Course Descriptions
Clinical Gross Anatomy - MCHA500 (5)
This course builds the foundation required for students to learn basic descriptive, functional and clinical human anatomy through didactic lectures, small group learning activities and e-learning modules. Hands-on application of anatomical concepts and relationships will be gained through whole body dissection in small groups.
Instructional Methods - MCHA501 (2)
The course prepares students with theoretical foundations and practical techniques to plan, apply and design appropriate instructional methods while serving as a teaching assistant. It introduces a wide range of instructional methods and discusses techniques of writing good examination questions.
Medical Imaging - MCHA502 (2)
This course applies basic foundational anatomy principles to medical imaging including X-ray, MRI, CT and ultrasound. Students are expected to apply their cross-sectional knowledge to the interpretation and acquisition of medical images.
Embryology - MCHA503 (3)
This course consists of lectures devoted to the student's understanding of how the human body develops. Topics covered will include early embryogenesis, organogenesis and clinical embryology.
Histology of Cells and Tissues - MCHA510 (2)
The overall goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of how cells become specialized to form tissues and how those tissues form organs. The course provides an essential foundation for understanding structure-function relationships in normal organs and how those relationships are affected by pathogenic mechanisms.
Introduction to Research - MCHA520 (3)
This course provides the knowledge necessary to understand the purpose and process of educational research and help learners become informed consumers of research literature in the field of medical and health professions education. It will survey the major types of educational research in this area including qualitative and quantitative forms of analysis to better answer questions which cannot be studied in laboratory settings, particularly in the social sciences and education. This course will also prepare students for their Capstone projects.
Teaching Assistant - MCHA504 (2)
This course allows students to serve as teaching assistants for medical, physician assistant or graduate courses in gross anatomy or histology. Responsibilities would include prosection of specimens, laboratory instruction, small group facilitation, course reviews and design of innovative study materials.
General Mechanisms of Disease - MCHA530 (3)
The General Mechanisms of Disease module serves as a transition from the foundational modules to the organ systems modules. It focuses on the general mechanisms of disease, introducing students to microbiology and infectious disease, principles for discriminating healthy from unhealthy conditions and predicting clinical manifestations. The course consists of face-to-face lectures by basic science faculty focusing on major principles and their biomedical applications. Exams are used to assess foundational knowledge and facilitate knowledge integration and are designed to facilitate student review and self-assessment. The PathA student will complete approximately 60 contact hours. The course will have three major non-comprehensive multiple choice exams each covering approximately 6 to 8 hours of lecture content. The course will assess topic-specific foundational knowledge and facilitate disease knowledge integration.
Capstone Project - MCHA507 (3)
All students participate in a capstone experience through a synthesis and integration of knowledge gained through their coursework and other learning experiences, with the application of anatomical specimen preparation, medical education, clinical trainers/phantoms, service learning or simulation. The project must be an original work of scholarship or research.
Functional Neuroanatomy - MCHA516 (3)
This course presents an overview of the human nervous system so that a student can understand the function of its complex parts as they relate to each other, to normal brain function and to major neurologic and psychiatric problems. This is an integrated neuroscience course that includes molecular, developmental, anatomical, metabolic, physiologic and pathologic concepts. Learning methodologies include lectures, wet labs, special dissections, small group problem-based learning and peer-to-peer teaching.
MCAT Preparation - MCHA534 (4)
Students take an MCAT preparation course taught by the Princeton Review during the first year of the program. EVMS faculty advisors and academic counselors will monitor students' progress in the course. Approximately 60 hours of in-class preparation per semester. This course requires an additional fee.
Pathophysiology - PATH510 /MCHA536 (4)
This course is a didactic presentation of human pathophysiology designed for Health Professions students. A clear understanding of the etiology, pathogenesis, pathophysiology and morphologic changes of disease serves as an essential basis for the understanding and competent practice in all areas of medicine. Students in this course will: Develop a background and vocabulary in pathophysiology; acquire an understanding of general physiologic/pathophysiologic processes such as inflammation, repair, neoplasia and senescence; survey pathophysiologic processes and morphologic changes which manifest in organ systems and establish a basis for the understanding of disease; exercise an approach to clinical problems which evaluates symptoms, signs and findings with a knowledge of pathophysiology to formulate a diagnosis with due consideration of differential diagnoses.
Plastination Training in Guben, Germany - MCHA509 (4)
Students would travel to learn plastination techniques from world experts at the Plastinarium in Guben, Germany. In conjunction, students would prepare dissections for plastination. This course requires an additional fee.
