AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Elements of clinical and experimental endocrinology. Analytical methods for the evaluation of serum hormonal levels, principles of diagnosis of endocrinological diseases.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the Endocrinology course is to provide students with general knowledge on the physiopathology of endocrine organs as well as on the role of hormones in regulating viable functions in humans such as development and growth, production and maintenance of energy, maintenance of homeostasis, sexual development and reproduction.

Some laboratory activities will provide students with the theoretical and practical elements needed to measure hormones in biological fluids (serum, plasma, urine, saliva as well as conditioned media from cell cultures) through immuno-enzymatic methods (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, ELISA). The course will also offer the fundamental knowledge for the setting of preclinical research activity in endocrinology.

At the end of the course, students will have acquired knowledge on the physiopathology of endocrine organs as well as on the mechanism of action of hormones. They will also be able to critically elaborate results from the laboratory, contextualizing them in the scope of the preclinical research discussed during the lessons.

TEACHING METHODS

The course will be arranged in classroom lessons as well as in some practical lessons in the laboratory.

Any Student with documented Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or with any special needs, shall reach out to the Lecturer(s) and to the dedicated SLD Representative in the Department before class begins, in order to liase and arrange the specific teaching methods and ensure proper achievement of the learning aims and outcomes.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The Endocrinology course involves the study of hormones and fundamentals of endocrine organ anatomy and physiology. In detail, the course will teach elements of general endocrinology such as classification of hormones, mechanisms of hormone secretion, mechanisms of negative and positive feedback, rhythms of hormone secretion, fundamentals of hormonal assays. Concerning the physiopathology of endocrine organs, the course will provide elements on the hypothalamus-pituitary system, thyroid, parathyroid, gonads, adrenal glands and endocrine pancreas, focusing the attention on fundamentals of the main endocrine pathologies such as acromegaly, Cushing’s disease, hypopituitarism, Basedow syndrome, thyroid nodes, autoimmune thyroiditis, amenorrhea/oligomenorrhea, hypogonadism, infertility, dysfunctions of phospho-calcic metabolism, diabetes, obesity and dysmetabolic syndrome and their medical treatment. Moreover, depending on the ongoing research activity at the endocrinology laboratory during the period of the lessons, the course will also organize the execution of a hormonal assay in laboratory (by student themselves) with the final contextualization of the results in the scope of the specific related research project.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The course does not foresee a specific book since slides of all lessons will be provided to the students.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The start of the course is scheduled for October. The definitive timetable is communicated to students by e-mail about two months before the starting of the lessons.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam will consist of an oral test. 

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Student knowledge will be evaluated by specific questions on the subjects taught during the classroom lessons. During the test, the ability to correlate subjects, to summarize concepts as well as to critically interpret the acquired fundamentals will be evaluated as well.