What does 'Image-Building 101' stand for?

[gonghoujun]

Dear Teacher,
I have read the sentence as follows:
I might add that Dr. Dumoor has a flourishing practice, and I have often wondered if his medical school offered a course called Image-Building 101.
What does 'Image-Building 101' stand for? Especially explain the meaning of 101 in detail, please. Thanks.

[JMurray]

What does 'Image-Building 101' stand for? Especially explain the meaning of 101 in detail, please.


gonghoujun.
Without knowing the full context I assume that Dr. Dumoor is good at promoting the public image and profile of himself and/or his practice. Hence, the speaker is jokingly suggesting that a basic course in "image building" might have been part of the doctor's medical studies. But I take it from your question that this isn't the part that really puzzles you.
"101" means the basic, introductory or most general level of study for a particular subject at a college or university. It's derived from the system of numbering courses in America. Here's a grab from the Yahoo!Answers website that explains it.

"101: Although there is some variation among the universities, generally speaking, the first number indicates the year level (1 meaning freshman, 2 meaning sophomore), the 0 indicates entry level (as in the lowest level course offered within the first grouping) and the second 1 indicates that it's a survey course (which is broad based, rather than specialized courses that one would take later on)."

not a teacher

[BobK]

... but rarely if ever in Br. Eng; I've never seen university courses numbered like that in the UK. (We do understand the metaphor [=basic course], but regard it as foreign.

b

[gonghoujun]

Dear Mr. JMurray,
Thank you very much for your kind/good reply! And I also thank Moderator Bobk for the kind reply to my question!

[Ouisch]

A brief history of the "101" class designation, as explained by mental_floss magazine:



Ever wonder how the number “101” came to describe the basic or introductory level of any and everything?

The first recorded use of an introductory class being designated as “101” was in a University of Buffalo course catalog dated 1929. However, it wasn’t until the early 1930s that universities in the United States started using a three-digit system to identify their courses. The method wasn’t quite uniform, but it was more logical than the non-system of naming courses that had previously been in place.

In the 1930s, college students started regarding a university degree as a means to a better job, and as a result, universities started added more specialized classes to their curriculum. Students were also traveling further afield after graduation in search of work, so it became important for a potential employer to be able to compare candidates: Was a passing grade in Cost Accounting 203 at Kent State the same as one in Business Accounting 4 at the University of Michigan? Eventually, colleges started using a three-digit designation, in which the first digit indicated the academic level (1=Freshman, 2=Sophomore, etc.). The second digit usually represented a department (English, Science, etc.) and the third the level of the class within the department. These were not hard and fast rules, and still vary from school to school.

However, as the three-digit system became more commonplace, it seemed that “101” always represented a basic beginning course, no matter what the discipline. By the late 1960s, the phrase was starting to enter the vernacular at large, outside of the collegiate realm.

[gonghoujun]

I also thank Moderator Ouisch for the kind/good reply to my question!