Unit information: Cardiovascular System in Health and Disease in 2016/17

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	Professor. Paton
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	PHPH20009: Neurophysiology, PHPH20010: Developmental Physiology of the Specialized Cell, PHPH20008: Integrative Physiology
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 one 3-hour summative examination in May/June, which 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 requiring the critical analysis of a scientific paper, which will assess their ability to critically evaluate material and apply their knowledge to experimental or clinical contexts. This is preceded by a formative paper review exercise in November using the same format.

Reading and References

Reviews and key references from the current scientific literature