HMM4401 – Health and medicine
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
- The human body’s structure, physiology and function are mainly presented through a selection of common and chronic diseases and disabilities like cardiovascular diseases, diseases of the lung, cancer, infections, psychiatric disorders, muscle-skeleton pain and diabetes. Medical nomenclature will be presented together with the various diseases.
- The concept of disease, criteria for disease and various classification systems for diseases, disability and procedures
- Medical decisions, uncertainty in medicine, and evaluation of risk
- Description of the health situation in Norway and globally with emphasis upon determinants of health and inequality in health
- Development of medical technology and demand for health care related to this development are briefly presented
- Ethical dilemmas in decisions and priority-setting within the health service sector
Learning outcome
This is an introductory course required for master students without a BA in health management and health economics or studies within medicine or health sciences. At the end of the course the students will be familiar with basic concepts and mechanisms related to health and disease, how health and disease are defined and classified, how medical technology develops and spreads, and they will become acquainted with basic thinking in medical decisions. They will also be exposed to various ways to describe the health situation in populations. Finally they will be introduced to the demand for health care and ethical dilemmas involved in decisions related to health and disease.
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
None
Teaching
Lectures, group work and self study, inclusive use of www-based tools, demonstration and visits to medical departments.
Examination
- Mid term paper
- Written exam
The term paper counts 1/3 and the written exam 2/3 of the final grade.
Examination support material
Approved calculator: Citizen SR-270X
No other resources are allowed.
Language of examination
All written exams and term papers at the master's programme in Health Economics, Policy and Management have to be conducted in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Explanations and appeals
Resit an examination
Withdrawal from an examination
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
Special examination arrangements
Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.
Evaluation
The course is subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students to participate in a more comprehensive evaluation.