Singing GP's, piano-playing surgeons, DJ anaesthetists ﾖ sounds unlikely? Not to the Medical students of the University who have long known what a few of us may have suspected ﾖ they really are quite talented!

A fabulous showcase of these 'hidden' talents will be on display over the forthcoming week, 7 ﾖ 12 October, to mark the completion of the Wolfson Medical School Building.

Arts in Medicine Week will be the culmination of nine months of planning and hard effort by the students. A Brass concert, a choral recital, a musical comedy, a photographic exhibition ﾖ just a selection of what is on offer.

The new building will be open for business and students, staff and the public will have the opportunity to visit it for the first time to see for themselves its stunning architecture as it will act as the venue for several of the events.

One highlight must be The Operating Theatre Company's production of 'Little Shop of Horrors'. Medical students, doctors, dentists and nurses in Glasgow will be giving up the surgery and consulting room to take to the stage at G12 Gilmorehill Theatre on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 October.

Visit Operating Theatre Companyfor more details on this and the rest of the programme.

The activities and events are not just about fun and entertainment. Some have a slightly more serious and educational side to them such as the Arts and Music Therapy Exhibition staged by 'Project Ability'.

'Project Ability' is an arts company which supports people of all ages with disabilities to participate in visual arts activities. 'Digitate' is an experimental video which is the result of a six month project where children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders were introduced to creative film making.'

Emily Fraser, a final year medic, has been one of the key co-ordinators of the week. She explained, ' There were a few aims and objectives for the week ﾖ to celebrate the new building and show off our talents, of course!

But also, we wanted to have an opportunity to improve the integration between students and the wider community. We hope that loads of the local people here will come along to enjoy our performances or just have a look around the place.'

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

Please contact the Press Office on 0141 330 3535 for further details.

The New Medical School Building

Created by Reiach and Hall, the Wolfson Medical School Building provides an ideal learning environment for medical undergraduates with state-of-the-art facilities to enhance our innovative problem based learning curriculum.

Students can take advantage of a custom built 'study landscape' equipped with books, journals and over 100 flat screen and multimedia PCs. The 'landscape' (based on a Dutch concept) also provides areas to study practical skills and is ergonomically designed and laid out to give maximum support to the learning process.

In addition to study facilities, there are also areas set aside for developing clinical skills. A fully equipped ward and side rooms contain audio visual facilities to enable students to study their own performance in a simulated clinical environment before being confronted with a real hospital situation.

Other new facilities include a cardiology patient simulator (known as Harvey) which can mimic symptoms of 26 cardiac diseases (as well as a 'normal' heart). This allows students to make observations on pulse, heart sounds, respiration and precordial movements to enable them to make an appropriate diagnosis.

For further information, please call the Press Ofice on 0141 330 3535.

First published: 4 October 2002