PATH30001: Mechanisms of Human Disease

2 x 1 hour multiple choice tests in semester (45 questions) worth 20% each. 1 x 3 hour exam worth 60%.

I really felt like there wasn’t well-coordinated. There are quite a few lecturers in their subject and they all kind of go about doing their own thing. This really became evident in the midsemester tests because a set of questions that were supposed to be on the first test came up on the second test instead (of course, these questions did not end up counting to the final mark). Although, I may also be biased because I also completed Molecules to Malady at the same time, which was brilliantly coordinated by Helen Cain and really well-structured in my opinion. I also never received replies regarding some questions I emailed to the coordinator.

Be prepared for a lot of ROTE learning. This is not a subject where you can look at a complex diagram or table and say “Oh, they wouldn’t expect us to remember that”. From the words of the coordinator himself, the multiple choice questions are testing us on little details. Probably the only thing that didn’t really come up was the specific percentage numbers related to epidemiology although it still may be required to identify certain trends (eg. is a disease more prevalent in males or females?).

Vicki Lawson was my favourite lecturer, just because I feel like her slides and her presentation is the most concise and you wouldn’t really feel like you need additional material asides from what is provided in her lecture notes. The questions she asks are usually quite fair as long as you have studied her lecture notes.

The final exam was 3 hours, consisting of 34 MCQs, 12 short answer questions and 2 essay-style questions. The MCQs are examined over all topics, unlike some other subjects which only examine MCQs based off lectures not already tested on midsemester tests. The short answer questions were worth 3 marks each and included questions like “List 3 things”, “Describe”, “Compare 3 points” and fill in the blanks. I didn’t enjoy the fill in the blanks because there was no word bank and sometimes it’s difficult to really understand what they are looking for specifically.

There were 2 essay questions to answer. With each essay, there were 4 choices available. We were given the general topics of the choices (not the actual question obviously). Our first essay topic was: injury, inflammation, healing and immunopathology. Our second essay topic was: central nervous system, renal injury, genetics and cancer. I recommend just coming up with your own essay question related to these topics and practising on that. For instance, “pneumonia vs ARDS”, “Crohn’s vs UC”, “Discuss the mediators and process of inflammation”, etc.

Oh. I really dislike lecturers that upload lecture slides where there is one powerpoint slide in portrait mode per page. Ugh. Prepare yourself for that. (Just a rant)

Overall, I didn’t really enjoy this subject, just because I felt overwhelmed at times with the amount of information and the vagueness of the lecture slides. If it wasn’t for the crossover between my other subjects (Principles of Immunology and Molecules to Malady), I felt like I would have really struggled. I definitely wouldn't pick this subject if you want something easy with a low workload. Having said that, I’m sure this subject is completely soft compared to what you have to learn in Medicine so maybe it might be a way to get a small taste of learning about a bunch of different diseases.

Yes, with screen capture.

A whole bunch. Here they are if you’re really interested.

No. Although I highly recommend searching up “Pathology” in the past exams site. Look for subject codes 531-3xx. Some questions are still relevant for the syllabus.

2.5 of 5

Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease(Kumar V. et al.). It is stated that this textbook is compulsory in the first lecture and that wider reading is expected. Honestly, I would recommend having access to the book because I found it really helpful to clarify some of the ambiguous lecture slides. Many of the lectures are just summarised versions of the textbook so it is perhaps faster to go through the book than to Google.

3 x 1 hour lecture per week

2014, Semester 1