Microbiology in Relation to Medicine
BSc in Microbiology in Relation to Medicine
Covering a broad range of topics including bacteriology, virology and immunology, Microbiology provides a strong basis for almost any career in medicine.
Course Co-ordinator
Dr John Heritage
Faculty of Biological Sciences
Tel: 0113 343 5592
Email: J.Heritage@leeds.ac.uk
Objectives
To provide medical students with an opportunity to improve their scientific understanding and technical skills in relation to Microbiology and to permit them to obtain an honours degree in a subject of relevance to their careers in Medicine.
Content of the Course
(a) Knowledge
Teaching will be through lectures, practical classes, seminars, small group teaching, tutorials and a research project. The material covered in the course will include coverage of topics in bacteriology, virology, mycology, and immunology. Tutorials will be arranged to cover specific topics in medical microbiology, and to support the general progress of students through the year. Microbiology in Relation to Medicine is taught in modules. The following modules comprise the programme:
MICR3110 Medical Microbiology Research Project (worth 40 credits)
MICR3211 Advanced Topics in Microbiology 2 (worth 20 credits)
MICR3341 Microbiology in Relation to Medicine: Skills (worth 40 credits)
MICR3342 Infectious Agents and the History of Disease (worth 20 credits)
Responsibility for the modules that comprise this programme will reside with the individual module managers. The course is supplemented by required attendance at Faculty research seminars, many of which are given by invited external speakers, including eminent microbiologists.
(b) Skills
Manipulative laboratory skills, data analysis and problem solving will be developed during the programme. Skills required for the execution of research projects will be taught as required.
(c) Research
A medical research project will be undertaken under the direct supervision of a member of the Academic Staff of the Faculty, and may involve guidance offered by post-doctoral scientists, graduate students and technicians as appropriate. Assessment of the project will be undertaken partly by the Supervisor, and partly by two other members of Academic Staff with appropriate expertise in the subject area. It is their responsibility to assess the final written report (about 30 pages in length). Previous research projects have, on occasions, been published in peer‑review journals.
Assessment
Assessment will be through both in‑course assessment and final written examinations. In‑course assessment exercises will include tests of practical skills, essay writing, data manipulation and problem solving. The research project will be assessed continuously and on the final written project report. Degree classification will be based upon the marks obtained in each of the component modules.
Further information
Students who wish to find out more about microbiology may like to explore some useful web sites. These include:
http://www.socgenmicrobiol.org.uk/ - the Society for General Microbiology;
http://www.asm.org/- the American Society for Microbiology;
