Amazingly, the seminars offered at mini-med school are available to the general public … free of charge. That’s right — for free! At Harvard! If you’re not familiar with how much money just one Ivy League course costs, please take my word that this “price” is a ming-boggling bargain.

Even better than that is the fact that not a single examination is administered in mini-med school. Heck, participants don’t even have to have any prior training in science or medicine. Not a lick!

By now, you might be wondering what exactly this too-good-to-be-true get-up is. Let me explain.

Mini-med school consists of four seminars offered at Harvard Medical School’s Longwood campus on two days each in March and April. All will take place in the chic and sleek Joseph B. Martin Conference Center (77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, 1-866-790-7000) from 5:30pm to 7pm, evening scheduling that gives potential participants who work full-time jobs extra incentive to attend.

Don’t let the cost-free status of the courses fool you, either. People who attend at least three of them will receive an official mini-med school Certificate of Completion, while public school teachers who attend all four become eligible to earn ten professional development points (PDPs) after submitting an assessment form for each session.

Moreover, every seminar will have several knowledgeable professionals from both Harvard Medical School and prominent, affiliated local hospitals as leaders. For instance, the first scheduled seminar, March 5th’s “The Ups & Downs of Daily Life,” will be overseen by three individuals who work at Cambridge Health Alliance and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in addition to the medical school.

If any combination of the following four seminars sounds appealing, make sure to complete advance registration online at the Longwood Seminars website or by phone at 617-432-3038. Interested parties can also find more details about the curriculum at the registration website just provided.

The Ups & Downs of Daily Life

March 5 | 5:30pm–7:00pm

What’s normal? Bereavement, the challenges of daily life, clinical depression, and mood disorders — how to tell the difference and what you can do to help.

Muscle Tone: Getting and Keeping It

March 19 | 5:30pm–7:00pm

Muscle tone and overall health — how one affects the other and what you can do to improve both.

Intelligent Drug Consumption

April 2 | 5:30pm–7:00pm

Beyond the marketing hype — what you need to know and what questions you need to ask.

Your Gut: The Long and Short of It

April 16 | 5:30pm–7:00pm

The gastrointestinal system — diseases, treatments, and prevention.

Post from: The Boston Traveler