Course on Battling Misinformation Makes Media Headlines
Students from around the world have the opportunity to both dive into biomedicine and build science communication skills through a new one-year Master’s program at The University of Chicago.
The Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MBS) is now accepting applications for its first class that will kick off in Fall 2023. The new degree offering is a collaborative effort between the Office of Master’s Education and several UChicago members of the Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM) Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program hub, and features opportunities to choose concentrations in biomedical data science, health systems science, and science communication.
“The ITM is thrilled to champion this with our UChicago partners,” said Julian Solway, MD, Founding Director of the ITM and Dean for Translational Medicine at UChicago. “We’ve seen the power of combining training in science and communication and how it helps our faculty and trainees connect with the community, and we’re excited to help extend this education along a bigger stretch of the translational science spectrum.”
The ITM is a partnership between the University of Chicago and Rush in collaboration with Advocate Aurora Health, the Illinois Institute of Technology, Loyola University Chicago, and NorthShore University HealthSystem. ITM-UChicago members who created the new BMS program include Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, Dean for Medical Education at the Pritzker School of Medicine; Valerie Press, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics; Sara Serritella, ITM Director of Communications and UChicago Lecturer, and Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD, Dean for Master’s Education, ITM Associate Director, and Associate Chief Research Informatics Officer.
An accelerated science communication course on battling misinformation taught by Arora and Serritella recently made newspaper, television, and radio headlines. The course gave professionals across medicine, pharmacy, and nursing skills to identify and address the wave of misinformation they said they’re seeing across health care. “This course really provided medical professionals like myself with the ability to become trusted messengers, to understand what misinformation is, how it spreads and turning social media on its head so that we as clinicians can advocate for getting the correct information out to the public and set some rumors straight,” said course alumna Michal Germain, RN, during an interview with Chicago’s NPR station.
Register here to meet the faculty and join a dynamic online Q&A session from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Nov. 7. Early applicants who submit by Jan. 15 will benefit from waived application fees. For admission inquiries, contact the Office of Master’s Education at [email protected].
Read more and attend the Nov. 7 info session here.
- Translational Workforce Development
- Workforce Development
- Science Communication
- Education and Training
- Ansible
- Ansible November 2022
Organization
University Of Chicago
CTSA Program In Action Goals
Goal 1: Train and Cultivate the Translational Science Workforce