Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Doctors Making Museum Calls
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The museum gets benefits as well, such as use of the most state-of-the-art CT technology. Researchers from the museum and imaging specialists at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center scanned the spine and pelvis of a Camptosaurus, a Jurassic dinosaur, prior to attempting to remove the pelvis and tail from its rock matrix.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is collaborating with Carnegie Museum of Natural History to offer workshops, seminars and courses as well as opportunities to conduct scholarly research projects at the museum. The intent is that understanding of the origins of human diseases could help identify fresh avenues toward their prevention and treatment and an appreciation of the evolutionary history of humans and other animals should make for better medical doctors and physician-scientists. As John S. Lazo, Ph.D., Allegheny Foundation Professor of Pharmacology at Pitt's School of Medicine and Carnegie Museum of Natural History board member, put it:
Our goal is to give medical students insight into the interrelationships between medicine and natural science, which we believe will enhance their understanding of the scientific discovery process while getting them to think about medicine in new ways. Together, the two institutions are able to create a uniquely enriching environment with an approach to medical education that focuses on how research themes of interest to museum scientists can reveal so much about contemporary medicine.
The first course offered, "The Natural History of Medicine," is on "the evolutionary origins of human disease, including the history of disease-causing pathogens, a topic that should help students better understand relevant contemporary public health concerns, such as avian flu, and think about treatment and prevention approaches that modern society may have overlooked."
The museum gets benefits as well, such as use of the most state-of-the-art CT technology. Researchers from the museum and imaging specialists at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center scanned the spine and pelvis of a Camptosaurus, a Jurassic dinosaur, prior to attempting to remove the pelvis and tail from its rock matrix.
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