MPAT12001 - Medical Pathophysiology

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit builds upon prerequisite units in human anatomy and physiology to develop a conceptual understanding of disease and dysfunction, with emphasis on the effects of disease upon normal physiological systems. The unit content is presented in a way that fosters (a) an understanding of the widespread effects that dysfunction of a particular organ or system of the human body has upon other systems and (b) the ability to critically evaluate symptoms of dysfunction and predict the outcome. Topics include altered cells and tissues, altered cellular proliferation and differentiation, inflammation and tissue repair, and alterations of human body systems.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisites:

ALLH11005 Anatomy and Physiology for Health Professionals 1 OR BMSC11001 Human Body Systems 1 OR BMSC11007 Medical Anatomy and Physiology 1 OR BMSC11010 Human Anatomy and Physiology 1

AND

ALLH11004 Anatomy and Physiology for Health Professionals 2 OR BMSC11002 Human Body Systems 2 OR BMSC11008 Medical Anatomy and Physiology 2 OR BMSC11011 Human Anatomy and Physiology 2

This unit is NOT available to students who have only completed BIOH11005 Introductory Anatomy and Physiology AND BIOH11006 Advanced Anatomy and Physiology

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Online
Rockhampton
Term 3 - 2025 Profile
Online
Rockhampton
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Online
Rockhampton
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Online
Rockhampton
Term 3 - 2026 Profile
Online
Rockhampton

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 50%
2. Online Test 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

To view Past Exams,
please login
Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 54.55% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 9.09% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: SUTE
Feedback
More interaction with students during tutorials.
Recommendation
Consider incorporating more open-ended questions and interactive case studies to increase student engagement and interaction during tutorials.
Action Taken
Integrated more open-ended questions and interactive case-based discussions during tutorials to boost student participation and engagement.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Very well-structured and clear unit.
Recommendation
Continue maintaining the clarity and structure of the unit, while exploring opportunities to integrate more interactive and engaging elements to further enhance the learning experience.
Action Taken
Maintained the clear structure of the unit while enhancing the learning experience by adding interactive elements such as short polls, group tasks, or discussion prompts.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Incorporate additional information in the lectures, such as extra details, anecdotes, or interesting facts, to help cement the content for students.
Recommendation
Include additional information into the lectures to deepen students' understanding and engagement with the content.
Action Taken
Enriched lectures with relevant anecdotes, practical examples, and interesting facts to help reinforce understanding and make content more engaging.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Some students have noted that certain unit concepts appear misaligned with their degree focus.
Recommendation
Clarify the connections between concepts and demonstrate their relevance to broader professional competencies.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Face-to-face feedback
Feedback
Although some students found the unit content-heavy, material is structured into manageable sections to support student understanding and engagement.
Recommendation
Continue to provide clear links between unit content and professional applications, while maintaining the structured delivery of material in manageable segments to support student engagement and comprehension.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE and face-to-face feedback
Feedback
Some students have found the pacing of the unit challenging, particularly during weeks with multiple complex topics introduced simultaneously.
Recommendation
Review the weekly content distribution to ensure complex topics are introduced with adequate scaffolding and spacing, allowing students time to consolidate learning before progressing.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Argue the physiological consequences, symptoms and effects on health of specific dysfunction of organs and systems
  2. Explain how the interdependence of human physiological systems can result in disease of one organ having widespread effects
  3. Explain the mechanisms that cause altered cells and tissues, altered cellular proliferation and differentiation, inflammation and the consequences of these changes upon health
  4. Describe the major causes, symptoms and consequences of dysfunction of the human body systems.


Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • •
2 - Online Test • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • •
8 - Ethical practice • •
9 - Social Innovation • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10