Unit information: Heart and Valve Disease in 2015/16

Unit name	Heart and Valve Disease
Unit code	SOCSM0005
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Saadeh Suleiman
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Bristol Medical School
Faculty	Faculty of Health Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

This unit aims to deliver a comprehensive coverage of key topics related to adult cardiac and valve disease, including diagnosis of disorders and integration of pathophysiology with clinical management. Topics to be covered include: the clinical problem, patho-biology, genomics, epidemiology, patient assessment (from GP to clinic), (ECG, angiogram to imaging, Interventions and treatments, complications). Ongoing pre-clinical and translational research examples (including the use of stem cells, novel clinical pharmacology approaches, micro-RNAs and gene therapy) will be presented to illustrate the current understanding and progress of in this treatment of this clinical problem. The current pre-clinical models that can be utilized to assess the effectiveness of newly proposed approaches will be outlined.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students successfully completing this module will be able to:

• Describe the diseases of the heart and the valves commonly seen in adults.
• Explain the causes, progression and management of adult non-ischaemic heart and valve disease.
• Discuss the ongoing pre-clinical and translational research related to heart and valve disease.
• Understand the impact of recent advances in technology in the treatment of heart and valve disease.

Teaching Information

• Web-based lectures, tutorials and practical demonstrations (in powerpoint-with-audio format)
• Online discussion forum(s)
• Self-directed study
• Hands-on practical workshops held in Bristol.

Assessment Information

1. Coursework (contributing a total of 60% to the unit) consisting of:

• 5 sets of multiple choice questions (MCQs) of a simple format (e.g. select an answer from a short number of options, true/false), each contributing 5% to the unit, giving a total of 25%.
• 1 short essay contributing 20% to the unit.
• 3 short answer question sets or extended MCQs, each contributing 5% to the unit, giving a total of 15%.

Please note that students will be given formative feedback on all coursework assessment.

2. Written exam (contributing a total of 40% to the unit and taken in Bristol) consisting of:

• 1 essay contributing 20% to the unit.
• 1 sets of MCQs contributing 20% to the unit.

The overall pass-mark for the unit will be 50%. However, students will be required to reach a minimum standard in both their coursework and their written exam; only 5% compensation between the total coursework element and the total exam element will be allowed.

Reading and References

1. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine (2007) by Libby. Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier. Complete text available online (subscription)
2. Harrison's Cardiovascular Medicine (2010) by Joseph Loscalzo. Publisher: McGraw-Hill, USA. ISBN 0071702911 / 9780071702911 (also available as eBook)
3. http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/webpath.html#MENU