VCU School of Medicine Presents Pediatric Spring Conference

By Malorie Burkett

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics is holding a spring conference for first and second-year medical students that will include workshops on medical clowning and magic.

The conference is for students interested in a career in pediatrics and will be held Saturday, April 17, in the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building, 1217 E. Marshall St.

The medical clowning workshop will be presented by John Glick, M.D., director of outreach for Patch Adams’ Gesundheit! Institute, and the magic workshop will be taught by Bruce Rubin, M.D., chair of VCU’s Department of Pediatrics. Both workshops will take place at 10:30 a.m. simultaneously and will be repeated at 2:30 p.m.

Rubin, a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and Glick also will provide participants with fun tools to use when they work with children as students, residents and physicians.

In order to help students make informed decisions about career choices and residencies, additional activities and topics will include a panel of chief residents from VCU and elsewhere who will answer questions about residence life and learning about the process of applying for residency.

The conference will include 60 student attendees from various schools including the University of North Carolina, George Washington University, the University of Virginia, Georgetown University and VCU.

For more information or for a conference schedule, call Malorie Janis at 804-827-0889.