A prerequisite for the pathology major (unfortunately). As stated in another review, because most lectures are given by experts in their field, the delivery of the content varies depending on the lecturer's prowess in teaching. Because these lecturers often aren't involved with the subject beyond their lectures, they are unaware of the students' prior knowledge about a given topic and will either assume that it has been covered extensively (e.g. dengue), or that it hasn't been covered at all (e.g. multiple sclerosis). Moreover, these lectures will often emphasise the lecturer's own research over disease pathophysiology, which can inform a student's interest in doing postgrad research but can also cause confusion about what knowledge is expected for the end-of-semester exam. Most of these lectures simply feel like advertisements for the lecturers' honours projects rather than actual lectures. Assessments consist of 2 MSTs (15 questions each, also worth 15% each), 3 integrated learning session (ILS) tasks (10 marks each, also worth 10% each), and an exam worth 40%. The difficulty of these assessments seem to fluctuate depending on the coordinators' mood. The ILS tasks are take-home SAQs submitted via Cadmus, wherein marks are deducted for failing to include extraneous information that is not relevant to the question (e.g. not discussing pre-diabetes in a question where the main goal was to determine the reason behind a patient's heart attack). To do well on these assignments, you're better off cramming every single bit of information you can think of that somehow relates to the question so you can (hopefully) get the mark. Communication from the subject coordinators is equally confusing and frustrating, with contradictory information and an unwillingness to listen to student feedback about the quality of the assessments given. Overall, I would suggest staying away from this subject if you aren't required to take it for your major; the semester 1 pathology subjects (PATH30001 and PATH30002) are much better in terms of the educational and practical value they provide to students. The coordinators for these subjects are also much more supportive and welcoming. Otherwise, especially if the 2023 coordinators remain the same in the following years, I hope this review can give prospective students a proper heads-up.

A subjected packed with guest lecturers who are at the top of their field. Unfortunately they are rarely as gifted at teaching as they are at researching in their area of expertise. This leaves you confused, frustrated and dejected as you waste needless time trying to figure out what the hell you are expected to know at the end of each lecture.