Medical Physiology 601

Introduction
The goal of the faculty in presenting this course is to assist the student in acquiring a balanced foundation in cellular and systemic physiology in preparation for advanced study in other basic sciences and in clinical medicine. The emphasis is on understanding general physiological principles and on how cellular and organ system functions are integrated within the organism. In this regard, physiology may be distinguished from other basic biomedical sciences because it deals with the function of the whole organism and emphasizes those processes that regulate and control entire organ systems.

A systems approach is used in Physiology 601, concentrating on each major organ system in turn. As information accumulates throughout the course, every effort is made to examine the interrelationships and interdependencies that exist among these various functional components. In addition, every effort is made to illustrate the relevance of this knowledge to the practice of medicine. A good working knowledge of physiology is a prerequisite for the student and practitioner who must ultimately interpret and evaluate disorders of function and provide rational treatment plans.

The specific objective of each block will be presented in the lectures and in the corresponding section of the syllabus.

Organization

Physiology 601 is taught in the Spring Semester for 9 credit hours. The course consists of six sections: cellular, cardiovascular, renal, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and endocrine physiology.

Lectures: The lectures provide a framework to help the student organize his/her study of physiology. The presentations are usually given by individuals with a special interest and/or expertise in the field. The lectures are not meant to be comprehensive, and should be supplemented by reading. Students are encouraged to bring questions about the content of a given lecture to the faculty member involved. There is also the opportunity to raise substantive questions concerning the lecture material during the scheduled review sessions and small group conferences.

Conferences: The faculty will hold section conferences for small groups of students. Students should try to answer the sets of problems or questions that will be provided prior to the conferences. The goal of these sessions is to help the student identify any conceptual problems that he/she may encounter, and to help him/her look at the lecture material and readings from different points of view. It is hoped that these sessions will be helpful to the student, not only in the problem solving required on the formal examinations of the course, but also in applying knowledge to pathophysiologic and clinical problems in the future.

Case Discussions: Case-based discussions will be held in which students will have the opportunity to apply the information that they have acquired in this course to an understanding of specific patient problems. These sessions will introduce the students to the process of clinical reasoning and give them practice in assessing disturbances of physiologic function underlying specific clinical complaints.

Clinical Correlations: The lecture series concerning each organ system block will be augmented with at least one clinical correlation. In each of these sessions, a physician from the Medical University clinical faculty will take an aspect of that block and explore its clinical relevance through case presentation, patient presentation, or demonstration.

Laboratories and Demonstrations: One standard technique for investigating the function of an organ system is to observe what happens to that system under controlled laboratory conditions. Laboratory demonstrations have been prepared which will permit the student to observe, measure and interpret human physiologic responses. The laboratories are straightforward and highly reproducible. The student should attend each laboratory demonstration for which he/she is scheduled and prepare for it by reviewing appropriate sections in the syllabus or other materials provided. Questions derived directly from the laboratory exercises will be included in the pertinent examinations.

Syllabus: In addition to the lectures, a detailed syllabus has been prepared for each block of the course. The syllabus is meant to assist the student in understanding the materials presented in lecture by providing an organized outline of the material and by placing emphasis upon the most important principles and concepts. The aim is to minimize the need to focus on note taking during lecture, thereby freeing the student to concentrate on the substance of the material presented. The syllabus is not meant to be an all-inclusive source of information about any topic, but is designed to be supplemented with the lectures and additional readings.

Textbook: While no single textbook meets all the needs of students studying all areas of physiology, Medical Physiology by A.C. Guyton and J. E. Hall (10th edition), Physiology by R.M. Berne and M. N. Levy (5th edition), Medical Physiology by R.A. Rhoades and G. A. Tanner (2nd edition), and Medical Physiology (1st edition) by W.F. Boron and E.L. Boulpaep are all good books. Several copies of each (as well as other physiology texts) are held on reserve in the Library.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend all assigned lectures, laboratories, demonstrations, and conferences. In addition, attendance at all examinations is mandatory. If a student is able to tell the Course Director ahead of time that he/she will be unable to attend an examination, he/she should do so. All students are to take examinations on the scheduled dates.

Testing and Grading
The College of Medicine administers three comprehensive examinations during each semester of the freshman year. Each examination is a combination of questions from the courses of both the basic science and doctoring curricula of the semester within which the test is given. A student's grade in this course will be derived exclusively from the physiology question subset of those examinations. These three examinations will be weighted 30, 30, and 40 percent, respectively. The Final Exam will test the student's knowledge of the information presented during the entire semester and is thus afforded a greater weight.

Examination Policy
College of Medicine policy dictates that all students are to take exams on the scheduled dates. Missing an exam will result in a grade of "0" (zero), unless exceptional circumstances justify that the student may take the exam on a different date. Any requests for permission to take an exam at a time other than on the regularly scheduled date based on health reasons, a death in the family, or other significant problems must be submitted in writing with appropriate supporting documentation. Decisions concerning the taking of an exam at a later date will be made by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Dr. Jeffrey Wong.

Student Review of Written Examinations (College of Medicine Policy)

• All exams will be evaluated for items that may be deleted or double-keyed after a preliminary run through the computer. Each exam booklet will have a comment page at the end and students will be encouraged to give feedback about items they think are problematic. Those questions will be analyzed before the exam is graded for a second and final time. No changes will be made after the grades are posted or distributed electronically.
• A review session will be scheduled after the grades are posted/distributed. The session will be scheduled for a ninety-minute block of non-class time to be determined later. Proctors will be present. Students will be given their exam booklets and the computer-generated item analysis sheets from the exam. During the review session, no writing may occur with the exception of that which is allowed to be recorded on colored paper to be issued upon commencement of the review session. The colored paper will include a space for the name of the student. The student may write on this paper only the exam item(s) for which he/she desires further discussion. At the conclusion of the review session, the colored paper will be returned to the proctor and the identified exam items will be forwarded to the appropriate course director(s). Students will be assisted in identifying the course director(s) responsible for those items about which they have questions. They should then schedule a meeting with the particular course director(s) for the purpose of obtaining additional clarification of those specific items.

Grading Scale
A final grade of 70% is passing in this course. The grading scale is based on minimal pass at 70% and graded upward in a stepwise fashion according to the scale established by the College of Medicine .

% Quality Points
95   4.0		89   3.4		79   2.4		69 and below   0
94   3.9		88   3.3		78   2.3
93   3.8		87   3.2		77   2.2
92   3.7		86   3.1		76   2.1
91   3.6		85   3.0		75   2.0
90   3.5		84   2.9		74   1.8
		83   2.8		73   1.6
		82   2.7		72   1.4
		81   2.6		71   1.2

Ongoing Academic Difficulty
Medical students who, by unsatisfactory performance on examinations in Physiology 601, demonstrate difficulty in meeting the requirements of this course (i.e. < 75 average) will be strongly encouraged to work with individual faculty and possibly a tutor in remedying this deficiency. The Department of Physiology and Neuroscience and the College of Medicine will make every effort to provide such a tutor without cost to the student. As students develop such academic difficulty, their Faculty Advisor and Dr. Victor Del Bene, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, will be notified by the Physiology 601 Course Director.

Failure and Re-Examination
The failure and re-examination policies followed in this course correspond to those outlined in the Bulletin of the Medical University of South Carolina. The most pertinent points are summarized below.

• Students who receive a failing grade in Physiology 601 are not eligible to take a re-examination or to retake the course if they meet the criteria for dismissal.
• If a student meets the minimum standards for continuing in school, he/she will be given the opportunity for a re-examination only if the failing grade in Physiology 601 is 65 or greater. This comprehensive written examination will be offered approximately 10 weeks after the end of Physiology 601. Students will be encouraged to utilize tutors, faculty, and self-study in preparation for this examination. During this period of preparation, each student will meet with an assigned Physiology faculty advisor.
• To pass the re-examination, the student must achieve a 2.0 or above.
• Passage of the re-examination establishes a new grade for the course. Both the original zero and this new grade as well as both sets of credit hours will appear on the student's transcript and will be used in the calculation of the GPA.
• If the student fails this re-examination, he/she may be allowed to repeat the course, in accordance with the recommendations of the Progress Committee.

College of Medicine Policy Regarding Hand-held Computers
Students are permitted to bring hand-held calculators and computers to the examinations. These devices may only be used for computation. They may not be used as a source of preloaded information, data, formulas or normal values.

Lecture / Laboratory / Conference Schedule - Room Assignments

A copy of the lecture/laboratory/conference schedule is attached. Listed below are the days, times, and room assignments.

Lectures

Lectures are held in Baruch Auditorium. Days and times are variable - please consult the schedule.

Laboratories/Conferences

Laboratories and conferences are scheduled from 1:00-5:00 pm on either Tuesdays or Thursdays based on student assignment. Students are asked to attend on their assigned day as to avoid overcrowding. Typically the laboratories and conferences do not last more than 2 hours, however, each student is expected to block out the entire time as unexpected changes in scheduling may occur or one subgroup of students may be assigned to the 1:00-3:00 time slot and another subgroup to the 3:00-5:00 time slot. Conferences are held in 502 BSB. Laboratories are held in the first floor pathology labs of the Research Building . These will be conducted in RS 106-107 and RS 101-102.

Course Faculty

Dr. E. Soltis, Course Director Room: 416A BSB Phone: 2-5445 Email: soltised@musc.edu		Dr. C. Wise Room: 437 BSB Phone: 2-2486 Email: wisewc@musc.edu
Dr. J. Ondo Email: ondojg@musc.edu		Dr. F. Spinale Room: 625 STB Phone: 876-5186
Dr. G. Tempel Room: 416D BSB Phone: 2-2977 Email: tempelge@musc.edu