Oncology: Bench to Bedside

Catalog description

This course is required for graduate students in the MCIBS program who are in the Cancer Biology Emphasis Area. It is designed to give students who are studying cancer at a molecular, reductive level experience with the clinical aspects of the disease. The course will be held at Mt. Nittany Medical Center once a week for 3 hrs, in both patient-oriented, hands-on and didactic settings to understand how cancer is diagnosed, imaged, and treated, how patient care and side effects of therapy are managed, and the importance of clinical trials in developing new treatments for cancer. For each subject area students will spend 2 hours engaged in a clinical experience related to cancer under the supervision of course directors or additional clinicians at Mt. Nittany, followed by a 1 hour lecture/didactic session on a related topic. In addition to broad learning objectives, this course will make students aware of critical issues in cancer biology and treatment that may serve as a springboard for future research.