Unit information: Health Sciences: Pathology and Microbiology in 2013/14

Unit name	Health Sciences: Pathology and Microbiology
Unit code	ORDS20011
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Dr. Sohail
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Bristol Dental School
Faculty	Faculty of Health Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

Second year of BDS programme. The course consists of a series of 61 lectures interspersed with a series of 6 practicals and 8 tutorials. It has been put together to follow a natural progression through distinct, although clearly interlocking subject areas. These are:

A. Inflammation and repair

B. Immunology (basic and applied)

C. Principles in Microbiology

D. Control of infectious disease & Infectious diseases of the body systems

E. The molecular and cellular basis of cancer

F. Revision

The aim of this course is to introduce the student to the concepts that underlie cellular pathology and the scope of human infectious disease and cancer. To introduce terminology which will form the backbone to the rest of their studies.

Intended Learning Outcomes

When students have finished the course they should be able to:

• understand the pathological processes of inflammation, cell and tissue damage, and repair at the tissue, cellular and molecular level;
• understand the role of inflammation in bringing in and activating components of the immune system;
• discuss the distinct components of the humoral and cell mediated immune response and the importance of the interactions between them;
• understand how the immune response may be involved in causing pathology as a result of its inappropriate activation to foreign components (allergy) and self proteins (autoimmunity);
• describe the structure and physiology of micro-organisms, comparing them with each other and with human cells;
• state the organisms involved in common infective processes;
• discuss the concepts of commensalism and pathogenicity, the microbial properties relating to pathogenesis and the links between commensalism and opportunist infections;
• describe the transmission of micro-organisms and the epidemiology of common infections in the hospital and community;
• understand the principles underlying methods of sterilisation and disinfection and aseptic procedures;
• describe the mechanisms of action of the major antimicrobial agents used in dentistry and their spectra of activity;
• discuss the acquisition of resistance to antimicrobial agents and the major mechanisms involved;
• understand the principles controlling the proliferation and differentiation of cells and how these processes can fail;
• discuss the concepts of cell proliferation and differentiation and how these relate to the cell cycle in different cell populations;
• understand how cell proliferation and differentiation is controlled and how these control mechanisms can fail;
• understand that neoplasia is a multi-step process characterised by sequential alterations in a number of oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes;
• discuss the reasons why different groups of people are more susceptible to particular cancers, particularly oral cancers;
• define the role of environmental factors, including viruses, in carcinogenesis;
• describe the nomenclature and broad classification of tumours, and the general characteristics of tumours in terms of clinical behaviour, morphological changes, molecular biological and cytogenetic features;
• describe the routes and mechanisms by which cancers spread;
• describe the relationship between many tumours and certain hormones;
• understand the principles of prevention and treatment of cancer.

Teaching Information

The course consists of a series of 61 lectures interspersed with a series of 6 practicals and 8 tutorials. They also prepare and give oral presentation on a given topic related to the course.

Assessment Information

Summative assessments:

• 2 MCQ examinations, both 40 minutes in length. Consists of 20 True/False/Don’t Know questions and is negatively marked (2 x 10% contribution to end of year score)
• Prepared essay, 30 minutes in length (marked out of 10, 10% contribution to end of year score)
• Microbiology practical book – for writing practical results in the handbook and answering any questions. Marks are given for accuracy and presentation (10% contribution to end of year score)
• Oral presentations - Each student will give an oral presentation in examination conditions. Presentation titles will be allocated. The oral presentations should last 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of questions from peers and examiners. (10% contribution to end of year score)
• Final examination paper, 2 hours and 40 minutes, covering all material taught in the course. There is a total of 4 short answers and 4 essay questions to answer out of 6 essays and 8 short notes. The marks will be distributed in a ratio of 1:4 between short notes and essays (50% contribution to end of year score).

Reading and References

It is recommended to use the following texts in conjunction with this course. Some of these are reserved within the Medical School and Dental libraries and are continually available.

Newer editions to those in the libraries may be in print.

• Medical Microbiology, C.A. Mims, J.H.L. Playfair, I.M. Roitt, D. Wakelin and R. Williams. Mosby Europe Ltd. The basic microbiology text, with good illustrations, also covering immunology.
• Medical Microbiology. Murray, Pfaller and Rosenthal. Mosby Ltd. Organism based chapters that will cross-reference the above text (a) with good illustrations and useful diagrams for exam revision.
• Immunobiology, C.A. Janeway, P. Travers, M. Walport & M. Shlomchik. Churchill Livingstone. A more detailed reference on the immunology.
• Pathology in dentistry, E.A. Sheffield. Oxford University Press. (1996) This has been written specifically for dental students and covers general and systemic pathology. Immunology is covered in this book.
• Pathology, A. Stevens and J. Lowe, (Mosby). This is a well presented and nicely laid out book with lots of illustrations. It covers both general pathology (ideal for this course) and systemic pathology (useful for the Human Disease course in the third year).
• General and systematic pathology, J.W.E. Underwood. Churchill Livingstone. This also covers general and systemic pathology.
• Robbins and Cotran’s Pathologic Basis of Disease. V. Kumar, A. Abbas & N. Fausto. Saunders. (Previous editions published as Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease, R.S. Cotran, V. Kumar, T. Collins.) This is a very useful reference book for the pathology part of the course.
• Robbins Basic Pathology, V. Kumar, R. Cotran, S Robbins. Saunders. (Previous editions published as Basic Pathology. Kumar, Saunders.) This is a concise version of Pathogenesis of Disease by Cotran et al.