Undergraduate Programmes
Medicine
The Department of Physiology plays a pivotal role in the education of medical students (MBBS), anchoring the Phase 1 and Phase 2 Physiology and Pathophysiology curriculum. The first two phases of the medical program are designed to lend a deep understanding of healthy body systems and the scientific basis of medical diseases. The students engage in early and regular clinical experiences, laying the groundwork for the Foundations of Clinical Practice.
MD1140 Medical Phase I and II
Department Medical Science Education Directors: A/Prof Celestial Yap, Dr Ivan Low
Physiology is the Medical Science lead for the following System Block Workgroups (SBW):
Course Description
This SBW deals with the principles of normal structure and function of these systems. Students are expected to apply these principles to explain the basis of clinical assessments of these systems and the pathophysiological basis of common diseases including anaemia, bleeding disorders, obstructive and restrictive lung diseases, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, cardiac failure and common valvular defects and rhythm disturbances of the heart.
Course Description
The SBW covers the basic and applied physiological principles underlying these systems, with an emphasis on integration with Cardiovascular, Endocrine, Gastrointestinal and Respiratory Physiology.
Course Description
The SBW covers the basic and applied physiological principles underlying these systems, with an emphasis on integration with Cardiovascular, Endocrine, Gastrointestinal and Respiratory Physiology.: The SBW takes the students from non- Pathological to pathological conditions in parallel with progressive teaching of normal to abnormal function and structure. Students will learn to apply functional anatomy, biochemistry and physiology to explain the pathophysiology of common gastrointestinal symptoms and nutritional disorders.
- Endocrine System (Phase 2): The SBW will deal with the normal physiology of the endocrine system as well as the common diseases affecting the endocrine glands: the hypothalamus/pituitary, the thyroid, the parathyroid, the endocrine pancreas, the adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla. In addition, it will also cover metabolic disorders such as hyperlipidemias, obesity, and osteoporosis.
- Reproductive Systems (Phase 2): The SBW covers sex determination and sexual differentiation; male reproductive system: gross anatomy and histology and how these correlate with male sexual development, descent of the testis, spermatogenesis and related hormonal changes. Details of the stages of spermatogenesis, spermiogenesis, composition of semen, structure of spermatozoa, transport of spermatozoa, erection, copulation, ejaculation, as well as problems of male infertility will be covered; female reproductive system: gross anatomy and histology and how these correlate with female sexual development and related hormonal changes with emphasis on oogenesis, menstrual cycle (ovarian cycle and uterine cycle), puberty, menopause, pregnancy, child birth, lactation, and contraception.
Department Education Director - Medical Sciences:
A/Prof Celestial Yap, Dr Ivan Low
Course Description
The SBW will deal with the normal physiology of the endocrine system as well as the common diseases affecting the endocrine glands: the hypothalamus/pituitary, the thyroid, the parathyroid, the endocrine pancreas, the adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla. In addition, it will also cover metabolic disorders such as hyperlipidemias, obesity, and osteoporosis.
Course Description
The SBW covers sex determination and sexual differentiation; male reproductive system: gross anatomy and histology and how these correlate with male sexual development, descent of the testis, spermatogenesis and related hormonal changes. Details of the stages of spermatogenesis, spermiogenesis, composition of semen, structure of spermatozoa, transport of spermatozoa, erection, copulation, ejaculation, as well as problems of male infertility will be covered; female reproductive system: gross anatomy and histology and how these correlate with female sexual development and related hormonal changes with emphasis on oogenesis, menstrual cycle (ovarian cycle and uterine cycle), puberty, menopause, pregnancy, child birth, lactation, and contraception.
Science
As the Life Sciences have assumed an increasingly prominent position in Singapore and the world, the Department of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine has taken a leadership role in providing students with education and training through the University's Undergraduate Life Sciences Curriculum. The Life Sciences Curriculum focuses on three areas of concentration: Biomedical Science, Molecular and Cell Biology, and Biology. The Department of Physiology is heavily involved in the areas of Biomedical Science (BMS) and Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB). Graduates in these areas of study are well prepared to participate in the imminent expansion of Life Science-related research, teaching and innovation.
The department anchors several courses tailored to foster creative and critical scientific thinking in our students. These courses are:
Course Description
This course considers evidence-based techniques for learning derived from the fundamental science and understanding of how we learn. It reveals steps on the path to more effective learning by using a set of simple, pragmatic rules: rules to build motivation and to speed up the learning process over both the short and long term. Learners will appreciate learning rules and the scientific evidence behind them. They will also understand why, despite sometimes being counterintuitive, they work so well. This understanding will lead to individualised application of techniques to improve learning.
Course Coordinator
Robert Kamei
Course Description
This course will explore how our brain can affect our behavior. It will introduce how classical and modern neuroscience research tools are used to investigate the workings of the brain. We will also examine the ethical and social issues raised by recent developments in neuroscience research. In addition, this course is expected to enable students to develop critical skills in analyzing and writing about controversial issues concerning neuroscience and society.
Course Coordinator
Andrew Tan Yong-Yi
Course Description
Health, as defined by WHO, is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease. This course provides an evidence-based platform for the critical evaluation and discussion on topics pertaining to the immediate determinants of health. Students will gain deeper insights on the complex interplay of factors that may influence one's health or access to health determinants, including but not limited to factors of physiological, environmental, lifestyles, socioeconomics, and cultural origins.
Course Coordinator
Ivan Low Cherh Chiet
Course Description
Wellbeing and resilience are the buzzwords for thriving when faced with adversity and stress. They are important for not just an individual’s health and satisfaction, but also their performance, and cost to organisations and even nations. This course integrates neuroscience, cognitive psychology, societal, public health, and clinical perspectives to explore the fundamentals of mental wellbeing and resilience, how they can be effectively measured, whether one can rewire oneself to be more resilient, and the various strategies and interventions to better mental wellbeing. Students will engage in experiential learning and impact measurements to develop their own choice of good practices.
Course Coordinator
Ira Agrawal
Course Description
Modern sporting and exercise practices are mostly established based on contemporary research evidence; some, however, can just be anecdotal beliefs influenced by other non-scientific factors including those of sociocultural, media and commercial origin. This course draws on the fundamentals of sports physiology and nutrition to provide an evidence-based platform for inquiry-based evaluation of contemporary sporting practices, technologies and aids. It encourages critical analysis of contemporary sporting issues and also seeks to address common challenges faced by professional athletes. Practical classes will involve considerable participation in physical activities in the form of running and incremental exercise tests to promote experiential learning.
Course Coordinator
Ivan Low Cherh Chiet
Course Description
The heart and lungs are central to the maintenance of homeostasis in the human body by bringing essential materials to and removing wastes from the body's cells. This course covers the basic physiology of the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems using exercise to illustrate the onset of homeostatic imbalances and the body's responses to restore homeostasis. Students will be able to identify the benefits that exercise imparts to cardiorespiratory fitness and overall health.
Course Coordinator
Zakaria Ali Moh. Almsherqi
Course Description
This course covers several human physiological systems using hormonal control of homeostasis as a basis for understanding normal function and health. The student will be able to appreciate the interactions occurring amongst the endocrine, digestive, renal, and reproductive systems, and be able to relate them to the body's biological rhythms (or clocks), growth, responses to stress, and reproductive processes. Major Topics Covered: endocrine system, central endocrine glands, peripheral endocrine glands, digestive system, digestive processes, energy balance, urinary system, fluid processing, fluid balance, reproductive system, male reproductive physiology, female reproductive physiology.
Course Coordinator
Thai Tran
Course Description
The course will provide fundamental knowledge about how neuronal signaling and its higher functions, such as encoding and retrieval of memory, occur in our brain. Learning and memory mechanisms are conserved in all organisms. This course covers topics including the ionic basis of resting and action potentials, molecular biology of ion and TRP channels, ion channelopathies, and the auditory system. It also focuses on neurotransmission with particular emphasis on the glutamate receptors and neuropharmacology. In addition, it touches the cellular and molecular basis of learning and memory, and energy utilization in the brain.
Course Coordinator
Sajikumar Sreedharan
Course Description
This course will focus on key events that take place in different stages of vertebrate nervous system development including neural induction, neurogenesis, glial biology, neuronal growth and polarity, axonal guidance, synapse formation, and regeneration. Pathological states such as muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and other neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders will be studied, both in terms of understanding the deficits as well as examining potential solutions to improve the outcomes of these neuronal diseases. Latest findings will be discussed, allowing students to learn the current state of research in developmental neurobiology. This is one of the core courses for neuroscience.
Course Coordinator
John Chua Jia En
Course Description
This course will explore physiological changes during aging. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality globally, and sarcopenia is a major cause of disability and frailty among older adults, which decreases healthy lifespan. Our primary objective is to investigate the impact of aging muscles on functional decline and its consequences for overall health and lifespan. Furthermore, we will examine the emerging evidence surrounding the involvement of motor neurons and immune cells in muscle aging.
Course Coordinator
Shih-Yin Tsai
Course Description
This course introduces the concept of epigenetics, the relationship between the genome and the epigenome, and the translational applications of epigenetics in relation to human health and diseases. It focuses on helping students understand the relevance of epigenetic processes in human physiology (e.g., embryonic development, ageing) and how their mis-regulation underlies diseases such as cancer. It also highlights how the study of epigenetic mechanisms is important for modern biomedical research such as regenerative medicine therapies (e.g., induced pluripotency and trans-differentiation). Students will be exposed to various state-of-the-art next-generation (epi)genomic sequencing technologies widely used in biomedical research.
Course Coordinator
Tee Wee Wei
Course Description
The primary goal of this course is to understand how (a) neurons, assembled into circuits, mediate behaviour and (b) pathophysiology of neurons leading to dysfunctional cellular and molecular processes and behaviour. It draws on basic knowledge of the cell biology and physiology of neurons, as well as the use of elementary calculus which will be gently introduced from scratch and needs no prior background in calculus.
Course Coordinator
Andrew Tan Yong-Yi
Course Description
The human body is a complex yet versatile system that could rapidly respond and adapt to a wide range of physiological stressors. This course describes how the human body responds and adapts to exposure and physical exercise in environmental extremes such as hypoxic and hyperbaric conditions, thermal stressors, altitude and trauma. Through specially designed practical and field trip sessions, students will also be provided with experiential learning opportunities to discover how human trials can be designed to study human physiological responses in extreme conditions, as well as how physiological adaptability can be further enhanced via various cutting-edge technologies.
Course Coordinator
Ivan Low Cherh Chiet
Course Description
Populations around the world are rapidly ageing and it is important to understand the functional decline in ageing populations. Functional age is defined as a combination of chronological, biological and psychological ages. Molecular processes governing ageing will be covered during the first half while the second half will be on societal perception, burden of disease, healthy ageing interventions and ageless society. The ageing process will be explained based on the experimental and epidemiological studies. This course will integrate biology and sociology of ageing which will provide avenues for better understanding of ageing in a society.
Course Coordinator
Prakash Hande
Course Description
Technological advances allow us to study and modulate various cellular processes generated from the dynamic remodeling of the cytoskeleton in cells. This course explores the mechanism of cytoskeleton dynamics. It applies to cell movement and intracellular trafficking, which are important for our body physiology, such as skeletal muscle performance. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lend themselves to experimental manipulation and for future therapeutic intervention.
Course Coordinator
Shih-Yin Tsai
Course Description
This course deals with the understanding of processes that regulate cell growth and proliferation, and the intricate mechanism(s) that result in abnormal proliferation and oncogenesis. Molecular basis of immortalization and the acquisition of the neoplastic phenotype, namely oncogene activation, immune evasion, potential for local and distant spread, and resistance to cell death etc. will be discussed. Role of DNA damage/repair, telomere/telomerase in genome instability and tumourigenesis will be examined. A brief session on target therapies including gene therapy approaches will also be included. Tumour immunology role of inflammation in tumours will be discussed.
Course Coordinator
Derrick Ong Sek Tong
Dentistry & Pharmacy
The Department of Physiology offers comprehensive courses that delve into the intricate workings of the human body. Our courses cover essential aspects of human physiology, examining the function of the body at organ, cellular, and molecular levels. Pharmacy, and Dentistry students will engage in shared lectures and tutorials, with specialized tutorial sessions tailored for each group. These sessions focus on fundamental physiological concepts, using disorder physiology to highlight key points and enhance understanding. Physiology is involved in teaching of the following courses: