Course Objective

At the end of the course the students will be able to:
• use relevant terminology and classify diseases
• understand physiological and pathological processes and the basic
concepts of diseases
• recognize and describe the most common diseases using microscopic and
macroscopic preparations
• present and discuss (in own words) a biomedical research article
(manuscript) related to the course literature and give constructive
feedback on presentations by their colleagues.

Course Content

Week 1-3: General concepts and pathological mechanisms including cell
damage, cell death, tissue repair and regeneration, inflammation,
thrombosis and shock. Common disease processes of the immune system,
heart and vessels, introduction to oncology.
Week 4: Exam 1
Week 4-5: Genetics, cell biology and immunology: mechanisms of diseases
in haematology, gastro-gastroenterology, neurology, gynaecology and
pulmonology
Week 6: Workgroup presentations
Week 7: Self-study for exam
Week 8: Exam 2

Compulsory practicals: 1) microscopy and, 2) digital microscopy of
organs and tissues in different diseases.
In Workgroups the students must prepare and present a presentation
summarising scientific manuscripts. The workgroups will also give
feedback to their colleagues in other workgroups.

Teaching Methods

Lectures related to the textbook Robbins (29 hours)
Group assignment including presentations of a scientific article (12
hours)
Preparation (macroscopic session) practical session (1 hour):
recognition of different pathologies in organ.
Web-based digital practical sessions (10 hours): 3 sessions in which the
students learn the basics of the literature by web microscopy and
multiple choice questions

Method of Assessment

Exam (95%): assessment is by two digital exams (95%) consisting of
multiple choice and open questions.
Presentation (5%): assessment is based on the presentation and
discussion of a scientific paper
Practicals: These are compulsory to obtain a grade .
The final mark will be determined by the average of the scores for the
two exams (95%) and the presentation (5%), and must be on average at
least 5.5 (separate marks may be lower than a 5.5).
Resits: One exam that includes the entire subject matter. The
presentation cannot be retaken: the mark awarded will remain at the
resit.

Entry Requirements

Basic knowledge of (microscopic) anatomy, cell biology, histology,
physiology, genetics and immunology.

Literature

Robbins Basic Pathology, Kumar Abbas Aster, 10th edition (ISBN
978-0-323-35317-5)

Target Audience

Required entrance is second year BSc Biomedical Sciences, BSc Health and
life Sciences, major biomedical sciences.
Elective course: second years BSc Health and Life Sciences, Major
Clinical Sciences.

Additional Information

The course organizers,
dr. Marianna Bugiani and prof.dr. Sandra Amor
Organizational support (first point of contact):
Hennie Karssen-de Jong (h.karssen@vumc.nl)

Custom Course Registration

Only available during sign-up period (there is no last-minute sign-up )!