SCHOOL OF 2012-2013 - St. George's University

equired to read current research and review articles (within
the past 3 years) related to course content in order to gain
experience in reading and interpreting scientific data and
outcomes. Presentation of the course is concurrent with
pathology, and the two courses are closely integrated,
where feasible.
• Lectures
The didactic portion of the course is divided into two
consecutive sections. The first covers basic principles
of microbiology, including: classification and taxonomy,
microbial physiology and genetics, microbial control,
antibiotics, host-pathogen interactions and epidemiology.
Bacterial, fungal, viral and other infectious agents are
covered in this section. In the second section, human
pathogens are discussed according to the organ system
where they most often cause clinical disease. Clinical
vignettes are used to illustrate the epidemiology,
pathogenesis, virulence properties, symptoms, laboratory
diagnosis and control of the infectious agents.
• Laboratory
Basic microbiological principles covered in lecture
are reinforced by application in a laboratory setting.
Laboratory work includes the basic principles of microbial
staining, aseptic technique and isolation of infectious
agents. Students are exposed to many types of culture
media, have the opportunity to perform throat cultures
and obtain experience with rapid tests often administered
during a clinical office visit.
• Integrated Group Exercises
Group exercises give students active experience in
several areas of microbiology. Students: 1) create and
work through clinical cases 2) gain experience reading
and interpreting both review and research articles in
the scientific literature and 3) have the opportunity to
develop team building, communication and
presentation skills.
MICR 580
Medical Immunology
This is a two credit course that has been developed to
interdigitate with allied disciplines that are also offered
during the student’s program of study. In particular, every
attempt is made to ensure horizontal integration with
Parasitology and vertical integration with Microbiology,
which in turn, are integrated with Pathology through to
Pathophysiology. The nature of Immunology demands
that discipline-specific vocabulary be memorized
before concepts may be understood and assimilated. A
strong foundation is necessary to grasp the principles
underlying clinical trials, clinical cases, diagnostic tests,
and progressing immunological research. In addition to
the aforementioned integration, the Immunology course
emphasizes the manner by which basic science research
translates into clinical practice. This is achieved by the
incorporation of Translational Immunology within the
series of didactic lectures.
MICR 660
Medical Parasitology
Emphasis is balanced between parasitic infections that
frequent the tropics and those that are being increasingly
recognized in the temperate zones. Approximately half
of the course deals with medical protozoology, including
the amoebas, flagellates, ciliates, and sporozoa that are
capable of infecting living human tissue. The second part
of the course covers medical helminthology (the Nematoda,
Platyhelminthes, and Acanthocephala). Arthropods of
medical significance are also discussed. Presentations
of the various organisms emphasize the epidemiology,
symptomatology, pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis, and
treatment of each.
• Laboratory
Lectures are supplemented by laboratory sessions
that include stool examinations for ova and cysts of
parasites. Slide presentations are used extensively in the
consideration of all the parasites.
Pathology
Shivayogi Bhusnurmath, MD, FRCPath, Co-Chair
Bharti Bhusnurmath, MBBS, MD, Co-Chair
PATH 640
Pathology
The Pathology course is taught in two segments—general
pathology and systemic pathology. The main emphasis
of the course is on active learning by students based
on clinically oriented lectures and daily clinical problem
solving by students in groups of 10 during lab hours. This
is accomplished by targeted discussions using pathology
images (about 400) representing patients and clinical
vignettes with built-in questions. The images are posted
School of Medicine
Course Descriptions
School of Medicine Catalog 2013–2014 | 61