Lyman Johnson was raised during a time when medicine was a mystery. The St. Louis native, now 73 years old, grew up the son of an orthopedic surgeon. He recalls how, as a teenager during the ’50s, it was taboo to challenge physicians like his dad for answers: “In my father’s era, you questioned the doctor, and they slapped you down.”
Decades later, the retired Monsanto employee’s understanding of medicine has changed dramatically, thanks in large part to a Washington University School of Medicine program he first learned about in 1999. That year, his wife found an article in the Post-Dispatch describing the university’s new Mini-Medical School, which promised to grant the public a sneak peek into the medical world’s inner workings. “Because I’d always been interested in things medical, she thought it would be good for a retired man to get out of the house—out of her hair,” he recalls. “After the first session, I was hooked.”
At the time, the program was a relatively novel concept. Dr. Cynthia A. Wichelman, the program’s course director and assistant professor of emergency medicine, had first heard about the idea from the University of Colorado’s Dr. John Cohen, who launched the nation’s first biomedical program aimed at the public in 1989, which continues to this day. “It actually focuses more on the basic science,” explains Wichelman. “We’re more focused on the clinical.”
With the help of Dr. William Peck, former dean of Wash. U.’s School of Medicine, Wichelman began shaping the courses and recruiting the school’s leading physicians—many among the world’s best in their field—to lead informative, timely sessions. “Our goal is to make people better healthcare consumers,” she explains, whether that means informing people about their health or teaching them how to best use their time with a doctor.
Unsure what to expect from the public, she received an overwhelming response that first year. More than a thousand people—curious locals like Johnson—attempted to enroll, so she made a waiting list. Still, it wasn’t enough, she says: “People were so keen on the program that they wanted more and more.” Again she responded, adding Mini-Med School II the next year and a third school shortly after. Relying on word of mouth for publicity, the program expanded as participants mentioned it to family and friends. “A lot of friends say it’s the best-kept secret in St. Louis,” says Wichelman. “They can’t believe it’s been going on 10 years, and they didn’t even know.”
Today, Mini-Med School is a mix of hands-on labs, medical tours, interactive lectures, and patient Q&As that provide a wide range of participants—venture capitalists and taxi drivers, at-home moms and aspiring students—a glimpse behind the scenes of Wash. U.’s medical community. “We are the most comprehensive Mini-Med School in the nation,” boasts Wichelman, estimating there are fewer than 80 such programs worldwide. (The $125 sessions convene for eight weeks during spring and fall; visit minimed.wustl.edu for details.) Over time, the courses have saved lives, equipped locals with important information, and changed the very relationship between patients and doctors.
“What a lot of this does is demystify medicine,” says Johnson, who’s now taking the courses again with his wife, Joan.
Until they’ve tried it firsthand, participants have no idea how hard it can be to perform minimally invasive surgery.
OK, so they don’t actually operate on patients. But they do experience suturing and laparoscopy by stitching foam pads and delicately navigating laparoscopic instruments inside trainer boxes with TV monitors (the same ones used by surgical residents) during Mini-Med School I. “It’s going very smoothly when they watch the videos beforehand,” says Dr. Michael Brunt, a renowned surgeon who leads the sessions. “But when they start to play around with the instruments, they start to realize some of the challenges with video-hand coordination and other things.”
The program often highlights such advanced techniques, ensuring the material continually evolves with the medicine. “Over the last 10 years, I’ve seen a lot of these ideas come to fruition,” says Wichelman. Participants also tour state-of-the-art medical facilities: St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Siteman Cancer Center, Bernard Becker Medical Library, and the Genome Center.
Then there are the lectures, two-hour talks, and Q&As about a range of subjects: the president of Barnes-Jewish sharing the dynamics of a teaching hospital, renowned experts speaking on medical ethics and diseases, forensic psychiatry, and other timely issues. Dr. John Morris, professor of neurology, leads a lecture and lab about Alzheimer’s, asking questions that help detect early signs of the disease. He approaches the program as if teaching a first- or second-year medical school class. “It’s not dissimilar,” he says. “I spend a little more time on terms, but the content is about the same.”
Mini-Med School II takes it a step further. For Dr. Keith Brandt, a leading plastic and reconstructive surgeon, this is an understatement. “I don’t hold back,” he says. At one point in his slides, a stoplight pops up, and he tells participants to cover their faces with their hands, slowly open their fingers, and shut them again if they don’t like what they see. When a rather graphic slide comes up, “I’ve had some people walk out, holding their hands over their mouths,” he admits. At another lab, students experience gross anatomy up close and personal while comparing healthy organs—hearts, lungs, intestines—to diseased ones. They also complete adult CPR certification; in fact, Wichelman says she has testimonials of former participants who’ve saved lives with the skills gained from the training.
Physicians also take something away from the classes. Dr. Charles Zorumski, head of the department of psychiatry, dispels common misperceptions about his field. Inspired by the classes, he recently co-authored a book about psychiatry geared toward laypeople. Dr. Arnold Bullock, a urologist who’s long participated in the program, says it’s helped him tweak the way he communicates with patients; through evaluations and the Q&A sessions, he knows whether certain analogies are working. “Obviously, there must be something we get out of it, because these are some of the most recognized faculty members,” he says. “I am honored to be in this pool of Mini-Med School presenters.”
Doctors aren’t the only ones to stand and deliver. During Mini-Med School III, patients with various diseases lecture and answer questions from the class. “It’s the only course that I know open to the general public that’s based on grand rounds, which means we bring patients to the people,” says Wichelman.
Former participant Alissa Murphy, a pharmaceutical rep in her thirties, attended all three sessions several years ago. Shortly after, she was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Drawing on what she’d learned about minimally invasive surgery, she assembled a team of top-notch surgeons. After a successful operation and recovery, she asked Wichelman if she could help teach a session in Mini-Med III about colorectal cancer. “That was something important to me, having gone through something horrific, to be able to help create an awareness,” says Murphy.
She reflects on the magnitude of Mini-Med School’s impact. “I just found it fascinating because I’m interested in science,” she says. “I had no idea how much it would play into my own life.”
