THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Deanery of Biomedical Sciences : Biomedical Sciences

Undergraduate Course: Global Health and Infectious Diseases (BIME10021)

Course Outline
SchoolDeanery of Biomedical Sciences CollegeCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course is designed to consolidate many of the themes of global health and infectious diseases that students will have been exposed to in their earlier years at the University of Edinburgh.
Course description This course will be split broadly into five themes:
1. What is global health, and why are infectious diseases important in our modern world?
2. Health care challenges
3. Infectious disease in the developing world
4. Global health challenges
5. Food security

The lectures are organised to provide a clear transition from the origin and establishment of infectious diseases to their management and control.

Utilisation of Learn:
The course will also provide asynchronous support for student via the virtual learning environment, Learn. Students will be encouraged to discuss the lectures and their content on the discussion boards provided.

Additional reading and relevant information, as well as up-to-date discussion relating to local, national and international events of interest will also be presented within this resource. It is hoped that at the end of this course, students will be aware of the current events and developments within the sphere of global health and infectious diseases. Ongoing engagement with this information streams will be encouraged beyond the duration of this course.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Biomedical Sciences 3 (BIME09008)
It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Medical Microbiology 3 (BIME09002)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements It is highly recommended that students have passed Medical Microbiology 3. Students who are either enrolled on the BSc (Hons) Medical Sciences, or who spent their third year abroad, or who are taking an intercalated year, are exempt from the requirement to have taken and passed Biomedical Sciences 3.
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  0
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 34, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 6, Online Activities 2, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2, Formative Assessment Hours 1, Summative Assessment Hours 3, Revision Session Hours 4, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 144 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) Some of the workshop elements will benefit from access to the Internet.
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) This course is assessed solely by in-course assessment.

This high ICA emphasis will address concerns raised more widely regarding the receipt of relevant and timely feedback to inform the student on academic assessment and development. Formative feedback events will also be designed within the course composition, and information reiterated within the support resources of Learn.

There are three pieces of ICA and these will aim to be both innovative in their design, while still examining the intended learning outcomes of this course.
Feedback Feedback will be available throughout the course in many forms:

Interactions between yourself, your peers and the course team should be viewed as feedback. For example, direct contact with course staff will be provided via Learn, formative feedback, feed-forward and any assignment queries will be provided here. This allows full transparency for all students with regards the information provided.

Throughout this course, the workshops should be viewed as formative feedback events, these interactive sessions encourage students to articulate scientific concepts, and to evaluate and summarise subject specific information.

The formal feedback from the in-course assessments will be returned within 15 working days; this time period is consistent with the delivery of all courses offered by the Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences. This information and your provisional course grade will be available within the My Grades feature of Learn.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Identify the global challenge of infectious disease
  2. Explain the historical problems of neglected infectious diseases and the profound effects that the collapse of geographical space and increasing population growth have had on infectious disease epidemiology
  3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the principles and role of surveillance in identifying infectious disease priorities for a population and monitoring control strategies
  4. Have the ability to critically review and consolidate knowledge in this subject area; this will be promoted through in course discussions, both face-to-face and online
  5. Have the confidence to make judgments where data/information is limited or comes from a range of sources
Reading List
The field of Global Health and Infectious Diseases is a very dynamic one.

There is a wide range of resources that you can draw upon when researching this topic, some of which are suggested to you here.

Healthmap - this resource brings together disparate data sources, including online news aggregators, eyewitness reports, expert-curated discussions and validated official reports, to achieve a unified and comprehensive view of the current global state of infectious diseases and their effect on human and animal health. [http://healthmap.org/en/]

The Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases ¿ the goal of this journal is the recognition of new and re-emerging infections and understanding of factors involved in disease emergence, prevention, and elimination. [http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid]

PLOS Pathogens - From molecules to physiology, PLoS Pathogens publishes important new ideas on bacteria, fungi, parasites, prions, and viruses that contribute to our understanding of the biology of pathogens and pathogen¿host interactions. [http://www.plospathogens.org/home.action]

PLoS have also created a new publication channel called PLoS Currents: Outbreaks. [http://currents.plos.org/outbreaks/]

Promed - The global electronic reporting system for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases & toxins, open to all sources. [http://www.promedmail.org/?p=2400:1000]

The Lancet: Global Health [http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/issue/current]

TropNet - European Network on Imported Infectious Disease Surveillance

This list is by no means exhaustive and we can add items to it if you have further suggestions.

In addition, each lecture will be supplemented with recommended reading and resources. This information will be provided to you within the GHID Learn module.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsGHID,Global Health,Infectious Disease
Contacts
Course organiserDr Kim Picozzi
Tel: (0131 6)50 6257
Email: Kim.Picozzi@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Philip Horey
Tel: (0131 6)50 3160
Email: philip.horey@ed.ac.uk
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