Second-Year Medicine

Block 2: Hematology and Neoplasia

The objectives of the course are to provide the second year medical student with an introduction to the scientific and clinical content of the medical discipline encompassed within the areas of hematology: blood and its disorders, and oncology: cancer and related topics. We also cover therapeutic modalities currently employed to treat these disorders and we suggest how future developments in treatment are likely to develop. We hope to prepare the student for his or her encounter with patients suffering from these diseases during the remainder of the undergraduate education and during subsequent years of clinical training.

In hematology we first review the subject of hematopoiesis, the development of the formed elements of the blood system. Various anemias, disorders of the erythroid lineage are then presented. Functional disorders of the white blood cells are covered. An important area of instruction is the hemostatic system; blood platelets and blood coagulation are presented in detail. Blood banking is also introduced. Hematological malignancies, both leukemias and lymphomas and their current management are introduced.

In all the above areas the genetic and biochemical as well as the clinical aspects of the subject area are covered in order to not only provide the student with a current knowledge base, but also to prepare the student to understand future developments in the topics. To these ends the course provides formal lectures, laboratory sessions, and small group sessions requiring active contribution by the students.

In the area of oncology the subjects covered include the principles and nomenclature of neoplasia and the specific categories of neoplastic disease: hormone sensitive cancers; uterine, prostate and breast cancer. Radiation oncology and the pharmacology of antineoplastic agents are discussed. The increasingly important areas of the biochemical and genetic bases of neoplasia are constantly emphasized. Finally, epidemiology of cancer is discussed.

An important aim of the teaching in the Hematology/Neoplasia block is to encourage students to integrate basic science knowledge acquired in previous instruction blocks with clinical information obtained in the present course. Students are expected to develop their ability to reason critically, to generalize and to evaluate information in order to solve problems caused by hematologic and oncologic disorders.