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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies : BVMS

Undergraduate Course: The Animal Body (4) (BVMS08051)

Course Outline
SchoolRoyal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies CollegeCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe Animal Body (4) is a synoptic course that aims to integrate and consolidate the teaching of the previous three Animal Body courses.
A problem-based learning approach encourages students to deduce, from first principles, the responses of and interactions between different body systems under different pathophysiological or environmental circumstances.
The emphasis is on a sound understanding of normal structure-function relationships and homeostatic mechanisms. This permits the interpretation of (as yet) unfamiliar problems that may be encountered in veterinary medicine and surgery, and as such will serve as a strong basis for the clinical years of the BVM&S programme.
Course description 1. Subject areas
The subject areas to be studied fall into two categories:
a) Problem sets (6) - examining the responses of, and interactions between, different body systems to scenarios such as disease or altered environmental conditions.
b) Anatomy component comparative large animal anatomy
The ethos of the course is that the material that has been taught in the previous Animal Body courses / modules will equip students for Animal Body 4, and any new information is provided only to aid interpretation and understanding. Essentially, there is "no new teaching" within the problem sets although some problems may require students to apply their prior knowledge in a "new way". The specific problem sets included within the course will vary from year to year.

2. Deductive reasoning
For each problem set, the principle will be the same. Students are given information and asked to interpret it based on their knowledge. This should be a deductive process. For example, a good understanding of normal structure and function should allow deduction of the consequences of removal of a hormone (e.g. diabetes mellitus) or interpretation of special systemic adaptations (e.g. in diving mammals). By applying this knowledge, it is consolidated and carried forward.
Anatomy classes address various aspects of large animal (equine / ruminant) topographical and systems anatomy, and include short interpretative components based on clinical and management practices pertinent to these species.

3. Prior knowledge
It is likely that, in order to approach the problems and concepts discussed in AB4, students will need to reacquaint themselves with relevant areas of teaching from the previous AB courses / modules. This should be done prior to formal classes ("inverted teaching" / "flipped classroom" model).

4. Integration
After breaking the animal down into systems in Animal Body 3, Animal Body 4 is 'putting the animal together again'. Systems interact, and disease and adaptation usually have multi-systemic consequences.

5. Class format
Problem set classes are 3h long. They comprise a 2-hour peer discussion period followed by a summing-up session. During the former, students gather into small groups to consider the interpretation problems. As discussed above, it is expected that each student has attempted these problems prior to the timetabled classes, such that the session allows each to evaluate the others' arguments, and a collective decision to be reached. During the summing-up session, groups report their findings to the rest of the class.
Anatomy classes include a greater taught / demonstrated component but also include some interpretative and practical activities.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Students must be enrolled on a BVMS Veterinary Medicine degree programme in order to take this course.
Additional Costs None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2020/21, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Full Year
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 1, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 2, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 27, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2, Formative Assessment Hours 2, Summative Assessment Hours 1, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 161 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 80 %, Coursework 10 %, Practical Exam 10 %
Additional Information (Assessment) A synoptic examination
* A 1.5 hour Interpretation paper based on the problem sets and anatomy classes of Animal Body 4 (80 %)
* Oral (10%)
* Elective (10% presentation - 2.5% and essay 7.5%)
Feedback Verbal and written assessment feedback for elective presentation; written assessment feedback for elective essay.
Immediate verbal feedback provided during small-group class discussion and summing-up sessions to address uncertainties and correct misconceptions prior to end-of-course examination.
Examination feedback oral and written examination marks, along with more in-depth one-one feedback upon request (examination falls at end of summer term).
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Outwith Standard Exam Diets MayThe Animal Body 4 - Interpretation Paper1:30
Resit Exam Diet (August)The Animal Body 4 - Interpretation Paper1:30
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Apply the principles of homeostatic control to deduce the likely systemic responses to disease.
  2. Understand how disruption of normal cellular control processes may lead to neoplasia.
  3. Understand how homeostatic mechanisms may permit adaptation to different environments.
  4. Understand how individual endocrinopathies or dysfunction of a single body system can result in multisystemic effects.
  5. Discuss key comparative features of the topographic and systemic anatomy of the ox and horse.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Thalia Blacking
Tel:
Email: Thalia.Blacking@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Heather Thomson
Tel: (0131 6)50 6173
Email: Heather.Thomson@ed.ac.uk
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