SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND MEDICINE

COURSE OF LABORATORY MEDICINE
Degree in Medicine and Surgery
Outline of the Lectures given by Prof. ANDREA BELLELLI
 
 

AVVISI
The Opis ID 2022-23 required for the evaluation of the courses have been issued. It is strongly recommended that all students proceed to the anonymous evaluation of the course using the OPIS application. The ID codes of Prof. Andrea Bellelli can be checked at the above link. If necessary, students may also check the instructions available on the University website

  The 1st semester Laboratory Medicine Course begins March 3 at 9,00 in classroom D; lectures are given on Tuesdays (11-13) and Fridays (9-12).
Timetable of the lectures
 
 

The lectures of this course are as follows:
1) The statistical bases of Laboratory Medicine.
      1b) Biochemical bases of human variability: an exercise.
2) Prenatal and perinatal clinical analyses.
3) Methods in Laboratory Medicine.
      3b) Biochemical methods for proteins and macromolecules.
4) Nosography: the classification of human diseases
5) Laboratory Analyses in Toxicology.
6) Hemostasis and Thrombosis.
7) Anemias and hemoglobinopathies.
8) Disorders of Nucleotide Metabolism; Gout.
9) Porphyrias (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
10) Heme degradation; bilirubin and icterus (jaundice); liver functions. (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
11) Plasma Proteins (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
12) Lipoproteins and dislipidemias; functions of the adipose tissue; obesity (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
13) Disturbances of the homeostasis of water and electrolytes; kidney functions. (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
14) Disturbances of the homeostasis of respiratory gases and pH; lung functions. (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
15) Disturbances of glucose metabolism (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
16) Disturbances of the urea cycle (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
17) Laboratory analyses for endocrine disorders (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
18) Genetic defects of metabolism: glycogenoses and lipidoses (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
19) Genetic defects of metabolism of aminoacids (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).
      19b) The biochemistry of inherited enzymatic defects (an older version of the same).
20) Hypervitaminoses and hypovitaminoses
21) Principles of clinical reasoning; the problem of cancer
22) Standard blood tests (abilitated for on-line attendance registration).

Self evaluation tests
Clinical reasoning exercise 1
Clinical reasoning exercise 2
Clinical reasoning exercise 3
Questions and comments

Electives (0.2 CFU):
1) Epidemics: statistical considerations (abilitated for on-line attendance registration). An interactive program to explore the effect of vaccines, quarantine and more is available at: this link.

Web resources for Medical Education
Access Medicine: institutional access to the platform Access Medicine by McGraw-Hill (a resource provided by Sapienza to all students and teachers; follow instructions on the web page). Direct link.
Several medical journals may be accessed via the institutional subscription of Sapienza University; log in via the Sistema Bibliotecario Sapienza (SBS).
Several interesting resources are available on the site of Medscape; click the link "DRUGS & DISEASES" to access a collection of clinical cases and exercises (you should register to access all contents; registration is free).
The American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) maintains an excellent website, and provides useful teaching resources, e.g. a long list of clincal case examples.
The School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania collectes a very interesting series of clinical case studies.
The website of the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP), hosted by Oxford Academic Press, has a series of interesting clincal case articles.
The American Medical Association (AMA), besides publishing several important nedical journals, notably JAMA, has a website with plentiful of learning resources. To view the proposed clinical cases go to this link, then click on the icon in the upper left corner and select the "Clinical Challenge" menu.

Programme and timetable of the course - 1st semester
Programme and timetable of the course - 2nd semester

The exam consists in an oral discussion on different subjects treated during the course. The dates of the exam are indicated on Infostud where the student is requested to apply; postponements of a few days may be required because of other duties of the teachers. The winter session (in February) is reserved to students of the IV year and later, but it is possible for students of the III year to take a partial examination on the subjects discussed in the first semester, only in the February session.

Suggested Text
M. Laposata "Laboratory Medicine", Lange - McGraw Hill (also available via the Access Medicine platform).

Further readings
E.A. Murphy "The Logic of Medicine", The Johns Hopkins University Press
P.J. Rees, J. Pattison, and C. Kosky "100 cases for clinical medicine" CRC Press

Students can visit me at the Dipartimento di Scienze Biochimiche, Sapienza University of Rome, every Thursday afternoon, 14,00 to 16,30, except during the examination sessions.

Go to: Non Scientific Medical Theories; Digital Library of the Italian Society of Biochemistry; Teaching subjects.