Basic Information​

 

MEDSCI 311 is a paper that doesn’t deserve its bad press. It is an enjoyable paper comprising exciting laboratory components, stimulating lecture content, and extremely helpful lecturers. At its crux, the course wishes to produce autonomous thinkers and competent scientists. Reading journal articles that are often written by the respective lecturers, producing your own experiments, presenting a poster and working in a team are some such core values 311 wishes to pass on. There are only 2 lectures a week so there is plenty of time to read and appreciate the cardiovascular system.

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Lecture Content

 

Module A: Cardiac Function and Pathophysiology

Spans across 4 weeks and will be the content found within the midsemester test. 

 

Module B: Cardiac Pharmacology

Spans across Weeks 4 and 5 and will be the content found within the midsemester test. 

 

Module C: Cardiovascular Control

Spans across 4 weeks and will be the content found within the Final Exam. 

 

Module D: Fetal Physiology

Spans across 3 weeks and will be the content found within the Final Exam. 

 

Laboratories

 

There are 2 main labs in MEDSCI 311, the Cardiovascular Control labs and the Cardiovascular Function labs. The MEDSCI 311 cohort is split into half (Group A and Group B). While Group A works on the cardiovascular Function Labs, Group B works on the cardiovascular control Labs. This switches over upon completion of your lab topic. 

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MEDSCI311 labs run weekly and are conducted over the course of 4 weeks for each topic, with the lab report due at the end of those 4 weeks. There are only weekly labs for the first 6 weeks of the semester.

 

The lab rooms tend to change around every week so it is very important to double check with the lab manual so you do not show up to the wrong room !!

 

MEDSCI 311 lab reports are a big step up from 2nd year lab reports with a word count limit of +/- 4000 words. It is very important to chip away at the lab report throughout the 4 weeks. 

 

• Pro tip: write the introduction and methods etc as you are doing those components in the labs so you are on track in completing the lab report. 

• Note:  Your attendance at each session is compulsory. Absence at a laboratory or tutorial will result in a 0% grade for the related assessment and will impact your ability to pass the course. 

 

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Cardiovascular Function Lab

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This is the famous sheep heart lab. EXCITING !!

 

You are split into groups of 5 for this. 

 

Tips for Week 1 of the Cardio Function Labs

This is a pre-lab for the sheep heart lab the following week. 

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You will be brought down to Rohit’s lab where you will be conducting the thermodilution methods on the sheep the following week. Rohit goes over the thermodilution methods and a briefing over the ethical considerations in using live animals in lab work. You will also be shown the specific tasks required to be undertaken in the laboratory

(anaesthetist, surgeon, computer management) and you will be required to assign each

task to a group member. They will be responsible for this task during the experiment.

 

For this lab, it is very important you pay attention to the key concepts behind thermodilution and do some pre-reading in the lab manual on how thermodilution is used to measure cardiac output. I recommend bringing a small notebook for this session to take down any necessary notes from Rohit’s talk. 

 

Tips for Week 2 of the Cardio Function Labs

Prior to this lab, it is very important that you are adequately familiar with the flow of the experiments.

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Cardiovascular Control Labs

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In addition to the labs, there is also a poster presentation component based on the cardiovascular control lab. This involves making a poster in your lab group about your experiment and then presenting it to a few lecturers like those good old Science Fairs in intermediate school. 

 

Best advice that we could give would be to ask heaps of questions during the data-analysis lab session. They should give hints as to what they expect as they are the ones who will mark. Overall, personally I would rate MEDSCI 311 labs as one of my favourite experiences of my degree.

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Literature review

 

Finally, there is a literature review based on the topic of your choice. This task seems daunting but is more than possible to do well in. To not only do well, but also appreciate the experience, make sure you choose a topic that you are genuinely interested in. Have a look at other published reviews to get a feel for how literature reviews are structured and written to produce a cohesive understanding of the various perspectives and theories that exist surrounding the topic.  Anuj produced a web-based resource to help you guide you along this process as well as a Zoom Conference to answer specific questions. I would highly recommend you have a look at both resources to get you underway.

 

You must submit all assignments.

Reports are due 9 am on the due date. Late submission of assessments will incur a penalty of 10% of the possible marks per 24 hours late. Any report submitted more than 5 days late will not be marked and will receive a 0 grade.