This course introduces learners to the basic principles of disease processes. The causes, natural history, pathology and some pathophysiology of common disease processes, such as:

• Cell injury/death
• Inflammation and wound healing
• Immunologic disorders
• Hemodynamic disorders
• Neoplastic diseases
• Congenital diseases
• Environmental diseases
• Metabolic disorders

Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to:

• Describe a disease process with respect to its etiology, clinical signs, symptoms and significance, pathogenesis and morphologic tissue changes
• Distinguish between chromosomal and genetic disorders, autosomal dominant, recessive diseases and sex-linked disorders
• Identify pathologic stimuli that cause cell injury, distinguish reversible injury, cellular adaptations to injury, and cell death
• Identify the intracellular materials that may accumulate in injured cells
• Describe apoptosis and necrosis
• Describe acute inflammation including vascular and related tissue changes
• Describe chronic inflammation, including granulomatous changes and the tissue changes related to chronic inflammation
• Describe basic features of repair and regeneration
• Describe common infectious diseases
• Investigate disturbances in blood flow
• Describe physiological factors in inadequate and excessive immune response, and autoimmune disease
• Describe the characteristics of benign and malignant tumours – including classification and methods of diagnosis
• Explain the effects of environmental agents on the body
• Investigate the pathology of multi-systemic disease