Physiology 3120: Mammalian Physiology
Physiology is a great course if you're interested in learning about how the body works. You get to learn about all the major systems of the body in pretty good detail and you spend a couple weeks on each one. There is a different professor that comes in for each topic and usually that professor is a "specialist" in their field e.g. they do research on that system so they are quite knowledgeable in that area.
It's a course that involves concept and memorizing little details. For example, in the renal unit, you learn all about how the kidneys work. So you will learn about how the kidneys filter stuff and concepts like filtration, reabsorption and secretion e.g. how certain ions move. As for the memorization bit, you will be expected to memorize all the major channels in the different sections of the nephron. And then you'll also be given a bit of application e.g. what happens when your body is given a huge salt load or water load... and how the body regulates the system e.g. using hormones.
For all units, you'll learn a little bit of the anatomy, a LOT of how the actual system is supposed to function, application/scenarios of the function and a little bit of what happens when things go wrong (pathology and disease)
I think physiology overall gives a very nice balance of memorizing details, concepts and application. To me, I think it's probably one of the most useful courses that you can take as an undergraduate science student because it's basically how your body works. I think it would give you a good foundation if you're interested in any of the healthcare careers.
As for evaluation, they are all multiple choice exams so every prof's level of difficulty is a bit different. It's one of the courses I think where you need to understand the concepts really well, but also pick up the little details to do well because the little details do matter. Contrary to popular belief, Phys 2130 and Phys 3120 are not identical courses. Firstly, most of the professors are actually different. Phys 3120 includes more details about each of the system and the professors expect more from the students. As such, Phys 3120 exams, in my opinion, were significantly more difficult. There are also no tutorials for Phys 3120. Personally, I found that taking Phys 2130 gave me a very strong foundation for taking Phys 3120, but overall, Phys 3120 is more challenging.
It's a course that involves concept and memorizing little details. For example, in the renal unit, you learn all about how the kidneys work. So you will learn about how the kidneys filter stuff and concepts like filtration, reabsorption and secretion e.g. how certain ions move. As for the memorization bit, you will be expected to memorize all the major channels in the different sections of the nephron. And then you'll also be given a bit of application e.g. what happens when your body is given a huge salt load or water load... and how the body regulates the system e.g. using hormones.
For all units, you'll learn a little bit of the anatomy, a LOT of how the actual system is supposed to function, application/scenarios of the function and a little bit of what happens when things go wrong (pathology and disease)
I think physiology overall gives a very nice balance of memorizing details, concepts and application. To me, I think it's probably one of the most useful courses that you can take as an undergraduate science student because it's basically how your body works. I think it would give you a good foundation if you're interested in any of the healthcare careers.
As for evaluation, they are all multiple choice exams so every prof's level of difficulty is a bit different. It's one of the courses I think where you need to understand the concepts really well, but also pick up the little details to do well because the little details do matter. Contrary to popular belief, Phys 2130 and Phys 3120 are not identical courses. Firstly, most of the professors are actually different. Phys 3120 includes more details about each of the system and the professors expect more from the students. As such, Phys 3120 exams, in my opinion, were significantly more difficult. There are also no tutorials for Phys 3120. Personally, I found that taking Phys 2130 gave me a very strong foundation for taking Phys 3120, but overall, Phys 3120 is more challenging.