Medical Education

Departmental faculty play a significant role in the first five months of first-year medical school education as 2 of the 3 co-directors and as teaching faculty in the two modules of Foundations of Body Systems. Foundations-module I- initiates incoming studies with a medically oriented appreciation of biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, pharmacology and physiology. Foundations-module II- coveys the bio-medically important aspects of hematology, immunology and infectious disease. Both modules include case-based approaches, small interactive group learning and team-based learning, as well as traditional styled lectures, all by experts in the areas of each topic covered in the course. The goal of Foundations modules I and II is to lay a foundation for a molecular understanding of normal and disease processes.

 

Foundations of Body Systems - Module I: Molecules, Cells and Systems (MCS)

The course integrates basic science with clinical medicine. Course faculty are drawn primarily from the Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, as well as the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience.

 

The goal of the course is to lay a foundation for a molecular understanding of normal and disease processes.

Course Directors

Krista Blackwell, PhD
Krista Blackwell, PhD
Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean (SGS- Newark Health Sciences Campus)
Department of Pharmacology,Physiology & Neuroscience
Email: blackwkn@njms.rutgers.edu

 

 

Carolyn Suzuki, Ph.D.
Carolyn Suzuki, PhD
Professor
Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Email: suzukick@njms.rutgers.edu

 

 

Ian Whitehead, PhD
Ian Whitehead, PhD
Professor
Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Email: whiteip@njms.rutgers.edu

 

 

 

Foundations of Body Systems - Module II: Hematology, Immunology and Infectious Disease (HIID)

The course includes lectures, laboratory exercises, and case discussions. The small group discussions relate microbiological and immunological science to clinical cases. The first part of the course deals with bacterial morphology, normal flora, immunology, immunopathology and inflammation. The second part concerns genetic characteristics of prokaryotic organisms, the chemical basis of disinfection, chemotherapy and pathogen control, and infectious bacterial agents, the diseases they cause and the host's immune response to these infections. The third segment is devoted to the microbiology of eukaryotic pathogens (fungi, protozoa, parasitic worms, and viruses), the infections they cause and the host's immune response.

Course Directors

Christine Rohowsky-Kochan, Ph.D.
Christine Rohowsky-Kochan, PhD
Professor
Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience
Email: suzukick@njms.rutgers.edu

 

 

Ian Whitehead, PhD
Ian Whitehead, PhD
Professor
Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Email: whiteip@njms.rutgers.edu