Welcome to Week 1!

Hello Class!

Welcome to Advanced Pathophysiology and Week 1! Learning is centered on meeting the

following weekly objectives:

 Differentiate between normal and abnormal cellular and immune structure and function.
 Analyze pathophysiologic mechanisms associated with alterations in cellular and
immune function
 Describe outcomes of disruptive or alteration in cellular and immune processes.
 Explore age-specific and developmental alterations in cellular and immune processes.
 Relate pathophysiological alterations in cellular and immune processes to the
development, diagnosis and treatment of select health problems.
 Examine current evidence to support the management of patients who present with
cellular and immune dysfunction.

Each week, students are presented new pathophysiological concepts. For this week, you will
study concepts related to the cell, cellular proliferation (cancer) and altered immunity. Much of
the information presented throughout the course builds on previous knowledge learned in prior
courses. You will apply your knowledge of anatomy weekly. As you prepare for your assigned
quizzes given in Weeks 2 and 7 and the mid-term and final given in Week 4 and 7,
respectively, please note that quizzes in this course consist of 20 multiple-choice questions
derived from the required reading content, the lessons and recorded PowerPoint presentations.
Please use a wired Internet connection to complete the quizzes and exams because wireless
Internet connections frequently result in connection issues and problems with being locked out
of the quiz. This week, I will assign each student a disease process that you will research
according to guidelines and then create a recorded PowerPoint presentation that you will upload
to the course during Week 7. You will also complete the Week 2 Disease Process Assignment
Part 1 and the Week 5 Disease Process Assignment Part 2 using your assigned disease.
Completing these assignments in Weeks 2 and 5 will ensure the timely development of your
final Disease Process Presentation that will be uploaded during Week 7. It will also ensure that
you receive faculty feedback prior to the developing the final audio/video presentation. Review
the assignment guidelines and rubrics and ask any questions that you have in the Q & A forum
or contact me directly.

Please note that some weeks do not have any graded discussions assigned. For this course,
these weeks include 1, 2, 4, and 5. During these weeks, however, we are still required to be
active in the course to enhance learning. This will occur in the Weeks 1, 2, 4, and 5 discussion
forums. Under each forum, you will find a discussion prompt that will help to stimulate
conversation centered on topics that we are studying for that week. Again, they are not graded,
but they are required. Please let me know if you have any questions about this requirement.

Review your course calendar weekly to know what assignments and activities are due for the
week. There is not always a discussion question. There is a discussion question during Weeks
3 and 6.
There are graded quizzes in Weeks 2 and 7. The midterm is completed in Week 4 and must be
submitted by Sunday 11:59 p.m. MT and the final is given in Week 8 and must be completed by
Saturday 11:59 p.m. MT., the last day of class. No exam attempts will be granted after
Saturday of Week 8. All quizzes and exams are graded and only allow one attempt.

Again, welcome to the course! I am looking forward to our interactions and taking this journey
with you.

Week 1 Summary

Congratulations on completing Week 1! Although there was no formal discussion, we all

became acquainted through our introductions. It was a pleasure "meeting" everyone! We also
responded in the Week 1 Discussion Forum where each student introduced their assigned
disease process. Remember that the final Disease Process Presentation will be uploaded in
Week 7. The assigned disease is also required in order to complete the Week 2 Disease
Process Assignment Part 1 and the Week 5 Disease Process Assignment Part 2. I am looking
forward to providing you feedback on these assignments that will lead to a well-developed
audio/video presentation!

The pathophysiological concepts covered in Week 1 were the cell, cell proliferation (cancer) and
altered immune system and altered inflammatory response. Continue keeping up with the
weekly readings. Take advantage of the lessons and any recorded PowerPoint presentations.
They contain a wealth of information that will help you build your knowledge base and apply
these concepts to actual patient encounters in future courses. Time management is a must in
this fast paced course! I look forward to Week 2. Please reach out to me with any questions that
you have via email or post in the Q & A forum.