Hi,
I needed help in choosing an elective module for second year. If someone can share their experiences from any one of the below mentioned list of modules and also why I should choose that module it would be great help.
Thanks
1. Human genetic disorders
2. Cell biology and developmental genetics
3. Comparative and integrative physiology
Hi,
I did Human Genetic Disorders back in 2018, so the content of the course will have course been updated with new developments in the field.
Firstly, it is a more clinically orientated module than many of the others offered. There is less emphasis on the complex genetics of the disorders covered and more on how they effect people and how they are diagnosed. You do a lot of tutorials where you all take on a role in an MDT meeting. You will also learn how to take pedigrees and identify from a pedigree the type of inheritance pattern. You will study autosomal dominant and recessive inheritance, x-linked disorders, and touch complex inheritance. You'll also learn about chromosomal disorders.
However, you will also learn about the different types of tests done to diagnose a genetic disorder such as FISH etc. You will also learn about how areas of the genome were targeted to discover where the mutations for various disorders could be found, and about the human genome project
Secondly, there is a fair bit of coursework. Perhaps more than for other modules. If the timetable is the same then it is also at 9am on a Thursday (perhaps all 2and year electives are I don't know) so bear that in mind I your someone with a tendency to skip 9am lectures (like a lot of us).
If you find genetic disorders interesting enough to already have a basic working knowledge of human genetic disorders this module is a very good choice. Even if you don't, the lectures and seminars are very engaging. It was definitely one of my favourite classes, even if I did constantly lose marks for accidentally using Harvard style referencing instead of Vancouver style.
Hi,
I also took HGD but I took it last semester (2019). Cerys' comment perfectly summarised the module, however I wish to touch on one thing they stated. I'm not sure what course they are on, but while there is a fair bit of coursework, I don't believe the coursework was more than other modules. (If you are biomed, then physiology II and techniques in biomed have a lot more coursework to do in my opinion).
There are multiple tutorial sessions to attend however all of them are optional. I would highly recommend going to them since they're pretty fun/engaging sessions and you do expand on your knowledge from lectures and also apply it in case studies etc.
The lectures themselves go further than just teaching about genetics of some disorders. While genetics is a large amount of the lectures, you look at other aspects of the disorder such as physiology and sometimes even ethics. In terms of timetabling, HGD was at a decent time, from 11-1pm Mondays for our year.
Both lecturers for this module are excellent. They make the lectures a good mix of educational and also interactive. Feedback for coursework always comes back within the 15 day turnaround and they really do go above and beyond to bring the best feedback that actually helps (far better than other modules!).
All in all, I have to say HGD has definitely been my favourite module from the 2 years I've been studying at QM. I'd highly highly recommend it even if you aren't the biggest fan of genetics because it's so much more than the title of the module. I hope this helps, best of luck with choosing your elective!
Yeah they’ve revised the course structure of all modules a fair bit since I did it (I do biomed and started in 2017). There’s now a lot more coursework in all modules, or so I’ve been told, and they’re planning to weight the coursework more too. When I did it you maybe had 1 or 2 pieces of coursework for most modules (not including labs) because everything was about the exam. I’m glad they’ve stopped it being a Thursday 9am, if you like going to Hail Mary then Thursday 9am is not a lecture you’ll be at your best in.
Totally agree with Kulsoom that you should definitely attend the tutorials; they were, in my opinion, the best part of the course. They’re also really useful for learning the content properly.
It certainly is a fantastic module. I didn’t have to think hard about taking Advanced Human Genetic Disorders for final year, it was the first elective I chose.
Hi,
I did both Human genetic disorders Cell biology and developmental genetics back in 2018 in my second year. I feel for hgd which was a compulsory module for me, you have to do a lot of extra reading to understand the complexity of the conditions which they don’t cover in lectures and only just outline the characteristics and current treatment of the diseases and a few more genetic and prenatal screening techniques. hgd is a pre requisite for advanced hgd in year 3.
Whilst for cell bio and developmental biology, they focussed on the depth rather than the breadth of the module content. Also the coursework was pretty easy. Just 4 clickers and the same questions cane up for mcqs in exam. And also for section B & C even if you cover just only half of the module content and revise mcqs, will fetch you a first.
But if you like neuroscience and intent to pick neuroscience in your year 3, you should take physiology and integrative biology which is a prerequisite.
Regards,
Nilofer
Comparative and integrative physiology was very good, the whole course was taught well, in a way that was easy to understand.
The practicals is fun and very different from first year. You actually get to observe real life animals and conduct experiment on them.
The coursework are fine as long as you revise and prepare for them.
Hiya!
So I took Comparative and Integrative Physiology and I found it very useful as a Neuroscience student due to it directly linking to modules such as Biomedical Physiology I and II and Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience.
The first half of the course is very cellular and molecular-based, looking at ligand and voltage-gated ion channels and neuropeptide signalling, and the mechanisms of phototransduction and olfactory transduction. These are taught by Professor Elphick (who loves starfish and you'll have a practical with them!)
After an in-class MCQ, the content is more biology-based, reminiscent of the A-Level Biology course but, obviously, at a higher level. These lectures are taught by Dr Greg Szulgit (you may know him from Biomedical Physiology I and II) and he is honestly a ray of sunshine! Examples of lecture titles are Gas Exchange and Ventilation, Globins and Circulation, Osmoregulation, and so on.
Personally, I enjoyed the difference between the 2 sets of content; the first half consolidated and added to previous knowledge from other moduled and the second half felt like a "breath of fresh air" as I had missed learning about, understanding and discussing animals.
Exam-wise, you must have a good grasp of the lecture material; perhaps have a look at past paper MCQs to have an idea of what to expect. Each lecture has a slide of references for recommended reading and it is a very good place to start if you wish to do so (always recommended but I know not all of us do/can cover it all so I would like to reassure you that you can get very good marks even without doing so, as long as you are confident with the lecture content)
The 3 practicals: one is about starfish and you have the opportunity to hold one too, if that's something you'd like to do! There is a computer-based practical about neurophysiology and, lastly, a practical assessing Daphnia (water flea) heart rate, after which, you must submit a lab report.
Hope this information was useful and I wish you luck in choosing your modules!
Hope you are well in these, frankly, crazy times,
Emma (2nd year neuro student)
Hi
I was wondering if there's anyone who had done :
Evolutionary genetics
Gene transmission
Gênes and Bioinformatics
I just wanted to know more about what the course is about, coursework/exams and hopefully if it's fun, so I know what to choose for 2nd year.
Thank you
Hi - I took both those modules this semester but I'll only speak about the Microbial Physiology and Growth as it was my elective.
Our lectures took place on Thursdays at 9am something to consider if you're able to make the early lecture. Lectures themselves were interesting but it's important to remember it's a physiology module if anything.
This means you'll be learning a lot about how micro-organisms survive and the biochemical/metabolic processes that take place. You'd also be going through their diversity, both physiologically and genetically and even some of the ecology surrounding microbial worlds (i.e. the types of environments different microbes are present in and why).
Any mention of pathogenic micro-organisms are brief and you definitely won't be looking into detail at the pathogenesis of their associated diseases.
I'd say the Microbial Physiology and Growth module nicely linked to the Membrane Cellular and Biochemistry module - so if you're a biochemist - it could mean it's easier to learn the modules as they - at times - heavily overlap.
I'd also say a fair bit of wider reading was expected from the course to gain a solid understanding of some of the content that was gone over during the lecturers but this is really expected of all 2nd year modules I'd imagine.
Due to learning moving online around halfway through the semester, our labs were unfortunately cancelled however had they'd have taken place I imagine they'd have been very similar to the ones that were set in the Membrane & Cellular Biochemistry module.
Having done the labs purely online means I can't give a fair evaluation of them - however at times they were slightly challenging, and definitely required a decent knowledge of unit conversions. I'm sure doing them in person - with Phd students floating about would make the experience easier.
I think if you're interested in learning more about the biology of micro-organisms and how they survive etc Microbial Physiology is a good choice... it's definitely sparked some interest in me.
Hi- Just wanted to reply to the queries about Human Genetic Disorders!
I took Human Genetic Disorders in semester A as it was compulsory for me as a Medical Genetics student. I really enjoyed it and was one of my favourite modules in second year! Dr Jayne Dennis and Professor Andy Silver lead the module and their lectures were always enjoyable, particularly Dr Dennis's, her teaching style is incredibly engaging and she gives you opportunities to ask questions and will also give time for peer discussion, particularly on ethical/regulation topics. Professor Andy's lectures were a bit drier for me, but that may just be because I preferred Dr Dennis's teaching style. He still gives lots of opportunity for questions and both are very approachable and want you to engage and ask questions at the end of lectures if you don't want to in the lecture. The module itself covers a wide range of things focusing on key genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, Huntington's disease etc. and their treatment, clinical research/new findings and drugs, diagnosis and management for affected individuals. There is a focus on diagnostic methods e.g. FISH and qPCR and of course the focus on the inheritance of the disease. Workshops are built in which simulate a multidisciplinary team, how to draw pedigrees and the importance of family histories as well as one focusing on linkage analysis if I remember correctly. Although they may feel long, they're so useful for reviewing content and increasing your understanding and putting content into 'real-world' context and giving some careers insight too with the multidisciplinary team one. There is also an ethical focus, looking at regulations for trialing new drugs and getting you to think about the impact of 'curing Down syndrome'; so it is very good for getting you to think about the impact on individuals and families as well. We also looked at complex diseases such as cancer and the final week was a revision week where they gave us a lot of help in marking an essay a student had written for exam preparation.
This was one of my favourite modules so would definitely recommend it, the lecturers are excellent and content is very medical/clinical based and focuses on people, which I really liked as I'm interested in medicine. The workshops and essay help are also really useful for exam preparation! The lectures for me were also at 11am on a Monday.
Metabolic Pathways is probably the most difficult module I've taken this year, and that's because the nature of metabolic pathways is that they are complicated, and at first it will seem like there's a lot of arbitrary information with no way to make sense of it. And to some degree that's probably true, especially if you take each lecture and each pathway or cycle you learn in isolation.
The lecturer always started with a real life medical case study of a metabolic condition that was quite unknown at the time, describing the situations and symptoms with a nice descriptive flavour. I found it quite useful as a starting point because it allowed me to connect the diagrams that I was seeing to the real life effects of what happens when it goes wrong, and then at the end the lecturer finished the story with a diagnosis after we'd just spent the hour learning the bodily process.
You'll be learning about things like amino acid synthesis and breakdown, Krebs cycle regulation, metabolism surrounding purines and pyrimidines, the urea cycle, stuff like that.
The best way to learn about metabolic pathways is to build up a mental library of tools your body uses to alter chemical species incrementally in order to make the desired product, and to appreciate that metabolic pathways don't exist in isolation, and to try and form connections when you can.
As for the practicals, I wasn't the biggest fan. Unlike in Microbial Physiology there was virtually no link between lecture content and practicals, and frankly sometimes we were doing things that I was doing back in year 13, and that we had already done in the previous year. They might as well have been two different modules. The practical questions were often vague and ambiguous and it was hard to guess what they wanted, so if you're going to take this module I suggest the following: Get things done early because you could run into unforeseen issues and collaborate with your peers.
Just don't leave anything, including learning lecture content, to the last minute because you will forget stuff that was hard to grasp in the first place. It has to be a sustained effort.
You'll enjoy the module if you engage with the lectures and supplement them with independent learning, and if learning about the essential processes that keep us alive is your cup of tea. Stryer and Berg's Biochemistry is by and large the book that this module was based off, right down to the diagrams so be sure to refer to that. And with enough prep beforehand and collaborative effort afterwards you might even be able to tolerate the practicals. Hope that helps.
Hi!
I did Evolutionary Genetics in semester A this year, it was a compulsory module for me as I do Medical Genetics.
The course is taught by two professors, Professor Leitch and Professor Nichols. Professor Nichols took us for the first 6 weeks and then it was Professor Leitch after reading week till the end of semester.
The first half of the module is focused mainly on experimental design, using snails as the model organism and asking you in groups to submit an experimental design every week for the first 5/6 weeks. The designs aren't marked as such but they do form part of a portfolio coursework submission at the end of reading week with a experiment report based on a field trip during reading week which involves counting snails in the middle of nowhere and coming up with an experimental design to test a particular hypothesis of choice. The different experimental designs he keeps in a portfolio for each group and marks are given for progress rather than the actual designs themselves; he just wants to see that you're learning something which was great as my group's first one was completely wrong! This activity along with the field trip in reading week help teach you key principles of experimental design and snails are focused on to help teach the principles easily as well as other key evolutionary principles such as genetic drift, natural selection and coalescence. This is all quite a nice revision and extension of what was taught in the genetics part of the first year 'evolution' module.
Professor's Nichol's lectures are quite unstructured and don't follow a particular order or powerpoint sometimes and he does go off on tangents and focus a lot on snails, there's very little about humans initially. I along with others found his lecture style quite difficult at first because it's hard to know which bits are important and to keep up with him notes-wise in lectures. But he is very approachable and wants you to ask questions and his style does work for other people, so just depends on you and how much you engage with the content. The field trip did end up being quite fun and although I personally would have preferred more focus on people, I definitely saw the relevance between snails and human medicine, something both professors try and emphasis in the module! One thing to bear in mind is that you must be available for the reading week field trip otherwise it is hard to pass the coursework element of the module.
Professor Leitch's half of the module is more human-focused and deals with mammalian evolution and focuses on polyploidy using specific plant examples. There is also a focus on chromosome abnormalities during meiosis/mitosis, which overlaps nicely with Human Genetic Disorders as Down syndrome is covered again. We also look at FISH and GISH visualisation techniques. His coursework involves watching a video on meiosis and answering questions as well as looking at Down syndrome a bit I think. His teaching is more structured but can still be a bit hard to keep up with as his powerpoints don't have a lot on them. Both are very approachable and happy to answer questions though. There is no dedicated revision week in this module but there was an opportunity to ask about the essay and how to go about it, they also set up a facebook group each year in which you can ask questions leading up to the exam which I found very helpful and all the old questions are still on there too which is very useful!
If this module was elective for me, I think I still would have chosen it because I did enjoy the content and am interested in evolutionary genetics and did end up liking the group work and coursework field trip. But the lectures with Prof Nichols felt quite long each week because of his teaching style, but they aren't at 9am which is also good (neither was human genetic disorders btw). And if you're someone who wants to learn more about humans or at least mammals then I don't think you'll enjoy this module because of the focus on snails for the first 7 weeks!
Hope that helps!
Shreya (2nd year Medical Genetics)
