Unit information: Pathological and Epidemiological Mechanisms of Disease in 2021/22

Unit name	Pathological and Epidemiological Mechanisms of Disease
Unit code	VETS30022
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Garcia da Noiva
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	All other first, second and third year units.
Co-requisites	All other fourth year units
School/department	Bristol Veterinary School
Faculty	Faculty of Health Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

• To provide an understanding of the basic processes of infectious disease and their impact on veterinary patients
• To clearly articulate how the immune system reacts to provide an appropriate response to injury and infection and how this informs veterinary treatment of patients with specific conditions
• To critically evaluate the function of research in informing clinical practice
• To understand the concept and principles of One Health and its application to veterinary nursing practice
• To extend the knowledge of students regarding the study of disease in the veterinary population (veterinary epidemiology)
• To consolidate previous learning and apply it to relevant elements of veterinary public health
• To provide competency in critical analysis and management of data and study outcomes

Intended Learning Outcomes

• To collect, integrate and communicate reliable knowledge of physiology of disease and how this informs therapy.

• To explain and illustrate the immune response to injury and infection, and how this relates to therapy including vaccination in the control of infectious disease.

• To explain principles of epidemiology and One Health, and be able to apply these principles in understanding disease processes seen within clinical nursing practice.

• To correctly and effectively apply knowledge on veterinary public health to clinical practice.

• To demonstrate a coherent understanding of how research contributes to medical advances and disease control, and how using the principles of the scientific approach leads to evidence based medicine, better clinical practice and improved disease control.

Teaching Information

Online synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning

Small group working

Use of Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard)

Assessment Information

Formative assessment:

Students will undertake formative individual and group tasks (e.g. creation of
presentations, review of papers) as part of the unit. These tasks will prepare
students for the summative capstone assessment.

Summative Assessment:

An individual summative assessment task (100% of Unit Marks) building on and demonstrating the knowledge and skills developed during the unit. Students must achieve the passmark (40%) in summative assessment. There will be an opportunity to resubmit the summative assessment task (during the resit period) if required.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. VETS30022).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.