Large Group Active Learning

An eight-week course that introduces students to fundamental concepts in genetics, molecular biology, genetics/epigenetics, immunology, pathology, and pharmacology.

An eight-week course that introduces students to fundamental concepts in anatomy, histology, and medical imaging.

An 11-week course that builds upon the fundamental principles of the immune system that are presented in Molecular and Cellular Principles. The essential role of the immune system in maintaining health as well as disease states resulting from its dysfunction is addressed. The focus on immunity provides a natural home for concepts in rheumatology and dermatology. Fundamental concepts in infectious disease and microbiology will also be included in this course, although many specific pathogens are addressed in other courses. The end of this course transitions into major concepts in neoplasia, spanning the implications of this suite of pathologies from the molecular to the social/systems levels. As is the case for pathogens, specific types of neoplasias are addressed in subsequent courses.

This eight-week course addresses growth and development from a cellular level to an organismal one, focusing on advanced concepts in genetics, and the reproductive, endocrine, and hematologic systems. The continuum of human development and its various stages are included in this course, incorporating concepts in pediatrics and geriatrics.

This 11-week course focuses on the structure and function of the cardiac, pulmonary, and renal systems in maintaining internal physiologic equilibrium in the body. The concept of allostasis, or the process of achieving homeostasis, is included in the course as recognition of the concept that internal physiology stability is achieved only through alteration in physiology in light of both predictable and unpredictable events (“stability through change”). The idea of allostasis is extended from the cellular and organ-system level up into the societal context of the patient.

This eight-week course addresses the structure and function of the central and peripheral nervous system, from the cellular to the societal level. In light of the emerging understanding of the biologic basis of psychiatric disease, neuroscience and psychiatry are presented in an integrated fashion.

This eight-week course focuses on the structures and processes required for metabolism, presented in the context of the digestive system. Biochemistry and normal and defective metabolic pathways (and the resulting disease states) are a major component of this course, building upon content from the Foundational Courses. Nutrition is a longitudinal curricular thread, but has a concentration within this course.