep up the great work!

  2. Dan Colman says . . . | January 21, 2010 / 8:57 am

    ML,

    Thanks for your note. As I mentioned in the post, the videos will be available on YouTube soon. And hopefully those will be more to your liking.

    Regards,
    Dan

  3. ML Cohen says . . . | January 22, 2010 / 12:31 am

    Dan,

    We’ve gotten quite a number of requests for audio files, as many students like to listen in the car (as do I). Will there be an opportunity to access audio downloads sans iTunes?

    Thanks again, MLC

  4. Channery says . . . | February 15, 2012 / 8:15 am

    I read your post and wished I was good enuogh to write it

  5. burhanuddin says . . . | August 21, 2012 / 11:34 pm

    i am in Nangarhar medical faculty in second class i want to attend anatomy and physiology free courses

  6. burhanuddin says . . . | August 21, 2012 / 11:35 pm

    i want to attend free anatomy and physiogy classes

  7. Richard kwame Ahuntor says . . . | November 1, 2012 / 10:27 am

    i want to offer one of your free onliñe medical course and i just graduated as a physician assistant.

  8. Dr Prince Kelechi Ihekoronye says . . . | November 3, 2012 / 7:40 pm

    Keep up with the good works. I will like to offer free courses in obstetrics and gynecology if available.

  9. Ruth Williams says . . . | November 17, 2012 / 2:59 am

    I really wish to enter ur school

  10. Dr Prince Kelechi Ihekoronye says . . . | December 7, 2012 / 12:53 pm

    THE NEED FOR IMPROVED MEDICAL CARE AND QUALITY HEALTH CARE DELIVERY TO ESPECIALLY PEOPLE IN THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES CANNOT BE OVER EMPHASIZED.SUCH PROGRAMS BECOME SINE QUA NON TO ENLIGHTENING HEALTH PRACTIONERS ON WAYS THIS COULD BE ACHIEVED.KEEP UP WIT THE GOOD WORKS.

  11. ramana says . . . | January 10, 2013 / 9:08 pm

    My heartfelt appreciation for these courses.
    The generous efforts of all of you at Tuft Med
    in presenting/extending these precious and
    unique gifts of knowledge to all the unreached
    in this world, would go a long way in enhancing
    the status of health and quality of life.Congrats!

  12. ramana says . . . | January 10, 2013 / 9:22 pm

    My heartfelt appreciation for these courses.
    The generous efforts of all of you at Stanford Mini Med
    in presenting/extending these precious and
    unique gifts of knowledge to all the unreached
    in this world, would go a long way in enhancing
    the status of health and quality of life.Congrats!

  13. michael says . . . | May 5, 2013 / 8:05 am

    I am Michael, I dropped out of the university at my final year I studied biochemistry, I wud to enroll and study some of your free medical courses

  14. Jackson says . . . | May 7, 2013 / 11:57 am

    I would enjoy knowing more about your Med course line-up. Anything to do with seniors, aging, care management, adaptive devices, caregiving, leaders in their homes*

    Thanks!
    *info@seniorcare-management-products.com

  15. brender dennis says . . . | May 16, 2013 / 5:14 pm

    Would love to take this class

Add a comment

  • Subscribe

    Get updates as soon as they go live, via RSS feed, email and now Twitter!

    Follow on Twitter

    Get the latest from our Twitter Stream.

    Why can't we be friends?

    Suggest a Link

    Got a link we should post? Send it our way!

  • About Us

    Open Culture editor Dan Colman scours the web for the best educational media. He finds the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & movies you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.

  • Advertise on Open Culture

    Open Culture receives about 2.8 million visits per month and has over 275,000 social media and rss followers. Get your message in front of our smart, savvy audience today.

Quantcast