Principles of the major subjects to be covered prior to system-based review in May

General Embryology and Histology

  • Prefertilization events, weeks 1-8, placenta and amniotic fluid, umbilical cord
  • Cell biology: major cell organelles and structures, cell-cell junctions
  • Tissues of the body

Biochemistry

  • Pathways: focus on those enzymes that catalyze the rate-limiting step, i.e., key regulatory enzymes, or enzymes involved in a clinical syndrome or metabolic disorder
  • Enzyme kinetics and inhibition
  • Laboratory techniques that have clinical relevance, such as ELISA, southern and northern blotting, and PCR (how tests work and scientific principles)
  • Vitamin deficiencies and inherited defects that cause disease
  • Transcription, translation, repair, and post-translational modification

General Physiology

  • Cell membranes and transport across cell membranes
  • Osmosis, diffusion, resting membrane potential, action potential
  • Neuromuscular and synaptic transmission
  • Skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle (and comparisons); muscle contraction

General Pathology

  • Cellular response to injury, adaptation
  • Inflammation
  • Neoplasia
  • Environmental pathology
  • Genetic disorders

General Pharmacology

  • Absorption, distribution and elimination of drugs
  • Pharmacokinetics and drug receptors; drug interactions
  • General properties of antimicrobials, autocoids, anitneoplastics, and mediators

General Microbiology

  • Bacterial taxonomy
  • Cell structures, virulence factors, and bacterial toxins
  • Bacterial genetics
  • Viral replication and taxonomy
  • Viral enzymes
  • Fungal and parasitic basics