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Course Objectives and Syllabus Clinical Medicine, Pathophysiology, and Pharmacology

Integrated Objectives

Summer Semester 2020

Course Number: PAS 704, PAS 710, PAS 707

Course Title: Clinical Medicine I, Pharmacology I, Pathophysiology I

Credit Hours: 5, 2, 2 (respectively)

Semester: Summer 2020

Contact Hours: Thirteen hours of lecture per week with supplemental learning for critical thinking skill development and patient education plus team-based learning assignments, exercises, and application activities

Meeting Times: Monday through Friday 8-12

Critical Thinking Skill Development, Patient Education every Friday 3-5

Team-Based Learning 3-5 PM every Monday, 1-3 PM every Friday

Clinical Cases 1-3 PM every Tuesday

Anatomy Clinical Medicine TBL 3-5 every Tuesday

Meeting Place: CANVAS Online Course until return to campus

Physician Assistant Lecture Classroom, C1847

Grand Rounds, As Announced, Penn State College of Medicine

Instructors: Edward Jones, MD, MPH

Christine Bruce, MHSA, PA-C

David Richard, MD

Sarah Lewis, PA-C

Other PA faculty, as assigned

Office hours for the above, as posted in PA Office

Textbooks, required:

Harrison’s On Line; 19th edition, McGraw Hill; 2015;

Available via Penn State Harrell Library

Katzung BG. Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. 12th ed. Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange, 2011.

ISBN

978-0071764018

McPhee SJ, et al. Pathophysiology of Disease. 6th ed., 2010; McGraw Hill;

ISBN: 978-0-07-162167-0

Goldberger Clinical Electrocardiography, A Simplified Approach, 8th Edition, 2013, Elsevier, Saunders. ISBN: 978-0-323-06786-5 (electronic book available through PSU Harrell Library

Student Learning Support:

Lecture materials will be posted on Canvas for all lectures in the curriculum. All Team-Based Learning material will be available on Canvas. Specific reading assignments for TBL may also be emailed to the class as a whole. Specific learning outcomes for each lecture and team-based learning assignment will be posted on Canvas. Course learning outcomes will be listed in this document.

Course Descriptions: PAS 704

Clinical Medicine I

This is the cornerstone of all the medically relevant courses. Various disease processes will be described, along with the incidence, prevalence, pathophysiology, treatment plans, and expected outcomes. This course is organized into blocks covering: cardiology, pulmonary medicine, immunology, and gastroenterology. Grand Round presentations at the Hershey Medical Center may be used to supplement the topics in this class and will be assigned, as needed. The Internal Medicine Grand Rounds are held every Tuesday. Students will be informed of the topic for the Grand Round Lectures and will be given expected learning outcomes about the topic. Instructors will also be introducing laboratory methods information into this course as part of the clinical medicine coverage area which will also be supplemented by the interpretive methods (laboratory interpretation) class. The Medical Terminology Test held at the beginning of the semester will be counted toward the Clinical Medicine section of PAS 704. The test questions for the medical terminology will be counted at a lower percentage (25%) toward the number of points awarded for the final question numbers (i.e., a 200 question medical terminology test will be converted to a 50 point question equivalent). Team-Based Learning and Critical Thinking Skill Development/Patient Communications will support information provided in this class. Prerequisite: Pre-Clinical phase student in the Physician Assistant Program.

For the start of the summer 2020 semester, there will be approximately 2 hours/week for anatomy lecture and case based discussion. These anatomically related discussions will help to support the topics that are being covered and clinical medicine: Cardiology, pulmonary, and gastroenterology. These discussions may be learning for the sake of learning and there will not be tests directly from this material. The anatomy TAs will be providing anatomical overview and PA faculty will be addressing cases related to anatomy of the structures. These sessions will be delivered on-line until the face to face curriculum is resumed.

PAS 710 Pharmacology I

This class will review the basic principles of drug action, their indications, contraindications, toxicities, and potential side effects. Students will be able to study the commonly used drugs affecting the autonomic nervous system, central nervous system, cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, the immune system, and gastrointestinal systems. Prerequisite: Pre-Clinical phase student in the Physician Assistant Program.

PAS 707 Pathophysiology I

This class provides a systems approach to basic concepts of disease processes prior to analyzing common alterations to body systems. Normal physiology components will be discussed as part of the class but the emphasis for this class is in the area of pathophysiology. Concepts are reviewed for the understanding that disease processes represent a disruption in homeostasis and a breakdown of normal integration of structure and function. Pathology regarding the following systems will be presented: cardiology, pulmonary, immune, and gastroenterology. Prerequisite: Pre-Clinical phase student in the Physician Assistant Program.

Course Goals: (please note: these goals are general since specific course topics will have power points and lecture learning outcomes for all topics)

At the conclusion of these integrated courses, the student will be able to:

Demonstrate the ability to formulate differential diagnosis and evaluation methods for patients who present with disease conditions in the following systems: cardiology, pulmonary, immunology, and gastroenterology. Develop a treatment plan for patients who present with different entities in cardiology, pulmonary, gastroenterology, and immunology. Describe the presentation, key findings, and underlying causes of both normal and abnormal disease processes in cardiology, pulmonary, gastroenterology, and immunology. Explain the importance and role of diagnostic evaluations that are used for patients who present with diseases related to the following systems: cardiology, pulmonary, gastroenterology, and immunology. Differentiate between various clinical conditions in the areas of cardiology, pulmonary, gastroenterology, and immunology. Explain the various disease underlying processes in the areas of cardiology, pulmonary, gastroenterology, and immunology.

Individual Lecture learning outcomes will be posted on Canvas along with each lecture powerpoint presentation. Copies of the lecture material may be available to the students from the print shop, as requested. Reading assignments for each topic area will correspond to these topic sections in Harrison’s which is electronically available via the Penn State College of Medicine Library. Reading assignments for the team-based (group active learning) will be posted on Canvas and via email to the class as the semester progresses. The TBL lectures will follow the course topics in clinical medicine or pharmacotherapeutics. Topic areas can also be requested by students if they feel additional instruction and learning is needed.

Methods of Instruction:

The format for this course will be in the traditional mode of formal lecture presentation, team-based learning with peer instruction and discussion, and case-based scenario treatment and evaluation decision discussion. Grand Rounds through Penn State College of Medicine and Hershey Medical Center can be assigned for attendance, as announced.

Disabilities:

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for reasonable academic adjustments in this course, contact the College of Medicine Disability Services Coordinator at pmoodie@hmc.psu.edu.

For further information visit the Office for Disability Services Web site at http://equity.psu.edu/ods/ (Links to an external site.).



In order to receive consideration for course accommodations, you must contact the College of Medicine Disability Services Coordinator (DSC) and provide documentation (see the documentation guidelines at http://equity.psu.edu/ods/guidelines/documentation-guidelines (Links to an external site.)). If the documentation supports the need for academic adjustments, the DSC will provide a letter identifying appropriate academic adjustments. The DSC coordinator will work with your instructors to ensure the accommodations are provided.

Academic Honesty:

Honesty and integrity are essential to any medical profession. Anyone caught lying, cheating, or stealing is subject to a zero on that examination. A second infraction will subject the student to possible dismissal from the program and/or university. Egregious infractions may also lead to immediate dismissal. Please refer to the Student Handbook for discussion of Penn State University policy. All actions will be consistent with Penn State College of Medicine policies and procedures.

Evaluation of Student Progress:

The final grades for each course will be assigned from the table below and will derive from a percentage based upon the following earned percentages:

93-100: A Honors (4.0)

87-92: B+ High Pass (3.5)

80-86: B Pass (3.0)

70-79: C Low Pass (2.5)

<69: F Fail (0)

Each test question will be weighted evenly with all of the others. The final examinations will be cumulative for the entire semester’s material, or as announced by Dr. Jones. The final grade will be calculated based on the total number of questions that are used during the semester. The grades from the team-based individual and group readiness assessment activities and peer review of the members of the group will be used as part of the clinical medicine grade.

The final clinical medicine grade will be 80% from the integrated clinical medicine course and 20% from the TBL combined grade. The final team-based grade will be based upon the average of the individual and group assessment tests over the entire semester multiplied by the peer assessment score, as will be described in detail below.

Team-Based Learning Peer Assessment:

The groups will mainly consist of 5 members. Each person in the group will be allotted 100 points to distribute to all members within the group. You cannot award yourself any points. You cannot assign the same number of points to each member in the group. You must assign points to every member in the group. The final number of points will be placed as a percentage and this percentage will be the multiplier for the combined individual and group assessment score average. There will be a final percentage score that will be determined and this score will count as 10% of the final clinical medicine score. The final percentage obtained after factoring in IRAT, GRAT, and peer assessment will make connote 20% of the final integrated clinical medicine course.

Active Learning Dynamics: Team-Based Learning:

Each topic reading or activity assignment will be clearly communicated to the class. The students will be told which of the topics that the test will be covered prior to the examination. Students will take the individual test followed by the group test which will be taken on the IF-AT forms (immediate feedback assessment test) or wil be given feedback after the group grade is submitted. 50% of the final grade will be the average from the GRAT scores, 40% from the average of the IRAT scores, and 10% from the peer-rated scores that each group member will rate the other members. Peer ratings will be explained to the class so that each student can receive qualitative and quantitative feedback each semester.

At the conclusion of taking the individual and group tests, a series of clinically-applicable scenario questions will be presented to the group and group discussion will ensue. The groups will then vote for the preferred answer and group-to-group discussion can then occur. The application questions that are presented as part of these active peer learning activities will not be assigned a grade but will permit the student to apply information gained on this topic for future use in clinical scenarios.

Attendance:

Participation in all class sessions is important for learning the course material. If absences do occur, it is the student’s responsibility to make up whatever work has been missed. Attendance at all scheduled examinations is mandatory. Team-Based Learning works best if all members of the group attend the seminars. Peers will be assigning the peer-based grades for these activities and absences can be used to downgrade a group member’s peer-based rating. Unavoidable absences from examinations will be rescheduled at the discretion of the instructor. If the instructor allows a make-up examination, the examination may be given in a different format than the original test (examples may include but are not limited to oral examination or essay).

The Program reserves the right to require a licensed health care provider’s medical excuse for students who are absent from any of the scheduled tests or quizzes. This excuse is required if the student misses the scheduled final examination.

Addendum:

COVID-19 Syllabus Statement: “We know from existing data that wearing a mask in public can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community (Lyu & Wehby, 2020; CDC, 2020; Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2020). In accordance with PA Department of Health regulations and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Pennsylvania State University has determined that everyone will be required to wear a face mask in university buildings, including classrooms. You MUST wear a mask appropriately (i.e., covering both your mouth and nose) in the building if you are attending class in person. Masks have been provided for students, instructors, and staff, and everyone is expected to wear one while inside any university building.