“Special Program at NLM: Hollywood and Women Doctors”

When: 6:00-7:30 PM, Thursday, June 30th, 2005
Where: Lister Hill Auditorium, Lister Hill Center, Building 38A on the campus of the National Institutes of Health
Admission: Admission is free and seating is on a first­come-first-served basis.

The National Library of Medicine presents Hollywood and Women Doctors by Dr. Peter Dans, a special public program developed in conjunction with the Library's current exhibition, "Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians."

The challenge to negative attitudes and assumptions presented by women in medicine has been played out on film in the twentieth century, as Hollywood struggled to represent women physicians in the movies. For the most part, women were simply excluded, with medicine represented as a man's profession. In fact, the few portrayals of women doctors that do exist have almost invariably involved overcoming, with varying degrees of success, negative attitudes towards women physicians. As Hollywood catches up to the reality of women with successful careers in every area of the profession, this is beginning to change. Dr. Peter Dans will present a kaleidoscopic tour of Hollywood's portrayals of women doctors, using film clips beginning with 1933's "Mary Stevens M.D." through 2002's "Blood Work," with time after the talk to answer your questions. All are welcome to attend.

About the speaker: Peter Dans is an internist with special interests in infectious diseases, geriatrics, quality assurance, and ethics. He is an independent consultant on issues related to geriatric polypharmacy and drug safety in the elderly. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 scientific articles, book chapters, and other contributions to the medical literature. Since 1990, he has written movie reviews as "The Physician at the Movies" for Pharos, the quarterly publication of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society. In 2000, his book Doctors in the Movies: Boil the Water and Just Say Aah! about how doctors have been portrayed in movies from the 30's through the 90's was published.

The National Library of Medicine is on the campus of the National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland. NIH is served by the Medical Center Station on Metro's Red Line.

If you are driving, enter the NIH campus at South Drive off Rockville Pike. Free parking is available after 5 PM at employee lots in front of and next to Lister Hill Center (NIH building 38A). For detailed driving directions, a map of the NIH campus or security procedures, please visit our Web site at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/visitor.html.

Questions may be directed to Ms. Jiwon Kim at 301-496-5963 or at jiwon_kim@nlm.nih.gov.

Last updated: 02 June 2005
First published: 27 May 2005
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanence Not Guaranteed