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- SYLLABUS AND INFORMATION -
Greetings! You are about to embark on a major component of medical training. Distance Medical Biochemistry (DPPP-368) is a four-unit course designed to lay the foundation for other basic and clinical medical sciences. Professor Gene Yonuschot, Ph.D., who has 35 years of experience teaching medical biochemistry, teaches the course.
The Schedule Page lists the topics and chapters in the book that you must cover before the final examination. From your start date, you have at least 13 weeks before your final examination date. You should work out a schedule that fits your personal time commitment. Remember that this course will probably take as much time as any other challenging science course. Don't underestimate the effort needed. Try to leave about a week at the end for review. Your actual final examination date will depend upon the date you enrolled and can be found next to your name on the Class Roster Page.
Begin by reading chapters 1, 2 and 3 lightly. There are no objectives for these chapters and the important material will be repeated again in later chapters. Then get down to business with chapter four. You can start by reviewing the Objectives or watching the DVD lecture or reading the chapter. There is no set order for doing this; different students report using different techniques. In the end, you must do all three and, in addition, you must work the Assigned Problems and Practice Questions for each chapter.
The Assigned Problems are listed with the Objectives on the web. The actual Problems are found in and at the end of the chapters in your textbook. The Practice Questions are also found with the Objectives but are only available online. These Practice Questions will help you check your understanding of the objectives and make up 10% of the Practice Final Examination and the Final Examination.
It is hard to ask a classmate for their notes when taking a distance course so you have Biochemistry Notes. This is a site shared with all the other students where you can see and improve upon each other’s notes. You must go to http://faculty.une.edu/com/courses/bionut/distbio/wiki where you can click on “log in/create accounts” near the upper right corner of the page. For Username, please use your first initial and last name, for example, gyonuschot. Once registered, click on “Return to main page.” You will find directions for using the site in the left hand column under Help.
After you have studied chapter 7, prepare to take your first of six Practice Examinations. These Practice Examinations do not require a proctor. Only the final examination requires a proctor. Use the hard copy exam in your notebook and be careful to take the examination under normal examination conditions because your performance is your only measure of how well you are doing. These practice examination questions represent the type of questions on the final examination. When you finish the examination, grade it using the key at the end. Then compare your score with the mean score of over 100 students who have taken and passed the course. If you get the mean score, you are doing B work. If you don't achieve a reasonable score on the first exam, you know that you need to change your methods. If you don't achieve a reasonable score on the second practice examination, please call me or send me an e-mail and I will call you.
One of the greatest drawbacks to distance education has been lack of collegiality. Students often learn a great deal from one another before class, in the hallways, and in the cafeteria. For those of you who did not mind publishing your name, city, state, e-mail, phone number, and future profession, this information was posted on the Class Roster around the time you enrolled. Please contact each other directly. If you change your mind about publishing contact information, you can send me your request anytime - Email to Gene Yonuschot.
If you have a problem, ask a question. You can call or e-mail me and I will try to answer your questions - Email to Gene Yonuschot. Please don't feel inhibited. Should I make a mistake, let me know so that I can correct it. My e-mail is at the bottom of most of the pages. Click on it and send me a note.
After you have completed all the course material, you are almost ready for the final examination. A practice final examination is included. This practice final examination is of equal difficulty as the real final examination that will determine your grade. If you take this examination as if you were taking the real final, it should be a good indicator of your progress. If you do poorly on the practice final, contact me before taking the final examination.
At about the same time that you take the practice final, you should evaluate the course using the online Evaluation Page. Please use the online evaluation form and not the hardcopy sample distributed in your notebook. The Evaluation Page is used to offer feedback on the course. This information helps me improve this course and helps the university monitor the quality of its distance education programs. The form is sent to the course coordinator's office where your name is removed and the results are passed on to me. Once this form is sent in, you are cleared to take the final.
Directions for on campus final examinations and the dates of all on campus examinations are found on the Examination Schedule Page.
For those of you who live far from Maine and who would find it difficult to take the final examination on campus, there is a Distance Examination. The rules and methods for taking a distance final are found on the Distance Examination Page.
The final examination determines your grade. You will take the final examination on the Biddeford Campus or with a proctor. The final examination usually takes about 2 hours to complete but you can have up to 3 hours. Examinations taken on campus are usually scored within two working days. Mailed examinations often take 7 to 10 days to reach campus. We cannot be responsible for examinations lost in the mail. We will phone or email your grade. Assuming that you have returned your DVDs and course evaluation, your grade should be forwarded to the registrar's office within a week.
Please do not forget to repack the DVDs in their container and return them using the address that was provided:
| Angela Morse |
| COM Distance Education |
| University of New England |
| 11 Hills Beach Road |
| Biddeford, ME 04005 |
Do not buy the text. It is included in the fee for books and DVDs and will be delivered with the DVDs and the class notebook. Since this is a syllabus, I will list the text. The required text is Marks' Basic Medical Biochemistry: A Clinical Approach, 2nd Edition, 2004, Williams and Wilkins (ISBN: 0-7817-2145-8) by Colleen M. Smith PhD, Allan D. Marks MD, and Michael A. Lieberman PhD. This textbook was chosen because it is both condensed and clinically oriented. If you wish to peruse a topic in greater depth than this text, other biochemistry texts can be obtained in most libraries.
Your final examination will be graded on a curve. The curve is constructed from the scores of over one hundred students who have taken this examination. The test is similar to national board examinations that are quite difficult. The average score on the final is about 70% and the average grade is a B. About one-third of the students passing the course receive an A, one-third receive a B, and one-third receive a C. The failure rate was 4%. Approximately 25% of the students withdraw from the course with a passing grade.
Students may request a withdrawal passing (WP) from twenty-nine days following the date the DVDs were mailed until taking the final examination. After taking the final examination, the student must receive a letter grade (A, B, C, or F). Do not take the final unless you are ready.
Students may request an incomplete grade (I). The request must be made before the date for taking the final examination and, if granted, the student must take the examination within 4 months or the I grade will automatically be converted to a failure (F). The I grade will be converted to a letter grade (A, B, C, or F) following examination. The transcript will not reflect the fact that the student was first awarded an incomplete.
Students may withdraw (drop) from this course during the first twenty-eight days and receive a withdrawal (W) on their transcripts. The withdrawal date will be the date that written notice such as Email, fax, or letter is received at the University of New England- verbal notice is not sufficient. The beginning of the refund period will be the day the course material was mailed. A portion of the student's tuition will be refunded but there will be no refund of registration or materials fees. A refund credit or check will be issued following the return of the DVDs. The refunds follow:
| 100% of tuition returned for withdrawal within 14 calendar days. |
| 66% of tuition returned for withdrawal from 15 and 21 calendar days. |
| 33% of tuition returned for withdrawal from 22 and 28 calendar days. |
| No refund of any kind will be made after 29 calendar days. |
Requests for withdrawal should be addressed to:
| Ms. Angela Morse |
| Basic Sciences Department |
| University of New England |
| Biddeford, ME 04005 |
| Phone (207) 602-2494, Fax (207) 602-5931, email amorse@une.edu |
You can request a transcript using the UNE-University Campus Registrar’s website: http://www.une.edu/registrar/transcript.asp. Click on the “Transcript Request Form” that is found about half way down the page. Fill out the form and fax it to the Registrar using the number listed on the form.
This course, Distance Medical Biochemistry, is accredited by both the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the American Osteopathic Association.
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