Course overview
A major source of improvements in health outcomes in modern medicine have come from a precision medicine approach. Precision medicine involves the use of biomarkers, genetic information and state-of-the art imaging to ensure that the patient receives the right diagnosis; receives the right medicine for them and at the right dose for the right duration. This course will provide an overview of contemporary issues in pathology and pharmacology and expand on concepts developed in Essential Understanding of Disease and Treatment. Students will learn contemporary concepts in modern pharmacology, including basic pharmacokinetic concepts and drug-drug interactions, precision medicine and modern drug development. They will develop an understanding of the unique pathological and pharmacological factors impacting on different population groups and disease outcomes and how this can be exploited in precision medicine for both disease treatment and prevention.
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate knowledge of fundamentals concepts in precision medicine
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of genetics, genomics and epigenetics, including different populations and disease outcomes are impacted by variation, and how this can be exploited in precision medicine.
- Demonstrate knowledge of contemporary concepts in modern pharmacology and pharmacogenonics which determine individual responses to medicine, and how these shape the future of modern drug developments.
- Outline how precision modern treatments and technologies have influenced prevention, management, diagnosis and treatment in healthcare.
- Demonstrate basic understanding of how these targets, techniques and technologies are being applied to pathologies in infection, immunity and cancer to improve patient outcomes.