Overview
Topic Selection
Choose a medical problem you want to write about and prepare a 'trailer' about the medical experience that you, a family member, or a close friend has/had that is relevant to one of the topics that we are studying in BIO 141 (tissues, the integumentary system, the skeletal system, the muscular system, the nervous system, and the sensory system). Please submit the Topic for approval in Unit 1: Medical Experience - Topic Selection and Library Resources ,once you have submitted your topic, I will approve it and then post a final list of your name with the date your paper must be submitted.
Please note: You only need to write 1 paper in this class which is worth 50 points but you must participate in each unit discussion which is 10 points each.
Here are two examples of trailers by previous students, used with permission: • Example Trailer 1: Last year, my grandmother had a group of friend's visiting. When they left, she took a nap and woke up with no muscle function in her whole right side and was unable to open her eyes. Respiratory distress came later on within the hour. The sudden onset of GuillainBarré Syndrome which didn't allow any of her nerves to send the signals to her brain to move. She went through intense therapies, medications, and rehab to gain the strength back. I work in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit at UVA and am/was very interested in her condition as it deteriorated her so rapidly with no onset warnings. I work in the Neuro ICU at UVA Medical Center and see other patient's come in and out of our unit with Guillain-Barré and all of their results vary so drastically. I would love to look into this topic more.
• Example Trailer 2: My grandfather was a cigarette smoker, since the time he was 15 or 16 years old, and so is my dad. Most Vietnamese males are smokers. It is just like a culture thing in Vietnam. Offering a cigarette is a way of greeting, like shaking hands to start a friendly conversation, or to conduct business. After 60 pack years in smoking, my grandfather started coughing and developed chest pain. He lost a lot of weight in a few months. The coughing got worse, but he insisted that he did not have any problems, until he coughed out blood and fainted. My parents called 911 to take him to the hospital. The doctor ordered a lung scan, and found a mass in his right lung. After a complete checkup, the doctor concluded that my grandfather had advanced stage lung cancer. The tumor was inoperable. My grandfather passed