Skeletal Muscle in Health and Disease
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| MGEM2017 | Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine | 2 | 20 | Spring UK |
- Code
- MGEM2017
- School
- Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine
- Level
- 2
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
This module deals with the major factors influencing skeletal muscle structure and function in the context of medical physiology and therapeutics, including content covering: Physical activity and skeletal muscle health, Nutrition and skeletal muscle health, Ageing and skeletal muscle health, Skeletal muscle and physical function, Skeletal muscle as a component of whole-body composition, and Clinical and research-based techniques for assessing: Muscle metabolism, Muscle structure, Muscle function, Whole-body composition, Whole-body physical performance.
Core physiology content is delivered alongside applied teaching, which focuses on the acquisition of practical skills relevant to both clinical and research environments, and allows students to apply and develop generic skills such as group work, data handling and written communication skills. The module requires that students apply their knowledge from lectures and practical sessions to write a persuasive report for a non-specialist audience, based on their understanding of the importance of skeletal muscle health.
Target Students
Students on Part I of the BSc in Medical Physiology and Therapeutics. There are a limited number of placeson this module.
Classes
Delivery will be by a combination of lectures, practical workshops and tutorials covering the specified learning objectives, with emphasis on the development of research skills in medical physiology.
Assessment
- 40% Coursework 1: 500-word persuasive report supported by a minimum of 10 primary reference sources.
- 60% Exam 1 (2-hour): Multi-format questions (MFQ), short answer questions (SAQ) and a short essay (ExamSys)
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
This module aims to equip students with a strong foundation in human skeletal muscle physiology and lead them to have an understanding of the principle state-of-the-art analytical methods and techniques used in the research of musculoskeletal health (e.g., muscle protein turnover, structure and function) and associated physiological parameters (i.e., body composition, cardiorespiratory performance and substrate oxidation). Students are also expected to develop a number of transferrable skills such as group working, data handling and written presentation skills, in addition to academic knowledge. By the end of the module students should be able to describe, in detail, the major approaches and techniques in skeletal muscle research for the assessment of muscle protein turnover, (neuro)muscular function, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness and substrate oxidation; including the scientific (physiological) basis for these techniques and their strengths and limitations.Learning Outcomes
The structure and function of skeletal muscle, including skeletal muscle fat, carbohydrate and protein metabolism
The importance of muscle health, including neuromuscular aspects, for whole body health
The effect of age and physical (in)activity on skeletal muscle structure and function
The interplay between nutrients and skeletal muscle structure and function
The interplay between contractile activity and skeletal muscle structure and function
The background and relevance of different techniques to measure skeletal muscle structure and function at the molecular and applied level, including an appreciation of the role of mass spectrometry in human metabolic research
The strengths and limitations of different body composition analysis methods, with reference to different populations (i.e. ageing, athletes)
An understanding of the use and limitations of modern analytical techniques to investigate skeletal muscle metabolism
Basic proficiency interpreting the results of indirect calorimetry with reference to muscle metabolism
Basic proficiency in anthropometric methods of body composition analysis and application of associated equations
Basic proficiency in cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and interpretation of associated data
Data handling skills, including statistical analysis, of skeletal muscle functional data
Basic proficiency in assessing (neuro)muscular function
The development of study skills to support further learning
Further development of skills to search for and critique relevant information from the scientific literature to promote independent and enquiry based learning
Good interpersonal skills and team working abilities
The development of written communication skills including succinct and persuasive writing skills
The strengths and limitations of different techniques to measure skeletal muscle function at the applied level, including neuromuscular function
Conveners
- Dr Mathew Piasecki
- Prof Bethan Eileen Phillips