Unit information: Cardiovascular System in Health and Disease in 2019/20

Unit name	Cardiovascular System in Health and Disease
Unit code	PHPH30020
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Dr. Langton
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None.
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience
Faculty	Faculty of Life Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

Students will study advanced topics in cardiovascular system physiology through a series of seminars. Examples of the topics covered include the cellular basis of muscle contraction, cell locomotion and the role of cell migration in wound healing. The unit aims to develop an integrated understanding of key concepts in cardiovascular system physiology including:

• The normal and abnormal regulation of blood pressure
• The pathogenesis and treatment of artherosclerosis
• Clinical aspects of congenital heart disease and its treatment
• Factors affecting pulmonary blood flow
• How the normal and abnormal regulation of angiogenesis contribute to health and disease

Intended Learning Outcomes

• An in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of selected aspects of cardiovascular system physiology, with an ability to keep up-to-date with recent developments in the field.
• The ability to gather information from the primary scientific literature and to critically evaluate the material and appraise competing theories.
• The ability to apply an integrated understanding of cardiovascular physiology in experimental and clinical contexts.

Teaching Information

Seminars

Assessment Information

The unit will be assessed through a 3-hour summative examination in May/June, which contributes 90% of the unit mark and consists of two sections. In Section A (50%), students will be expected to answer one essay question from a choice of 3, which will assess their knowledge and critical understanding of the field, and their ability to gather information from the primary scientific literature. In Section B (50%), students will be expected to answer one multi-part compulsory question assessing data handling/data interpretation and experimental design skills. The remaining 10% of the unit mark will come from completing coursework. The coursework will be either an essay, data interpretation or experimental design question of a similar format to that used in the summative exam.

Reading and References

Reviews and key references from the current scientific literature