Al-Azhar Medical Students' Association

Standing Committee On Medical Education

Influence of Studying on Students' Health

Guide

Medical Sciences

Introduction:
Medicine is one of the most important fields which is essential for
survival of Mankind, so to be able to break it's code you need to
understand & study medical sciences .
Classification:
1-Basic : It's included basic medical sciences e.g Anatomy ,
Pharmacology , Biochemistry .
2-Clinical : It's included sciences which concerned of practical
aspect of medicine e.g Ophthalmology, Internal Medicine ,
Surgery.
Now let's start with brief introduction about them

***************
1- Basic Sciences

Anatomy & Embryology

Physiology
Biochemistry
Histology
Pathology
Pharmacology
Microbiology & Immunity
Parasitology
 Anatomy& Embryology
Definition:
Anatomy: It's the scientific study of morphology of human body
and it's internal structures .
Embryology: It's the scientific study developmental changes of an
fertilized ovum cell and it's differentiation into tissue and organs .
General Curriculum:
It's classified according to regional groups to:
1-Head & Neck: includes everything in Head and Neck to
thoracic inlet .
2-Upper limb " Arm "
3-Thorax " Chest "
4-Abdomen .
5-Pelvis and Perineum .
6-Lower limb " Thigh , leg and foot "
7- Neuro Anatomy: studying brain , spinal cord and nerves
morphology .
* Embryology is divided to :
-General : which tell you how embryo is formed from one cell .
-Special : which tell you how different body system and organ are
formed .
Importance of Study Anatomy & Embryology:
Anatomy & Embryology is one of the basic knowledge in
studying medicine, it's A B C of medical student to be aware of
structures of human body .
How can you study it ?
1- Terminology : there are some latin and English terms which
may describe shape or site try to know it's meaning in Arabic .
2-Bones: start studying with know names of each part as it's
major part of many branches .
3- Colored diagrams : draw diagrams with your hand to organ,
bone e.g will help you to imagine the structures as you see with
your nacked eye also colored atlas will help you to understand
many topics like arteries and nerves.
4 - Animations : try to use new technology to understand what
you study .. in Anatomy and specially embryology animations
are great helpers to give you real picture about what you can't
see.
 Physiology
Definition:
It's the science of mechanical , physical and biochemical functions
of human in good health ,their organs and the cells of which they
are composed .
It's helped you to know the mechanism " the way " of doing
function of each system.
General Curriculum:
It's classified according to body systems to:
1-Cell, Nerve and Muscle .
2-Autonmic Nerves System .
3-Blood and Body Fluids .
4-Metabolism .
5-Centeral Nervous System .
6-Respiration.
7-Circulation .
8-Kideny and Electrolytes .
9-Gastrointestinal Tract.
10-Special Senses.
11-Endocrine .
12-Reproduction.
Importance of Studying Physiology :
Physiology is one of the most important basic science of medicine
because it's provided you with knowledge about mechanism of
each biological processes either at cell level or organ level ,
and how each system works individually and integrate with
other, so if any error happens you can easily identify it, " in order
to know abnormal u should know normal " .
How can you study it ?
1-Defintions : you have to study defintions very well as in many
topics it's the key to understand it .
2-Diagrames and Animations : they can help you to visualize the
whole biological process at cell level or system level .
3-Equations : try to follow up the process as story or equation by
identify the causes then the results and factors may be increased or
decreased the end result .
4-The Body is not isolated systems : put in your mind that all
systems influence each other and integrate , so try to know affects
of the biological processes on other systems , that will help you a
lot to connect between information and other .

Biochemistry
Definition:
Biochemistry is the application of chemistry to the study of
biological processes at the cellular and molecular level.
General Curriculum :
The curriculum can be broken down into :
1-Carbohudrates .
2-Lipids.
3-Proteins.
4-enzyemes.
5-Chemistry of nucleotides and nucleic acids.
6-Vitaminns .
7-Physical and organic chemistry .
a-Water
b-Acids and Basis.
c-Buffers .
d-Indicators .
e-Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure.
f-Types and functions of functional groups.
Importance of studying Biochemistry :

• Biochemistry is both a life science and a chemical science -

it explores the chemistry of living organisms and the
molecular basis for the changes occurring in living cells. It
uses the methods of chemistry, physics, molecular biology
and immunology to study the structure and behaviour of
the complex molecules found in biological material and the
ways these molecules interact to form cells, tissues and
whole organisms.
• Biochemists are interested, for example, in mechanisms of
brain function, cellular multiplication and differentiation,
communication within and between cells and organs, and
the chemical bases of inheritance and disease. The
biochemist seeks to determine how specific molecules such
as proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, vitamins and hormones
 function in such processes. Particular emphasis is placed on
regulation of chemical reactions in living cells.
• Biochemical techniques are used in clinical diagnosis of
infectious diseases, genetic disorders, and cancer; as well as
in many forms of research to improve the quality of our
lives.

*Biochemistry has become the foundation for understanding

all biological process , It has explanations for causes of many
diseases in human, animal and plants.. so you should be
oriented with it very well.

How can you study it ?

1- In each chapter you have to know : Definition, Importance,
Physical and Chemical Properties, Classification and finally
Formed Compounds .
2- Formula and Diagrams : will help you to understand so study
it very well .
3- From time to time try to review what you study and practice
by answering MCQ and evaluate yourself .
4- Choose easy source will help you a lot specially if the author
depended on formula and equation in his explanation.

Histology
Definition:
It's the microscopic study of intact living human tissues and cells .
General Curriculum :
The curriculum can be broken into :
1-Introduction : Microscopes , Micro-Techniques & Stains .
2-Cytology : Cell membrane , Cytoplasm , Cell organelles &
Nucleus .
3-Cytogenetics: Cell cycles ( Meiosis-Mitosis ), Human
Chromosomes & Chromosomal Aberrations .
4-Epithelial Tissue : Simple , Stratified , Glandular , Neuro , Myo
epithelium & polarity , Specialization of epithelium .
5-Connective Tissue : Proper Connective tissue , Cartilage & bone .
6-Blood : Red blood corpuscles , White blood cells , Blood platelets
& Haemopoesis .
7-Muscular Tissue : Skeletal , Cardiac & Smooth .
8-Nervous Tissue : Neurons , Neuroglia , Nerve Ending &
Peripheral nervous system .
9-Circulatory System : Blood vessels .
10-Lymphatic System : Lymph vessel , Lymphatic tissue, Immune
system & Macrophages .
11-Skin .
Importance of studing Histotogy:

• Histological studies let us to know normal number ,size

,shape ,arrangement and even component of cells in every
organ of our body SO it will be very helpful in diagnosis and
treatment of any disease .
• Histological studies help us in detection of tissue
abnormalities and the treatment for the diseases causing the
abnormalities .
• In the modern histology , lab immunological and molecular
(DNA) techniques are frequently utilized to provide accurate
tumor identification which will aid the clinician in selecting a
mode of therapy that offers that greatest probability of cure.
• During your study of Histology you will be able to perform a
complete blood picture report and to diagnose any changes
occurred to this report (such as Anemia ,leukemia ,…) .
• Studying of Histology will greatly help you in studying of
other academic and clinical subjects .
How can you study it ?
1-Don't try to copy histology in your brain but try to understand
every slide also understanding the different stains will help you .
2-Study a lot and put your own scheme that will help you to
organize all the sections .
3-Use diagrams , animations & colored atlas to imagine the real
picture.
4- Answer MCQ and always evaluate your self and review the
subject from time to time will help you in the exams .

Pharmacology
Definition:
Pharmacology is the study of interactions that occur between
living tissues and exogenous chemicals that alert normal
biochemical functions .
You can consider it as the study of drug action .
General Curriculum :
Drugs are classified into pharmacological groups according to
systemic effect to :
1- Autonomic Nervous System Drugs .
2-Autacoids : they are active substances in body of unknown exact
function but has therapeutic effect .
3- Central Nervous System Drugs.
4- Anesthesia : group of drugs affect nerves system to initiate loss
of sensation , motor activity and consciousness for limited period .
5- Diuretic Drugs : group of drugs affect renal system to increase
volume of urine by increasing water and solute excretion .
6- Cardio Vascular System Drugs .
7-Respiration System Drugs .
8- GastroIntestinal Tract Drugs .
9- Hormones .
10-Blood .
11- Chemotherapy .
12- Vitamins .
Importance of studying Pharmacology:
Studying pharmacology for medical student is essential cause you
need to understand the mechanism of action of different
substances on tissues, it's effect either positive or negative on
tissues, and how you can use it in treatment of diseases .
How can you study it ?
1- Before you study any drug , they are some definitions you
should know and cover during your study :
- Drug : It's a chemical substance , when absorbed into the body of
living organism alerts normal body function .
- Kinetics of drug : It's effect of body on drug " A D M E "
* A = Absorption : transform of drugs from their administration
to the systemic circulation .
* D = D : how drug spread in body and site of storage .
* M = Metabolism : chemical transformation of drugs to active ,
non-ionized and lipid soluble substance " Metabolite " so it'll be
easily excreted .
* E = Excretion : route which body gets rid of drugs .
- Dynamics of drugs : It's effect of drug on body " Mechanism &
Action "
* Mechanism : the way drug do it's effect .
 * Action of drugs : effect of drug either on it's target system or
other system .
- Therapeutics of drugs : usage of drug in medical treatment " uses
& dosage "
- Side effect and toxicity : unwanted effect of drug which may be
toxic to some tissues & system .
- Contraindications : states which drug which a drug shouldn't be
taken .
- Interaction of drugs : effect of some drugs on each other .
2- try to draw diagrams and equations to understand mechanism
of action and factors may increase or decrease this action .
3- Tables to differentiate between similar drugs will help you .
4- Try not to keep the commercial name of drug but keep the
pharmacological name of the group and scientific name of drug
cause commercial names always change from company to other .
5- Connect between the different systems and effect of a drug on
other system even it's not the specific target .

Pathology
Definition:
Pathology literally means the study (logos) of suffering
(pathos).This science is the bridging discipline between the basic
sciences and the clinical practice,
It's the study and diagnosis of diseases through examination of
tissues, organs & body fluids, beside the scientific study of
diseases processes .
General Curriculum:
It's classified into:
1- General Pathology : It's also called investigative pathology
which seeks understand the mechanisms of injury to cells &
tissues , as well as the body's means of responding to and
repairing injury.
Main topics in General pathology are:
-Cellular adaptation, Cell injury, and Cell death: These topics
describes how the cell is affected by the injurious agent that causes
the disease
-Inflammation: this is the response of the body to the injurious
agent mainly by the immune system.
-Tissue renewal and repair: Regeneration Healing, and Fibrosis
which may occurs after the pathological processes.
Infections: by the various agents studied in microbiology and the
responses to the infectious agents.
Neoplasia: This is the study of tumors
Other topics: as immunity diseases and genetic diseases.

2-Systemic Pathology : Concerned with specific response of

specialized organs and tissues to a more or less well defined
stimuli.
Main topics in Special pathology:
Cardiovascular system
Respiratory system
Gastrointestinal system
Genitourinary and renal system
Nervous system
Endocrinal system
Blood vessels and heamatological system
Soft tissues: as skin and breast
Hard tissue: the bone

How you can study it :

1-The pathology course starts with the general pathology which
gives an introduction about the basics of the science that is shared
for all different systems in the body and it gives a place for some
terminology.
Next Special pathology takes place, it is studied systematically
taking a closer look at every system in the body and what are the
main diseases that affect it primarily.
2- The visual experience about the altered structure is important
and interesting in the same time on the naked eye level which can
be supplied by images or some jars that contains the diseased
organ, as well as how the histological pattern is changed under the
microscope this can be provided by the microscopic slides or
images as well can be useful.
3- Each disease that affects any system should be discussed from
four aspects,
1) Etiology, or (the cause) the major causes of disease are:
-Traumatic: Physical and mechanical forces causes a damage to the
tissues as the car accident for example.
-Inflammatory: as above the inflammation is the reaction of the
body to some factors, these factors can be the famous infectious
agents but also can be because of chemicals or some other factors.
-Neoplastic: tumors may arise at any site of the body such as brain
tumors, tumors of the breast and many others
-Degenerative: These diseases are characterized by progressive
destruction of the tissue over time a famous example is Alzheimer
disease.
-Metabolic or toxic: These factors are disturbed chemical
metabolism inside the body another famous example is Diabetes
mellitus. Many causes can do the disturbance in metabolism
including the toxic agents as Lead poisoning.

2) Pathogenesis or the mechanism by which the disease occurs.

3) Morphology, how the diseased organ, tissue and cells look
This will be the core of the practical part of the course:
a) Gross: how the organs look at the naked eye level
b) Microscopic: how the tissue looks under the microscope
4) Clinicopathologic correlation, the correlation of ·
morphology and laboratory data with clinical features of disease

Microbiology
Definition:
Medical Microbiology is t he study of the role of microbes in human
illness , include the study of microbial pathogenesis, epidemiology and
it's relation to pathology and immunology .
Importance of studying microbiology:
It's one of the most widely studied and followed branch due to its great
importance to medicine. Along with providing a deep knowledge and
understanding of the nature of pathogens , this line of study has also been
applied in several immunological innovations in the field of medical
science . Through development of vaccines against invading deadly
diseases, some of them have been eradicated or become more treatable
due to efforts exerted in Microbiology .
General Curriculum :
Microbiology is divided into four branches :
Bacteriology – Virology – Mycology – Immunology
**************
 Medical Bacteriology
It's the medical study of pathogen and non pathogen bacteria .
There are a lot of classification for bacteria one of them :
1- coccus bacteria : rounded shape bacteria , according to stain
they are :
- Gram Positive cocci : Staphylococci & Streptococci .
- Gram Negative cocci : Neisseriae .
2- Bacillus bacteria : rod shaped bacteria , according to stain they
are :
- Gram Positive bacilli : Corynebacteria " Diphtheriae &
Diphtheroids " , Bacillus " Antheracis & Cereus "

Clostridium " Tetani ,Perfringens & Difficile " .

- Gram Negative bacilli : Escherichea Coli , Klebsiella ,

Citrobacter
Salmonella , Shigella , Proteus
Pseudomonas , Vibrios , Yersinia .
3- Coccobacillus bacteria : they are ,
- Gram Negative : Haemophilus " Influenzae , Aegytius , Ducreyi
"
Bordetella .
Brucella .
4- Mycobacteria : It's type of bacteria resist Gram stain and need
special stain .
5-Mycoplasms , Legionellae .
6- Spirochaetes : spiral shaped bacteria , they are,
Terponema .
Borrelia .
Leptospira .
7- Rickettsiae .
8- Chlamydiae .
9- Actinomyces and Nocardia .
*******************

Medical Mycology
It's the medical study of pathogenic fungi
It's classified according to morphology into :
1- Yeast fungi : Cryptococcus Neoformans .
2- Yeast like fungi : Candida Albicans.
3- Filmentous fungi : Dermatophytes , Aspergillus .
4- Dimorphi : Histoplasma Capsulatum .
********************

Medical Virology
It's the medical study of pathogenic viruses .
It's classified according to nucleic acid into :
1- DNA Viruses: They are group of viruses have DNA , they are,
-Herpesvirdiae : Herpes Simplex " Type I & Type II ".
Herpes Zoster " Varicella Zoster ".
Cytomegalovirus .
Epstein-Barr Virus .
Human Herpes Virus 6 , 7 & 8 .
-Papovaviridae : Human Papilloma Virus .
Polyomavirus.
Parvoviridae .
Poxvirdiae " Variola , Vaccinia ".
-Hepatitis Viruses : Hepatitis A Virus .
Hepatitis B Virus .
Hepatitis C Virus .
Hepatitis D Virus .
Hepatitis E Virus .
Hepatitis GB Virus .
- Adenovirdiae .
2- RNA Viruses: They are group of viruses have RNA, they are,
- Arbo Viruses: Togaviradiae .
Flaviviradiae .
Bunyaviradiae .
Reoviradiae .
- Picornaviridae : Enterovirus .
Rhinovirus .
Hepatovirus .
Aphthovirus .
Cardiovirus .
- Rhabdoviridae .
- Orthomyxovirdiae " Influenza virus " .
- Paramyxoviridae : Paramyxovirus .
Rubulavirus .
Morbillivirus .
Pneumovirus .
 - Retroviridea : BLV-HTLV retrovirus " HTLV-1 & HTLV-2 "
Lentiviruses " HIV-1 & HIV-2 "
- Coronaviridae : Corona virus .
Torovirus .
SARS virus .
- Filoviridae .
- Arenavridae .
- Reoviridae .
*************
Immunology
It's the study of all aspects of immune system .
It deals with, among other things, the physiological functioning
of the immune system in states of both health and disease;
malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders
(autoimmune diseases, hypersensitivities, immune deficiency,
transplant rejection); the physical, chemical and physiological
characteristics of the components of the immune system in vitro, in
situ, and in vivo.
It's divided into :
1- Normal Immune Response : Innate immunity .
Specific immunity .
Component .
2- Abnormal Immune Response : Autoimmunity .
Tumor immunity .
Immunodeficiency .
Hypersensitivity .
How can you study microbiology ?
1- In bacteria & fungi you need to cover :
- Morphology : it's shape,stain,size , arrangement , motility ,
spore , capsule.
-Culture, Chemical Reaction & antimicrobial drug sensitivity :
specific media which bacteria need to grow over ,shape of
formed colonies , biochemical reaction with specific
substance , it's sensitivity to antimicrobial agents
and resistant to others .
- Antigenic structure, pathogenicity & virulence factors .
- Diseases caused by it .
- Laboratory diagnosis : Specimens , Direct Smear with stain by
Gram , Culture and antibiotic susceptibility & Phage
typing for epidemiological purpose .
 - Treatment of disease .
2- In virus , you need to cover :
- Type of virus either DNA or RNA .
- Pathogenesis & Clinical manifestation .
- Laboratory diagnosis .
- Prophylaxis by vaccine if it available .
- Treatment by Antiviral agent .
3- In immunity :
- you must connect different events of immune response
together and make a general knowledge about what happen in
our body in order to face an antigen .
- search for colored diagrams and animations about what happen
in the immune responses ,this will help you in understanding
the mechanisms of immune responses .
- understanding the mechanism of immune responses is the base
to understand immunology and even microbiology .
- never try to copy this branch inside your memory ,if you do
this you will forget it in no time .

Parasitology
Definition:
It's the study of organisms that cause or transfer diseases to human .
General Curriculum:
Parasitology includes :
1- Helmenthology :" worms " includes,
- Tape worms .
- Segmented worms .
- Rounded worms .
2- Entomolgy : insects .
3- Protozoology : protozo means one cell organism .
Importance of studying parasitology:
It's important for medical student to be oriented with pathological
effect of parasite ,diseases which cause by it , treatment and how to
protect others from infection " Protection is better than Cure " .
How can you study it ?
1- In worms, Insects & Protozoa, you need to cover :
- Route of infection .
 - Habitate : site where worm lives .
- Definitive host : the organism which has the pathological
effect of the worm " target of worm to affect ".
- Intermediate host : organism could be a part of worm life
cycle but it doesn't make disease in him .
- Life Cycle .
- Pathology and diseases caused by it .
- How to diagnose infection .
- How to treat it .
- Prevention and control in case of epidemic diseases .
2- After studying of each group or family do a table or digram and list
the basic information you need to cover and compare between them .
3- At the end of each part of the three parts make a conclusion e.g what
can infect you through eating meet or fish , it's common question you
may be asked .
4- Don't worry from all that drawing because you don't have to know
most oh them, all you have to know is infective stage , diagnostic stage &
practical slides .

2- Clinical Sciences
Ophthalmology
Forensic & Toxicology
Community Medicine
Ear , Nose & Throat
Internal Medicine
Pediatrics
Surgery
Gynecology & Obstetrics

Ophthalmology
Definition:
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine which deals with the
diseases and surgery of the visual pathways, including the eye,
brain, and areas surrounding the eye, such as the lacrimal system
and eyelids.
Simply it is the anatomy, functions, pathology, and treatment of
the eye.
General Curriculum:
Ophthalmology theoretical curriculum is based on diseases of
different anatomical parts of the eye, so anatomy including blood
and nerve supply of different parts of the eye should be known
well which facilitate studying different diseases of that part with
clear understanding of pathogenesis and regimen of treatment
including understanding principles.
It should cover diseases of:
1- Eye lids.
2- Lacrimal apparatus .
3- The conjunctiva.
4- The cornea.
5- The sclera.
6- The uveal tract and pupil.
7- The crystalline lens.
8- The vitreous body.
9- The retina .
10- The optic nerve.
11- The visual pathways (neuroophthalmology).
12-Orbital cavity.
13- Glaucoma .
14- Optics and refractive errors.
15- Ocular motility and strabismus.
16- Ocular Injuries.
Ophthalmology clinical curriculum includes:

History taking (current history, past history, family history,
medical history) .

Examination includes: visual acuity, ocular motility,
examination of different anatomical parts, intraocular
pressure, visual field and colored vision.

Importance of studying ophthalmology:

Although Ophthalmology is considered sophisticated to
some degree specially to undergraduate students, but you should
know principles of how to diagnose simple eye diseases and eye
emergencies with special concern to causes of red and painful eye.
How you can study it ?

1-Your knowledge about each disease should be fulfilled :

 1-Definition.
2- Etiology & pathophysiology.
3-Diagnosis:
In order to diagnose any disease u should:
1. Take proper history knowing patient complain e.g.
blurred vision and ask the patient if there is any
other complain.
2. Clinical picture:
It includes :

Symptoms (subjective, felt by patient, and not
measured) as diplopia, pain, photophopia,
etc…

Signs (Objective, indicates clinical fact, and
notice by the ophthalmologist during eye
examination) as conjunctival papillae in
trachoma, Keratic precipitates (KPs) with
iridocyclitis, etc…
3. Investigations:
Which are a kind of medical procedure performed
to detect, diagnose, or evaluate disease, disease
processes, susceptibility, and determine a course of
treatment, usually utilizing technological methods
as autorefractometer to measure errors of refraction,
regurgitation test in epiphora, visual evoked
response, etc…
4. Differential diagnosis: is a systematic method used
to identify unknowns
Careful differential diagnosis involves first making
a list of possible diagnoses using data obtained from
history and clinical picture, and then attempting to
remove diagnoses from the list until at most one
diagnosis remains.

4-Teatment: follows proper diagnosis , It includes both medical

and surgical treatment :
-Medical treatment includes drugs (you should know names of
drugs, its action, main side effects and route of intake) and also
includes visual aids as spectacles, contact lenses, etc
-Surgical intervention which resemble corner stone in treatment
at Ophthalmology and indicated for many diseases as in cataract,
 glaucoma, strabismus, etc including also operations to correct
errors of refraction as LASIK.
Your knowledge should cover indication, principles, procedure
and complications of every operation.

2- As ophthalmology deals with tiny and complicated structures

you should know clearly the anatomy using diagrams specially
those with 3D features in order to be easy to imagine pathology
also using colored atlas of diseases will help, on other hand
watching movies for operations and attending live operations will
help you to understand them also recurrent visiting of outpatient
clinic would be of great help to identify and observe major signs.

Forensic Medicine
Definition:
The medical study that deals with the application of medical
knowledge to legal problems and legal proceedings. Also called
legal medicine
Eg. Post-mortem of the body by the forensic medicine department
is used as a testimony to decide the possible cause of death.
Importance & Usage of Forensic Medicine :
The branch of medicine concerned with the resolution of legal
issues by the application of scientific medical knowledge. The
issues may be of criminal or civil nature.
The development of forensic medicine began in Europe in the
early nineteenth century. Although forensic medicine has its
basis in the specialty of pathology, physicians in other specialties,
such as psychiatry, orthopedics, cardiology, and neurology as
well as specialists in other disciplines, may be called on to resolve
legal questions posed by judges, attorneys, investigators, and
hearing boards.
It's used in :

1- In death investigations, a number of forensic specialists may

work together. A forensic odontologist may be called in to identify
the deceased person through dental examination, or the
perpetrator of bite marks left on the deceased's body. A forensic
anthropologist may be needed to identify skeletal remains; a
forensic toxicologist for the identification of poisons or drugs; and
a criminalist for investigation at the scene and collection of
evidence, or for study of trace evidence such as blood stains, hair,
paints, and seminal fluid. In cases of equivocal suicides, forensic
psychiatrists and psychologists may be called in. Recently the
biomechanical engineer has been added to the roster of forensic
specialists, to test and study injury patterns to determine how the
injury came about. The forensic medical specialist may express an
opinion in writing or may be required to testify in person in the
courtroom. As with all legal proceedings, the physician witness
must be cognizant of issues such as the degree of proof, the chain
of custody of specimens or evidence, competency of the witness,
and court procedures.

2- An important development in forensic medicine is genetic

analysis. Every individual has a unique genetic content
determined by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences. The DNA
present in forensic samples such as hair, bloodstains, and seminal
fluid can identify a suspect. One analysis technique is called DNA
fingerprinting; it can be used to compare the DNA sequence of a
suspect or a defendant with material evidence at the crime scene..
Paternity exclusion by ABO blood typing has been replaced by
DNA fingerprinting.

General Curriculum :

Forensic medicine is a very interesting science and it’s curriculum

based on two major aspects identification and examination
Identification
- Identification of bones
Include
• Human or not
• One person or more
• Sex
• Age
- Identification of dead
Include
• age
• sex
• clothes
 • features
• race
• tattoo marks
- Idenyification of the living
Include
• anthropometry
• finger prints
Examination
- Bloodstains
- mechanical injuries
- fire arm injuries
- Burns
- mechanical asphyxiation
- Sexual offences
- Infanticide and child abuse
-
Toxicology
Definition:
It's the study of the toxic or harmful effects of chemicals. It is
concerned with how toxins act, when their harmful effects occur,
and what the symptoms and treatments are for poisoning.
General Curriculum :
Most of topics are classified as follow:
- Condition of poisoning ( suicidal, homicidal or accidental )
- Fatal dose
- Mechanism of action:
-Local
- Systemic
- Clinical picture:
- Local
- Systemic
- Causes of death
- Treatment:
- First aid
- In hospital
- Investigation:
- Routine investigation
- Toxicologic investigation
How can you study it ?
The most problem that face students in their study that they
become confused by these huge amount of symptoms for each
toxin.

The best method to simplify their studying is

a) To mark each toxin with the most important & characteristic

symptom for it. Such as follow:

Toxin Symptom
Acids (nitric, hydrochloric, Burns around mouth, lips,
sulphuric) nose
Arsenic (metals, mercury, Severe, unexplained diarrhea
copper, etc.)
Atropine (Belladonna), Pupil of eye dilated
Scopolamine
Bases (lye, potash, hydroxides) Burns around mouth, lips,
nose
Carbolic acid (or other phenol) Odor of disinfectant
Carbon monoxide Skin is bright cherry red
Cyanide Quick death, red skin, odor of
peach
Food poisoning Vomiting, abdominal pain
Metallic compounds Diarrhea, vomiting,
abdominal pain
Nicotine Convulsion
Opiates Pupil of eye contracted
Oxalic acid (phosphorous) Odor of garlic
Strychnine Convulsion, dark face and
neck

b) Not keep investigation but try to find it from clinical

picture .

Community Medicine
Definition:
Community medicine is the branch of medicine that is concerned
with public health services , emphasizing preventive medicine and
epidemiology for members of a given community or region, and it
also deals with assessing and evaluating needs and trends of
disease and health care to specific groups or community
populations.
Importance of studying community medicine :

• Community medicine is an interesting branch of medicine

that deals with nearly all aspects of medicine (curative,
preventive & public health …etc), so studying of it prepares
u to face properly your future life as a doctor.
• Community medicine is most important applicable branch of
medicine as it deals not only with disease after its
development but also deals with healthy population ,
specially high risk groups to prevent development of disease
from the start.
• Each part of community medicine can be considered a
separate science itself & has its own importance &
applications ,e.g. : application of different types of
epidemiological studies is the corner stone in medical
researches to interpret way to prevent disease , defining
populations at risk of developing any health problems facing
the community.
• Other part of community medicine prepare the medical
student to understand people & deal with them as human
beings not only as diseased bodies or specimen through
studying communication skills & knowing rules of patient
doctor relationship. And also teach u how to manage and
lead teamwork and how to be part of it too through
understanding meaning of words as system, program &
project…etc. It also teach you steps of project management &
other management and leadership skills which may help you
in your career as a part of the health care delivery system.
• Community medicine is concerned with study of natural
history of different disease and health problems, so health
care providers can develop measures interfering with
disease development in its different stages and break the
chain of infection or other types of health problems. And that
helps in treatment of cases, prevention of its progression and
spread…etc.
"community medicine is the main pillar in developing a healthy population and
application of its principles is the only way to decrease morbidity and mortality rates
in communities and this makes the difference between developed and non developed
countries in the field of health care delivery and this creates populations as healthy as
possible"

Community medicine Curriculum:

The curriculum may slightly differ from college to another but the
basic concepts have to be studied & they include 3 main parts:
• Introduction to community medicine including these topics:
-basic definitions of community medicine & how to access
various parts of it
e.g.: levels of prevention of a health problem in a risk
group divided into:
1. Primary prevention in which you should know
measures of health education, health promotion and
specific protection from this problem (i.e.: facing the
problem before its development)
2. Secondary prevention in which you should know the
measures applied when the health problem already
established itself in the community that includes
screening & detecting activities by which we discover
undiagnosed affected individuals ,prevent progression or
spread of the problem ,cure patients ,studying pre and
post pathology periods and prevent prolonged disability
caused by this problem.
3.Tertiary prevention (rehabilitation) in which we try to
apply measures to make maximal use of remaining
capacity in complicated cases & return them to a useful
place in the community after the anatomic and
physiologic changes have been stabilized.
You will also study in this section the following topics:
- Epidemiologic methods, uses of epidemiology & how to
perform epidemiological study.
- Statistics which has a great importance in this subject as
it teach u methods of data collection, analysis,
interpretation and presentation of them that can be used
in various studies in medicine and knowing the vital
indices.
 - Demography and vital indices.
- Environment and its interaction with health.

• Epidemiology of different types of communicable and non

communicable diseases in which you should know the
following points: definition, occurrence, pre and post
pathogenic period, how to prevent and control these diseases
with above mentioned character.

• Health care delivery system and health services provided to

different risk groups including: reproductive health, child
health services, adolescent and school health, geriatric health
services, mental health, populations of special needs and
occupational health.
With special consideration of project management, health
education and communication skills, components of health care
system and family medicine.

Important points you should consider when you study

community medicine :

 Make yourself interested in studying this subject as

possible as you can and understand well the
application of it in medicine which will also benefit
you in you upcoming life as a doctor.
 Specify certain times per day or week to study
community & review what u already studied as it is
the biggest subject you have this year in quantity and
degrees at the final exam.
 Highlight important headlines in each topic and give
special consideration to key words under each one of
them.
 Diagrams and mind maps are of special value in
studying all subjects specially community medicine,
try to make your own ones if possible and make use of
those you find in community medicine books.
  Try to write your own abstract of each topic after
studying them as they help you very much to
memorize these topics.
 Each part of community medicine has its importance
applications and better ways for studying.
 Concentrate well on definitions of community
medicine terms as they are very important in different
types of exams e.g.: primary health care, family doctor,
occupational disease….etc.
 After studying each topic try to answer as many
related questions and MCQ as possible as you can, this
help you evaluate yourself continuously.

Ear, Nose & Throat

Definition :
The science that deals with anatomy, physiology & clinical
presentation of (ear-nose-throat) organs also teaching you how to
treat their diseases & prophylaxis .
General Curriculum :
ENT comprises 3 constituents:
1-EAR:
By studying ENT you have know that:
(anatomy-physiology-general symptoms-acute & chronic diseases
- operations)
2-NOSE:
(Anatomy-physiology –congenital - traumatic –inflammatory –
neoplastic disorders)
3-THROAT:
-PHARYNX:
(anatomy-physiology –inflammation - neoplastic
disorders-operations)
-LARYNX
(anatomy-physiology –inflammation - neoplastic)
How can you study it ?
When studying ENT u have to:
1-Try to put different types of diseases in categories
I.e. inflammatory degenerative immune induced diseases or
neoplastic diseases should be studied revised as one package, and
so on, and you can do that through understanding the
pathophysiology of each disease then you will easily predict most
other needed information about this disease as clinical picture,
investigations and treatment as they mostly meet in many aspects .
2-differantiate between lessons in studying as the following:
3-many topics you have to read well(reading)for MCQ &oral, such
as anatomy ,physiology some tumors
-while other topics you should study well for various types of
questions.
-continuous reading is the key of perfect understanding.
4- Keep up with the most common questions whether it is oral-
written or MCQ question.
5-don’t miss the following topics
-EAR(ear wash-acute otitis media-chronic otitis media
complications-facial nerve
Hearing loss-vertigo-understanding the operations)
-NOSE (foreign body in the nose-chronic atrophic rhinitis-
sinusitis-epistaxis – principles of operations)
-PHARYNX (adenoid-pharyngeal suppuration-angiofibroma-
tonsillectomy)
-LARYNX (congenital diseases-foreign body-benign tumors-
operations)
6-first of all when you talk about clinical picture of a disease you
should differentiate between symptoms whish are patient own
words(no medical terms used) and sign which are know by the
doctor ,e,g,: pain is a symptom while tenderness is a sign, and so
on.
7- in each disease you should know:
• Definition, in which you must start by the category of
diseases & its most important diagnostic criteria.
• Incidence, in which you should talk about incidence of
disease according to age, sex ,laterality…etc.
• Predisposing factors and sources of infection if if it is
infective disease.
• Clinical picture that includes the symptoms and signs of the
cases. And you should consider in examination of cases the
general and local symptoms as well as constitutional signs
and local signs.
• Complications that may occur due to this disease.
 • Investigations that should be done for proper diagnosis of
this disease which are laboratory investigations, imaging
investigations(x ray, CT , ultra sound….etc.) or endoscopic
investigations.
• Treatment that may cure or manage the case.

NB:-
IF YOU WANT REALY TO BE PERFECT IN SUCH ASUBJECT,
ALLOW YOUR SELF TO VISIT ENT CLINICS IN YOUR
HOSPITAL PERIODACALY TO (DEAL WITH PATIANTS-
LEARN DIAGNOSIS-TREATMENT-PERFORM EARWASH –
REMOVAL OF FB- ASKING ABOUT PROPYLAXIS WHENEVER
POSSIABLE)

Internal Medicine
Definition:
Internal medicine is the medical specialty concerned with
1. Diagnosis of diseases.
2. Non-surgical treatment.
Branches:
This is a listing of branches that compose the curriculum
 Cardiology
 Endocrinology
 Gastroenterology
 Hematology/Oncology
 Infectious diseases
 Nephrology
 Pulmonology
 Rheumatology
 Neurology
 Psychiatry
Each of these branches is concerned with the diagnosis and
management of disease in the corresponding system.
Now we'll discuss the 2 pillars that make up Internal medicine.
Diagnosis:
Diagnosis is the process of identifying a medical condition or
disease by its signs, symptoms, and from the results of various
diagnostic procedures.
Before beginning, I'll start by setting a few definitions that are
important to understand how diagnosis is reached.
Symptom:
A symptom is any indication of a disease or injury
(perceived by the patient),
Sign:
A sign is an objective indication (that is, one found by
examining a patient) of a disease, physiological malfunction,
or injury.
This means a symptom is identified by asking the patient about it,
while a sign can only be detected by examining the patient.
For example Pain is symptom, as it is experienced by the patient
and cannot be detected by the physician, while tachycardia
"Accelerated heart rate" is a sign , it's usually not felt by the patient
but can be detected by physician upon examination.
Diagnosis is sequential process that is achieved through the
following:
1) History taking
Which is a process in which the physician asks the patient
specific questions about Symptoms the patient experienced.
Example: Asking the patient about the presence of pain.
2) Clinical Examination
Process by which a physician investigates the body of a
patient for Signs of disease.
Example: Measuring patient's arterial blood pressure or
counting his heart rate
3) Investigations
Which are a kind of medical procedure performed to detect,
diagnose, or evaluate disease, disease processes,
susceptibility, and determine a course of treatment, usually
utilizing technological methods
Example: Chest X-Ray , Complete Blood Picture (CBC), CT
Scan.
With each step the physician is able to narrow down the number
of possibilities and thus come closer to diagnosis, however, In the
real world , diagnosing a disease isn't always straightforward,
some diseases have similar symptoms and signs , the physician
has to be able to differentiate between these similar conditions, this
process is called differential diagnosis, The following example
simulates a real situation and will shed some light on how a final
diagnosis can be reached.
Note: This example is stripped down to make it easier to
understand.
A 55 year old patient comes to the hospital complaining of sudden onset of
chest pain radiating to his left arm , the patient also reported history of
"Shortness of breath and chest discomfort when moving heavy boxes in his
shop", On examination the patient had a blood pressure of 190/105 , He is
overweight with Respiratory rate of 17/min.

Let's break this situation down

History: “What the patient said (Symptoms)"
 Sudden onset of chest pain
 Shortness of breath
Clinical Examination: “Findings that were detected on examining
the patient (Signs)"
 Obesity
 Arterial blood pressure (190/105 “Hypertensive patient")
 Respiratory rate 17/Minute
These symptoms and signs don't specifically occur in one disease,
some diseases can cause similar symptoms and signs,
however,Based on these symptoms and signs the physician should
now be able to narrow the possibilities down to 2 or 3 diseases.
Note : Symptoms and signs are collectively called “Clinical
picture”
Differential diagnosis:
Sudden onset of chest pain with "Shortness of breath" in
hypertensive patient can be caused by 4 diseases
1. Myocardial infarction.
2. Aortic dissection.
3. Pulmonary embolism.
4. Tension Pneumothorax.
The physician will now subject the patient to a series of
investigations to reach the diagnosis
 Cardiac Enzymes "Creatine kinase level, Lactate
dehydorgenase level ,etc" are elevated hours following
a myocardial infarction.
 CT Scan to detect Aortic dissection.
  Plain Chest X-Ray to detect Tension Pneumothorax.
Based on the results of investigations the physician arrives at the
definite diagnosis and begins proper treatment of the condition.
This brings us to the second pillar of Internal medicine which is
"Treatment".
Treatment:
There isn't much to say about treatment except that internal
medicine is more concerned about non-surgical treatment
mostly by using drugs, You will be introduced to surgical
treatment when you study "Surgery".
Internal medicine Curriculum
The curriculum can be broken down into
Theoretical part:

Is mainly meant to provide medical student with knowledge

"Information" about diseases regarding definition ,
diagnosis and treatment.

The majority of topics are structured as follows

 Definition
 Aetiology
 Diagnosis
 Clinical picture
 Symptoms
 Signs
 Investigations
 Differential diagnosis ( Conditions that have similar
Clinical picture)
 Complications
 Treatment

The term “Management” is usually used to refer to

Diagnosis and Treatment.
For example , If you're asked to discuss “Management of
Hypertension” you should cover the following
 Diagnosis
 Clinical picture
 Symptoms
 Signs
  Investigations
 Differential diagnosis ( Conditions that have
similar Clinical picture)
 Treatment

It is recommended when studying any topic to keep these two

main pillars in mind ( Diagnosis & Treatment ) since a student is
expected to have the knowledge of how to diagnose and treat any
condition within the curriculum.
Clinical part:
Which is meant to provide medical student with the
Knowledge about and Skills of history taking and clinical
examination "i.e. detecting symptoms and signs".

Pediatrics
Definition:
Is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of
infants, children, and adolescents. The upper age limit ranges from
age 14 to 18, depending on the country, Like Internal Medicine it is
concerned with
3. Diagnosis of diseases.
4. Non-surgical treatment.

There is a significant overlap between pediatrics and internal

medicine curricula regarding the topics discussed by both , but
they tend to differ in the depth by which these topics are discussed
because some disease are more prevalent in children than in adults
and vise versa

For instance rickets , protein energy malnutrition (PEM) and

bronchiolitis are diseases that occur almost exclusively among
children and are discussed in depth by the pediatrics curriculum
while being given only brief attention in the internal medicine
curriculum.

Some topics are relevant only to pediatrics like

 Growth and development
 Breast feeding
 Neonatal diseases
Pediatrics Curriculum
The curriculum can be broken down into
 Theoretical part
 Clinical part
For more details please review the Internal medicine guide ,
It is recommended to benefit from the significant overlap between
the curricula of Internal medicine and Pediatrics.
Example:
A topic such as Leukemia is discussed in both curricula , It
would be a good idea to study that topic from a single source
“e.g. Internal medicine text” and add complementary notes
to that topic about how is it different in pediatrics like
 Difference in Clinical picture
 Difference in treatment or drug dosage

Best Wishes
AMSA Team