General provisions

Part of the Bachelor program in biomedicine.

Entry requirements

Completed courses in Biochemistry 7 credits (3KB030), Anatomy 8 credits (3AN300), Cell- and molecular biology 15 credits (3MU123), Immunology 4,5 credits (3KB031) or equivalent.

Learning outcomes

The course should provide the student with basic knowledge of bacteria with a special focus on their medical importance. Medically important fungi and parasites are also highlighted.

Upon completion of the course the student is expected to:

Knowledge and understanding

- Be able to describe the structure, morphology and life cycle of medically important bacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms.

- Be able to account for microbiological techniques including substrate composition, sterilization techniques, disinfection, isolation techniques and isolation substrates.

- Be able to account for bacterial systematics and classification systems for bacteria, especially methods used for classification.

- Be able to describe growth, physiology, metabolism and genetic mechanisms of bacteria, especially those of importance for bacterial virulence and pathogenesis.

- Be able to describe mechanisms of spread, virulence and pathogenesis for medically important microorganisms and methods and strategies for treatment and profylaxis of such microorganisms.

- Be able to describe mechanisms of action of antibiotics and the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms behind bacterial development of antibiotic resistance.

Skills and abilities

- Be able to describe and perform bacteriological growth methods and sterile techniques used when handling bacteria.

- Be able to describe and perform diagnostic tests to identify medically important bacteria.

- Be able to describe and perform methods to determine bacterial susceptibilty to antibiotics.

Judgement and approach

- Be able to understand and analyse ethical issues in an adequate manner related to microbial spread and antibiotic use.

Content

The course includes structure, physiology and metabolism of medically important bacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms and how spread of pathogenic microorganisms occur and can be controlled through prophylactic measures or treatment of infections. A major focus area is how different genetic systems and evolutionary mechanisms among microorganisms affect virulence and pathogenicity. Mechanisms of action of antibiotics, bacterial mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and how these affect local and global health care is also incuded.

A continuous evaluation of the course design is ongoing and may result in some changes in the structure and content of the courses.

Instruction

The studies include lectures, professional training, seminars/workshops and laboratory work.

Beside the teaching methods specified in the syllabus other ways of teaching may be used during the course.

Assessment

To pass the course the student must have actively participated in and passed all mandatory parts of the course and have a sufficient result on the written individual examination.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.