In Tibet, traditional medical practitioners diagnose cancers simply by taking their patients’ pulses. In Medieval Europe, doctors would drink urine samples to test for diabetes. In modern allopathic medicine, we have a wide array of tests at our disposal to accurately diagnose disease.
This semilab will focus on one somatic system a day, exploring how small perturbations in their functioning lead to complex conditions, and the methods we use to figure out what went wrong. Through these systems and disorders, we will learn the basics of pathology, physiology, and through the methods of treatment used, pharmacology. This semilab will culminate in a discussion of ethics in medicine and their importance through real-world scenarios and cases. From the inner workings of the nervous system to the pathology of celiac disease, this semilab will take you from hospitals to labs, equipping you with the tools doctors use to pinpoint some of the most insidious maladies in our world.
Prerequisites: Background in Biology and Chemistry