Competencies for BI 234, Microbiology Lecture and Lab
Mark Eberle
Lecture
Know the contributions of Leeuwenhoek, Pasteur, Koch, Jenner, Lister
and Flemming, and appreciate how they revolutionized medicine.
Understand the basic characteristics of bacteria, algae, fungi,
protozoa and viruses, especially with regard to disease. Appreciate that
treatment is determined by the type of microbe causing the infection.
Know important bacterial characteristics, including shapes, capsules,
cell wall composition, flagella, fimbriae, plasmids, and endospores.
Relate bacterial characteristics to disease and treatment. Understand
the role of plasmids in genetic engineering and resistance to drugs.
Understand the classification of cellular life forms into prokaryotic
and eukaryotic forms. Appreciate that differences in ribosomes, cell
walls and DNA morphology between these two groups are the basis of many
drugs.
Understand the basics of viral infections, using HIV as the main
example.
Be able to explain to others the transmission and pathology of HIV and
AIDS.
Understand the Gram stain and the acid fast stain, and their medical
signifigance.
Know the what normal flora is, and how it both helps and harms health.
Understand how antibacterial drugs promote super infection by eliminating
normal flora, using pseudomembrane colitis as an example.
Understand some key epidemiological terms, including nosocomial
infection. Appreciate the role of the CDC. Read a copy of the MMWR.
Understand pathogenic mechanisms and strategies of Staphylococcus
aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and other significant bacterial
pathogens. These mechanisms include hemolysin, coagulase, streptokinase,
capsules and toxins.
Understand the roles of skin and acid barriers, mucus membranes,
normal flora, fever, inflammation, phagocytes, antibodies, complement and
cytotoxic T lymphocytes in resisting infections. Understand the key role
of Helper T lymphoctyes and their vulnerability to HIV. Know the
difference between active and passive immunity.
Know the advantages and disadvantages of live and killed vaccines.
Understand current vaccines, including acellular and subunit types.
Understand monoclonal antibody, and its use in diagnostic tests. Know
the advantages and disadvantages of direct and indirect tests.
Understand how ELISA tests work.
Know the five modes of action of antibacterial and antifungal drugs.
Appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of narrow and broad spectrum
drugs. Understand the increasing seriousness of resistance to
antimicrobial drugs, and what can be done to slow development of
resistance.
Learn the pathogens, modes of transmission, signs, symptoms and
reservoirs of seventy major infections. Be able to recognize infectious
diseases using photographic slides of patients.
Lab
Know how to use microscopes, how to make slides of bacteria, and how to do Gram and acid-fast stains.
Know how to use sterile technique to transfer cultures.
Know how to do streak dilutions to isolate pure cultures.
Understand primary media, including MacConkey, EMB, Mannitol Salt, and
Blood Agars.
Know how to collect and process urine specimens.
Know how to do a disk diffusion test for susceptibility.
Know how to distinguish Staphylococcus aureus from other Staphylococcus.
Know how to do a latex bead test.
Know how to identify significant Streptococcal pathogens, including
Groups A and B, Pneumococcus, and Enterococcus. Know how to do a throat
swab and an ELISA test for strep throat.
Be able to identify gonorrhea, vulvovaginits, bacterial vaginosis and
trichomoniasis.
Know some of the tests used to identify Gram negative rods.
Understand the clinical significance of Pseudomonas.
Be able to identify unknowns in two simulated clinical specimens.