Pathophysiology is the study of disordered physiological processes associated with disease.
This course is an introduction to pathophysiology designed especially to meet the needs of students preparing for careers in the health professions – for example, Physician Assistant, Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing, and Dental Hygiene.
This course focuses on the changes in cellular and systemic physiology that occur in prevalent or important medical conditions. At the cellular level we will cover the responses to tissue injury, abnormal cell growth and the immune system. From there we will investigate the physiological basis of problems associated with most of the major organ systems. In each case we will discuss the effect upon whole body homeostasis. This course will build on prior knowledge of anatomy and physiology as we explore body functions in altered health conditions. The primary teaching methods will be online video lectures with slides, textbook reading, and online assessments, supplemented with multi-media resources including interactive tutorials and animations.
Mandatory UNE-approved webcam – To be used during proctored exams
For the best HOL/Science Interactive experience, please use Chrome, Firefox or Safari
In lecture courses, students should be able to:
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
On the course start date, students will have access to orientation. This must be completed to be able to gain access to the first module in the course. Students must complete the first module to gain access to the next one. We recommend that students spend about 15 hours per week to complete a course in 16 weeks. When trying to complete the course in less than 16 weeks, we typically see students do this successfully within 12-14 weeks. Instructors will be timely in grading and feedback, but it will not be instant.
This course requires the following prerequisite prior to registering for the course: Successful completion of Anatomy and Physiology (200 level preferred) or equivalent with permission of the instructors.
Students are expected to log in at least three times a week for the entire course. All required assignments and assessments will be posted inside the course module. Each module will have learning objectives, lectures, assigned reading, online activities, and self assessments, followed by a weekly quiz.
Exams will be taken through ProctorU (see “Policies” below), and will consist of approximately 50 multiple-choice type questions (each) with seventy-five minutes (each) allowed for completion. The Midterm exam covers material from Weeks 1-7; the final exam covers Weeks 9-15. These tests are closed book and no notes or resources are permitted. Back-tracking is permitted on these exams. No re-takes are allowed, except under extraordinary conditions (e.g., documented technical problem).
For all exams, you must review the Proctored Examinations information and requirements in the Policies section of this syllabus. You must purchase the Official UNE External Webcam to take your proctored examinations. Remember to order your webcam at least three weeks prior to scheduling your first proctored exam.
These exams are closed for review. You will not be able to review them at any time. Please contact your instructor for specific feedback.
There is a highly recommended Practice Proctored Exam available to all students. The first attempt is free. This exam does not cover course material and is not included in your overall course grade. It prepares test takers for what the testing environment will be like, what forms of identification are needed, and provides a chance to test your external webcam with a live proctor. This is a great way to become familiar with and prepare for your exam!
The quiz for each week (except Weeks 8 and 16) will consist of approximately 10 multiple-choice and multiple-answer type questions. Quizzes will be taken through Brightspace, and may be taken open book, but will be timed, with fifteen minutes allowed for completion and no backtracking.
There are three recorded presentations required in the course, due in Weeks 2, 9 and 15.
For Weeks 2 and 9, you will be asked to record 5-minute presentations, without using slides, in which you need to exhibit deep enough understanding of specified concepts and terms to explain those concepts and terms orally. Please go to the course week in which each is due and refer to the detailed assignment instructions.
In Week 15, you will be asked to record a presentation, without using slides, on a disease of your own choosing. You will need to research the disease and describe certain details about the syndrome in your presentation—see detailed instructions for a list of assignment requirements.
There are 6 Case Studies with associated quizzes in the course. These case studies portray a patient-provider care situation, and you will be prompted to answer Matching questions using details from the case studies to inform your answers.
There are several discussions in the course, in which you will be expected to draw from the course material, and sometimes material from outside the course, in order to post and participate.
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Assignment | Total Points |
---|---|
Weekly Quizzes (14, each worth 10 points) | 140 |
Case Studies (6, each worth 20 points) | 120 |
Discussions (5, each worth 12 points) | 60 |
Student Presentations (3, worth 40 points, 40 points, and 50 points) | 130 |
Dissection Labs (4, each worth 25 points) | 100 |
Midterm | 200 |
Final | 250 |
Total | 1,000 |
Grade | Points Grade | Point Average (GPA) |
A | 94 – 100% | 4.00 |
A- | 90 – 93% | 3.75 |
B+ | 87 – 89% | 3.50 |
B | 84 – 86% | 3.00 |
B- | 80 – 83% | 2.75 |
C+ | 77 – 79% | 2.50 |
C | 74 – 76% | 2.00 |
C- | 70 – 73% | 1.75 |
D | 64 – 69% | 1.00 |
F | 00 – 63% | 0.00 |
This course is designed to be completed in a 16-week period, which breaks down to one module per week for 14 weeks and two exam weeks (midterm and final). One week in this online course is equivalent to 200 minutes of lecture in a traditional classroom setting. The general rule of studying for science courses is to spend 3 hours studying for every hour that you are in class. Therefore, the suggested study time for each module is 12 hours above and beyond the time it takes to listen to the lecture. Please refer to the schedule below for the order of topics.
Weeks | Topics and Notable Assignments | Text Readings** |
1 |
Health and Disease, Stress and Adaptation
|
Chapters 1 and 9 |
2 |
Cellular Adaptation, Injury, and Death. Neoplasia.
|
Chapters 5 and 8 |
3 |
Mechanisms of Infectious Diseases. Innate and Adaptive Immunity. Inflammation, Tissue Repair, and Wound Healing. Disorders of the Immune Response.
|
Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 |
4 |
Disorders of Motor Function. Disorders of Brain Function. Disorders of memory.
|
Chapters 19, 20 and 22 |
5 |
Disorders of Visual Function. Disorders of hearing and Vestibular Function.
|
Chapters 23 and 24 |
6 |
Disorders of the hemostasis. Disorders of Red Blood Cells. Disorders of White Blood Cells and Lymphoid Tissues
|
Chapters 26, 27 and 28 |
7 |
Disorders of blood flow in the systemic circulation. Disorders of blood pressure regulation. Disorders of cardiac Function. Disorders of cardiac conduction and rhythm. Heart failure and circulatory shock.
|
Chapters 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 |
8 |
MIDTERM EXAM
|
|
9 |
Respiratory tract Infections, neoplasms, and childhood disorders. Disorders of ventilation and gas exchange.
|
Chapters 36 and 37 |
10 |
Disorders of fluids and electrolyte balance. Disorders of Acid-Base balance. Disorders of renal function. Acute renal injury and chronic kidney disease. Disorders of the bladder and urinary tract.
|
Chapters 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 |
11 |
Disorders of the gastrointestinal function. Disorders of hepatobiliary and exocrine pancreas function.
|
Chapters 45 and 46 |
12 |
Disorders of endocrine control of growth and metabolism. Diabetes mellitus and the metabolic syndrome.
|
Chapters 49 and 50 |
13 |
Disorders of the male genitourinary system. Disorders of the female genitourinary system.
|
Chapters 52 and 54 |
14 |
Disorders of the musculoskeletal function: Trauma, Infection, Neoplasms, Developmental and metabolic disorders, Rheumatic disorders.
|
Chapters 57, 58 and 59 |
15 |
Disorders of skin integrity and function.
|
Chapter 61 |
16 |
FINAL EXAM
|
** Please go to individual weeks in Brightspace for detailed instructions.
Contact: Contact via Brightspace course messaging system. It will help us track messages better and get back to you promptly.
Office hours: by appointment
Further Assistance:
Your Student Service Advisor monitors course progression and provides assistance or guidance when needed. They can assist with questions regarding ordering course materials, University policies, billing, navigating the course in Brightspace, and more.
Your Student Service Advisor is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.
Questions? Visit the Student Support Science Prerequisites page
Check Brightspace for specific instructor and support specialist contact information.
Your Student Service Advisor monitors course progression and provides assistance or guidance when needed. They can assist with questions regarding ordering course materials, University policies, billing, navigating the course in Brightspace, and more.
The Student Lounge Discussion Board is a designated support forum in which students may engage with each other and grapple with course content. Feel free to post questions, seek clarification, and support each other, but be mindful of UNE's Academic Integrity Policy.
Your instructor will monitor this forum. However, if you are seeking specific and timely answers to questions about course content or your personal grades, please contact your instructor via course messages. For questions about course materials, program policy, and how to navigate and proceed through the course, please contact your Student Service Advisor through the Student Portal.
The University of New England has contracted with ProctorU to provide students with the most convenient online exam proctoring system. This system provides a simple, no cost to the student, secure, online proctor for exams and allows the student to take all the exams at home and on their own schedule.
Upon enrollment into the course, each student will register with ProctorU and establish a login name and password. This will give the student access to all of ProctorU's services. When ready, students will schedule each of their proctored exams with ProctorU. Exams must be scheduled at least 72 hours in advance to avoid fees. Prior to taking their exams, students must be sure that they have downloaded the ProctorU Chrome or Firefox extension and are using the most current version of Chrome or Firefox. They must also be sure their testing site's connection meets the minimum requirements by using ProctorU's "Test It Out" utility.
Upon the exam day and hour, students will log in to ProctorU and click on "exams". After following the procedures outlined at ProctorU's web site, the student will log in to Brightspace and locate their correct exam. The proctor will then allow student access to that exam.
Students must use ProctorU and must follow all proctoring requirements for their exams to be credited.
Proctored exams are not available for review at any time. You will not be able to see the questions, nor the answers you've given, after completing the exams. Please contact your instructor for specific feedback.
Discussion board assignments cover interesting current events or materials related to this course that contribute to a deeper understanding of key concepts and allow you to interact with your classmates and the instructor. Each assignment may require you to conduct internet research, read additional materials (a short journal or magazine article), visit a specific webpage, AND/OR view a short video prior to writing a response following the specific guidelines in the assignment.
To earn full credit: you will need to post a response to the discussion topic, respond to the original posts of at least two other students, and then contribute meaningfully to an ongoing discussion. You will need to post your initial response before you will see any posts from your classmates. Please keep in mind that only this initial response is included in your assignment grade, so make sure you have followed all of the guidelines and written a complete response prior to submitting the post. For special cases where one or two students are accelerating faster through the course, the instructor will participate in the discussion so that everyone has the opportunity to interact.
Please see your course for a full description, along with specific guidelines, for each assignment. Discussion board assignments should be completed, along with all other assignments in the course, in the order that they appear. Due to the course design, you may be unable to take a proctored exam if you do not complete all assignments that appear prior to that exam.
Please also refer to the Grading Policy/Grade Breakdown section of the syllabus to learn the percentage of your grade that each discussion board assignment is worth.
Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Programs: Technical Requirements
A schedule of lectures and assignments is included in this syllabus. This is, however a self-paced course and you can complete the course in less time.
Please visit the enrollment page to review the withdrawal and refund policies.
Students are expected to attempt and complete all graded assignments and proctored exams by the end date of the course. View the incomplete grade policy..
Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, only the student may request official transcripts. This may be done online by going to the University of New England Registrar website and following the directions on the page.
To view your unofficial UNE student transcript:
To request your official UNE student transcript:
Please review your Unofficial Transcript prior to requesting an Official Transcript.
After you click Submit Request, your official transcript will be put into the queue to be printed in the Registrar's Office.
The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:
Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.
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