Admission requirements
See Brightspace for the admission requirements.
International Students should have an adequate background in Medicine. Admission will be considered based on CV and motivation letter.
For more information, please contact internationalisering@lumc.nl.
Description
In this course, multiple medical disciplines will present a multitude of diseases in which the immune system plays a major role. A major contribution is given by the departments of pediatrics, rheumatology, neurology, pulmonology and nephrology. Furthermore, several (para-)medical and more biomedical/pharmaceutical disciplines will demonstrate and teach more ubiquitous topics such as immune diagnostics, allergy, (organ and hematopoietic stem cell) transplantation, auto-immunity, tumor immunology, infections and several innovative therapies.
In the first two weeks of this course, an introduction to the immune system will be given by extensive discussion of several primary immunodeficiencies and demonstrations of laboratory techniques to detect (auto-)immune diseases. These sessions will consist of lectures, working groups and patient demonstrations. Afterwards, several different (para-)medical disciplines will deepen your immunological knowledge by discussion and demonstrations of immune-mediated diseases and diagnostic tools. In addition to this, several days will be organized to present more innovative diagnostics and therapies. The final day of the course will be used for student presentations on grant proposals to perform research on an innovative diagnostic tool or therapy. This proposal will be prepared by the students during the half minor. Students will present their proposal during this symposium both orally and by means of a poster.
Course objectives
The student is able to:
Recognize (by taking a patients’ history and performing physical examination) and explain the pathogenic mechanism(s) and symptoms underlying immunological diseases (Medical expert)
Perform independent literature research based on a specific patient case and select relevant papers to analyse and report the immunological background of the patient case in detail (Academic)
Select diagnostic tests/laboratory techniques based on differential diagnosis and create a diagnostic plan for which the student can motivate the selection of tests and techniques. (Medical expert)
Interpret results from diagnostic tests and subsequently translate these results to potentially underlying immunological diseases (Medical expert)
Develop a therapeutic plan based on results from diagnostic tests and corresponding diagnosis and describe the method to check the effect of the intervention (Medical expert)
Relate the mechanism of disease of a systemic auto-immune disease to organ specific involvement by understanding the defective immunological components related to the disorder (Academic)
Formulate and communicate clearly in collaboration with other students about the imbalance between the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ immune system and develop a therapeutic plan with groups of therapeutics to manipulate the immune system in order to reach a balance again (Communicator, Collaborator).
Timetable
All course and group schedules are published on MyTimeTable.
The exam dates have been determined by the Education Board and are published in MyTimeTable.
It will be announced in MyTimeTable and/or Brightspace when and how the post-exam feedback will be organized.
Mode of instruction
Lectures, workgroups, practical assignments, patient demonstrations, clinical rounds, debates/ethical sessions, peer-teaching, team-based learning, self-study.
Assessment method
Summative assessment plan consists of:
Immunological Knowledge Exam (10%)
Report Immunological Mechanism behind disease (30%)
Grant proposal report and presentations (40%)
Short exam Neurology (5%)
Short exam Pulmonology (5%)
Short exam Nephrology (5%)
Short exam Rheumatology (5%)
Knowledge exam
The knowledge exam consists of 10 questions on Clinical Immunology
Rating: Mark 1-10
Assessment form: Mark depending on the number of right answered questions.
Assessed by: Minor coordinators
Assessment criteria: N/A
Report immunological mechanism behind disease
In Week 7, the students should combine all knowledge obtained in previous weeks by writing individually a report (2000-2600 words) on the immunological background of a specific immunological disease (received in Week 3).
Assessment: Mark 1-10
Assessed by: two specialists
Assessment criteria: see module book
Grant proposal
A pair of students will write an original research grant proposal for the development of an innovative therapy or tool in an immunological context. Students should formulate their research proposal based on current literature, new data, tempting viewpoints. They will be supervised by recurrent interaction with their respective tutors/specialists. On the symposium organized on the last day of the half minor each group of two students will present their proposal by an oral as well as a poster presentation.
Rating: mark 1-10
Assessed by: Minor coordinators and two specialists
Assessment: The grant proposal will be evaluated based on the written report, the presentations at the final symposium and involvement in the discussion at the symposium. The mark for the oral and poster presentations will be an average of the evaluation of half minor coordinators and the mark from the assigned personal tutor(s) (1:1 ratio). The students will also evaluate and rank all the posters using a written anonymous form. The poster with the highest rank will receive a poster award.
Assessment criteria: use of immunological knowledge into novel concepts, innovation, creativity, collaboration, communication, writing skills, presentation. Based on the rubrics for this specific assignment.
It is not allowed to choose the same topic as the topic of the report on immunological mechanisms behind disease (Week 7).
Short exam Neurology in Week 4
Assessment: Mark 0-10
Assessed by: Medical specialist of the corresponding week.
Assessment criteria: cccc
Short exam Pulmonology in Week 6
Assessment: Mark 0-10
Assessed by: Medical specialist of the corresponding week.
Assessment criteria: N/A
Short exam Nephrology in Week 7
Assessment: Mark 0-10
Assessed by: Medical specialist of the corresponding week.
Assessment criteria: N/A
Short exam Rheumatology in Week 9
Assessment: Mark 0-10
Assessed by: Medical specialist of the corresponding week.
Assessment criteria: N/A
Additional requirements
1.Oral presentations Laboratory visits in Week 1-2
Assessment: Pass/Fail
Assessed by: Diagnostic test teacher Week 1-2 and minor teachers
Assessment criteria: Short oral presentations to show understanding of the application and principle of a dedicated set of clinical tests.
2.Discussion on patient case in Week 1-3
Assessment: Pass/Fail
Assessed by: Medical specialist of the casus
Assessment criteria: Prepare for a discussion in a group of 4-6 students about the immunological mechanisms and diagnostic tools for a patient case.
3.Oral presentation on laboratory diagnostics of the Clinical Chemistry lab in Week 3
Assessment: Pass/Fail
Assessed by: Medical specialist and Minor teachers
Assessment criteria: Being able to prepare a clear presentation in a group of 4-6students about the diagnostic tools used at the clinical chemistry lab.
Presence
Absence has to be communicated in advance to the tutors of the half minor as well as to the tutor of the specific module. Presence during the complete program will be recorded. Additional tasks should be performed to compensate for the missed hours when coordinators were notified properly.
Re-examination
To pass the course, the report on immunological mechanisms behind disease, the grant proposal and the final mark have to be >5.5 and all pass/fail exercises should be passed. One exam or assessment can be repeated to pass this course.
A maximal number of two failed additional tasks might be repeated to pass all additional requirements.
Examination committee:
L.M. Slot, MSc, Dr D. Berghuis, Dr R.G.M. Bredius, Prof. A.C. Lankester and Prof R.E.M. Toes
The exam dates can be found on MyTimeTable.
Reading list
For the complete reading list for the bachelor of Medicine, see the Study Materials List GNK 2024-2025.
Registration
Information about the registration process can be found on the Brightspace course Half Minors.
Contact
L.M. Slot, MSC
LUMC, Dept. of Rheumatology
L.M.Slot@lumc.nl
Dr. D. Berghuis
LUMC, Dept. of Paediatrics
D.Berghuis@lumc.nl
Dr. R.G.M. Bredius
LUMC, Dept. of Paediatrics
R.G.M.Bredius@lumc.nl