NLM will present a special program, "Hollywood and Women Doctors," with Dr. Peter Dans on Thursday, June 30, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Open to the public, the free session has been developed in conjunction with the library's current exhibition, "Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians." It will take place in the Lister Hill Auditorium, Bldg. 38A. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The challenge to negative attitudes and assumptions presented by women in medicine was played out on film in the 20th century, as Hollywood struggled to represent women physicians in the movies. Dans will present a kaleidoscopic tour of Hollywood's portrayals of women doctors, using film clips beginning with 1933's Mary Stevens, M.D. and ending with 2002's Blood Work. There will be time after the talk for questions.

Dans is an internist with 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 coauthor of more than 100 scientific articles, book chapters and other contributions to the medical literature. Since 1990, he has written movie reviews such 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 1930's through the 1990's, was published.

For more information, contact Jiwon Kim at (301) 496-5963.