General and clinical microbiology

Duration

40h Th, 12h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Marie-Pierre Hayette

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

General microbiology (Prof. MP Hayette)

Contents:

• Introduction 
• Historical milestones 
• The microbial world
• Bacteria, procaryotic cells 
• Beneficial aspects of microbes 
• Concepts of microbial diseases 
• Control of microbial diseases: prevention and therapeutic approach
• Fungi 
• Parasites

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Partim General microbiology

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• identify the main microbial challenges on the earth
• describe the importance of mortality associated to infectious diseases and the evolution/emergence of infectious diseases
• summarize a few important milestones in the microbial history
• describe the different groups of microorganisms and their characteristics
• explain the important role and characteristics of biofilms
• describe the main points of bacterial genetics and genome plasticity
• report the principles of beneficials aspects of microbes
• summarize the different symbiotic and pathogenic  relationships between microorganisms and human beings.
• list the main bacterial virulence factors
• describe the different modes of transmission of microbes to or between human beings
• understand and summarize human defenses against microbial attack and prevention strategies (food security, access to drinking water, vaccines, sterilization - disinfection, antibiotics).
• list the main groups of antibiotics, mode of action and resistance mechanisms
• describe the principles of the main microbial methods used for clinical diagnostics

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

The prerequisite knowledges are:

• General biology
• General Immunology.

• General and medical virology (Pr N. Jacobs).
  
  

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Course Structure and Evaluation

This course is primarily based on lectures supported by the presentation of clinical cases and interactive quizzes conducted via a smartphone application.

The course is divided into two parts: general microbiology and medical microbiology. The chapters are organized to ensure a progressive and logical understanding of the content.

For the clinical microbiology sessions: "Review - Continuous Training." Quizzes will be administered at the beginning of each class covering previously discussed material to reinforce learning. A review session will also be organized at the end of the course.

Students are encouraged to ask questions after classes or via email, mentioning their section.

II. Practical Sessions

To illustrate and elaborate on certain topics covered, practical sessions will be organized.

Attendance in the laboratory is MANDATORY. Any absence must be justified with a proper medical certificate. For safety reasons, wearing a lab coat is required, and disposable gloves will be provided for handling biological materials.

The practical sessions for general microbiology consist of two in-person sessions of two hours each.

- Module 1: Safety Guidelines for Laboratory Work
- Module 2: Bacteria
- Module 3: Identification of Bacteria
- Module 4: Yeasts and Filamentous Fungi
- Module 5: Hand Hygiene and Cough Etiquette

During the in-person practical sessions, supervision is provided by student monitors who assist students in understanding and performing practical manipulations. The activities familiarize students with basic biosafety considerations, essential hygiene rules such as handwashing, and fundamental diagnostic techniques used in microbiology.

As these practical sessions are designed for future health professionals, the exercises and demonstrations pertain to medical microbiology, thereby introducing the roles of a microbiology laboratory in the diagnosis and control of infectious agents. The practicals are presented in the form of thematic workshops that illustrate the lectures through the performance of diagnostic tests, microscopy observations, and macroscopic examinations (bacterial and fungal cultures, adult parasites, etc.).

Furthermore, videos will be made available on the e-campus at various points to illustrate certain courses (e.g., Whooping Cough, Malaria, Lyme Disease).

Microbiology Practical Examination

A practical examination in general/medical microbiology, comprising multiple-choice questions, will be integrated into the theoretical exam.

The practical sessions in clinical microbiology illustrate the theoretical course content through technical examples encountered in a clinical diagnostic laboratory. They aim to enable students to observe infectious disease agents; introduce them to isolation techniques and rapid detection methods; emphasize the importance of pre-analytical quality of samples; address the reality of contamination; and discuss the predictive values of the tests used. Clinical cases will be presented to students to expose them to real-world scenarios.

 

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Further information:

Face-to-face course

Participation of two lecturers

Prof. MP Hayette and Pharm biol C. Meex

Practical works sessions
coordinated by Khalid El Moussaoui


Attendance is compulsory

Slide sets and lab syllabus available online

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Slide sets of theoretical lectures  as well as syllabus of pratical works, posted on the ULg website, which can be downloaded by the concerned students, are compulsory.


The following books are good references related to the course:

• MIMS' MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY, Mims C. et al, 6th Ed.,2018, Elsevier
• INTRODUCION A LA MICROBIOLOGIE, Tortora G.J. et al, 2nd Ed., 2012, ERPI, Editions du Renouveau Pédagogique Inc.
• BROCK BIOLOGY OF MICROORGANISMS, MT Madigan et al, 14th Ed, 2014,Pearson
• THE MICROBIAL CHALLENGE, Krasner R., 2002, Ed. ASM PRESS
• MICROBIOLOGIE, Prescott, Willey JM et al, Traduction de la 8ème Ed,2013, Ed.De Boeck Université
• INFECTIOLOGIE, Tome 3. 3ème édition. Collection Le moniteur internat. 2007

• http: //www.microbes-edu.org

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam


Further information:

Written exam comprising multiple-choice questions (MCQs) with a degree of certainty.

Work placement(s)

Opportunity for a 3-month internship during the last year of master and production of a final thesis

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

For practical works session

• the coordinator is Khalid El Moussaoui, university hospital of Liege
• Attendance is compulsory
• Access is restricted only to students wearing a labcoat.

Contacts

Clinical Microbiology department
University hospital of Liège,
B-23 Sart Tilman,
4000 LIEGE
Belgium

Secretary
For any contact or appointment request, please address your demand to the secretary Mrs S Wauquier

• Phone: 00.32.4.366.22.90
• email: micromed@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs