This course invites School of Medicine students to explore how the medical profession has evolved by learning directly from the unique perspective of Stanford senior and emeritus faculty. Through their firsthand accounts, students will learn about major transformations in clinical care, research, and teaching over recent decades, and consider how understanding medicine's past can guide its future. Sessions will examine practicing with limited resources in remote parts of the world, and the growing emphasis on patient autonomy and shared decision-making in modern medical ethics. Faculty will discuss landmark scientific advances, including the development and clinical application of immune therapies and emerging cell-based treatments, as well as mechanisms and treatment of sudden cardiac death, assessment of pain in newborns and infants, and the evolution of wearable technologies to promote health and detect cardiovascular diseases. The Rodin sculptures will serve as a distinctive backdrop for learning about surgery. On the educational and research fronts, the course will highlight the shift from lecture-based instruction to interactive, case-based, and self-directed learning. Students will be introduced to principles of modern research design and translational approaches, while reflecting on the creativity and limitations of earlier methodologies. Through interactive sessions and reflective assignments, students will gain an understanding of the principles involved in how medicine - and the role of the physician - have changed over time and where we are heading, preparing students with both the wisdom of prior generations and the analytic and technological tools of contemporary practice.
1 units · Medical Satisfactory/No Credit
This course invites School of Medicine students to explore how the medical profession has evolved by learning directly from the unique perspective of Stanford senior and emeritus faculty. Through their firsthand accounts, students will learn about major transformations in clinical care, research, and teaching over recent decades, and consider how understanding medicine's past can guide its future. Sessions will examine practicing with limited resources in remote parts of the world, and the growing emphasis on patient autonomy and shared decision-making in modern medical ethics. Faculty will discuss landmark scientific advances, including the development and clinical application of immune therapies and emerging cell-based treatments, as well as mechanisms and treatment of sudden cardiac death, assessment of pain in newborns and infants, and the evolution of wearable technologies to promote health and detect cardiovascular diseases. The Rodin sculptures will serve as a distinctive backdrop for learning about surgery. On the educational and research fronts, the course will highlight the shift from lecture-based instruction to interactive, case-based, and self-directed learning. Students will be introduced to principles of modern research design and translational approaches, while reflecting on the creativity and limitations of earlier methodologies. Through interactive sessions and reflective assignments, students will gain an understanding of the principles involved in how medicine - and the role of the physician - have changed over time and where we are heading, preparing students with both the wisdom of prior generations and the analytic and technological tools of contemporary practice.
Offered in Spring 2027 at Stanford University.