Prospectus

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Depression and other Stress Related Disorders

Course
2016-2017

Admission requirements

  • Successful completion of How To Write A Research Proposal is helpful.

  • The course will be given at first year Master level. An introductory seminar will review both level and course content at the start of the course.

Description

Period: November 21 – December 16, 2016

This advanced course combines clinical aspects with fundamental issues in neurobiology, pathogenesis and treatment of stress-related brain diseases.
The course is a ‘joint venture’ of the departments of Psychiatry and Molecular Cell Biology (section Neurophysiology).

Specific topics are:

  • Clinical phenotyping, symptoms and diagnosis of depression and anxiety.

  • Pharmacology of depression and anxiety: efficacy and new drug development.

  • Epidemiology, genetics and etiology of depression and anxiety.

  • Comorbidity of stress-related syndromes with other CNS diseases (e.g. migraine, epilepsy, anorexia nervosa, post traumatic stress disorder, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome).

  • Pathogenesis, molecular mechanisms and novel drug targets.

  • Theoretical and practical experience in stress and depression research in the departments of psychiatry, molecular cell biology (section neurophysiology) and endocrinology (expert meetings).

  • Assignments to explore dedicated topics in the form of critical evaluations, research proposals and literature reviews.

The student will report the results in a clinical and preclinical research proposal and in two oral presentations.

This course will particularly work on:
Research competences:
Defining a research question, writing a research proposal, integrate different biomedical disciplines.
Professional competences:
Commitment, digesting other people’s opinions.

Course objectives

The student has a good understanding into:

  • main issues and methodology in the study of depression and other stress system disorders.

  • proposed theories and current scientific questions and how to evaluate them critically.

  • the student can convey this knowledge and its discrepancies in views to the other students.

  • students have to implement this knowledge into short reviews and in two research proposals which (s)he will also present orally.

Mode of instruction

Interactive lectures, patient demonstrations, work groups, active participation in two symposiums.

Assessment method

Clinical and preclinical research proposals; two oral presentations.
Further information about the assessment can be found on the Blackboardsite of this course.