New Mini-Medical School Course To Help Students Make Smarter Health-Care Decisions

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Western New Yorkers can learn to make smarter health-care decisions that can affect their wallets and health by enrolling in the new mini-medical school course to be offered next month at UB.

Designed for the general public, the three-session course, "Necessary Risks: Improving the Odds," will be held from 7-9 p.m. June 6, 13 and 20 in Butler Auditorium, Room 150 in Farber Hall on the UB South Campus.

"Consumers need to become more educated about the complex nature of today's modern medicine and its bewildering array of medical decisions," says Harry A. Sultz, founder of the mini-medical school.

The course will instruct participants how to reduce risks in the hospital, obtain the information pertinent to truly informed consent, and understand and reduce risks of complications, errors or adverse events. It also will address effective strategies to get safer, more effective medical care and how to compare benefits and risks when making medical decisions.

Teaching the course will be Sultz, dean emeritus of the UB School of Health Related Professions and professor emeritus of social and preventive medicine, and Kristina M. Young, executive director of the Healthcare Careers Center at UB and clinical assistant professor of social and preventive medicine.

The cost of the course is $25 for individuals or $40 per couple; $20 for senior citizens or $35 for senior-citizen couples, and $15 for students.

The mini-medical school is a community-service program of the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. It is sponsored by Esther and Don Davis.

For more information or to register for the mini-medical school, call 829-2196.