Space course lifts off at McMaster

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/williams_astro.jpg” caption=”Canadian astronaut Dave Williams teaches the new Space Medicine and Physiology course, offered through the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University.”]An innovative new course at McMaster is teaching students how humans physiologically adapt when exploring the final frontier.

Space Medicine and Physiology, offered through the Faculty of Health Sciences, is the first of its kind in Canada. Teaching students everything from how the body reacts in space to what astronauts wear and why, course instructor and Canadian astronaut Dave Williams gives students a first-hand look at what life is like in space and how lessons learned there can be applied on Earth.

“Understanding the methods of preventing disease in space may be of clinical benefit in treating similar terrestrial conditions,” said Williams. “Osteoporosis is a good example of a clinically relevant issue that affects both astronauts during spaceflight and the aging population on Earth. Understanding the types of changes that take place during acclimation to space will foster new and exciting areas of research on Earth that may lead to fundamental scientific breakthroughs.”

The potential in these burgeoning areas of research is what attracted Daniel Goodman to the course. A fourth year health sciences student, Goodman doesn't necessarily want to be an astronaut, but he does recognize the important effects that technology developed for space has on medicine.

“Remote medicine is very much the future of the field,” said Goodman, referring to the ability to perform medical procedures over great distances. “We're learning things that are on the cutting edge of science.”

And from a well-qualified instructor. As the Canadian record-holder for the greatest total number of spacewalks and time performing spacewalks, Williams knows a thing or two about being an astronaut. According to him, the possibilities for space technology on Earth are endless.

“Whether it is the application of space robotics to surgery or space life support control systems to technologies that support efficient power consumption on Earth, challenging our intellectual creativity to identify new solutions to enable exploration is very exciting.”

Goodman, like many students in the course, hopes to go to med school next year. To that end, he says the class has not only been interesting and academically helpful, but also “incredibly inspiring”.

“It really makes you want to explore the possibilities of what we can do with modern medicine.”

Space Medicine and Physiology builds on the research and teaching activities at the McMaster Origins Institute, meaning students have the rare opportunity to learn about planetary science, astrobiology, space life science, space physiology and medicine at one university. It is hoped that the course's content will help stimulate inquiry into the origins, complexity and diversity of life on Earth, as well as help to evaluate evidence as to whether life once existed anywhere else.

For more information on Space Medicine and Physiology, contact Sheila Whelan at spacemed@mcmaster.ca.