Biology of tissue response to disease

• Inflammation, including cells and mediators

1. Acute inflammation and mediator systems.

2. Vascular response to injury, including mediators.

3. Inflammatory cell recruitment, including adherence and cell migration, and phagocytosis.

4. Bactericidal mechanisms and tissue injury.

5. Clinical manifestations (eg, pain, fever, leukocytosis, leukemoid reaction, and chills).

6. Chronic inflammation.

• Reparative processes

1. Wound healing, hemostasis, and repair: thrombosis, granulation tissue, angiogenesis, fibrosis, scar/keloid formation.

2. Regenerative processes.

• Neoplasia

1. Classification, histologic diagnosis.

2. Grading and staging of neoplasms.

3. Cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of neoplastic cells: transformation, oncogenes, altered cell differentiation, and proliferation.

4. Hereditary neoplastic disorders.

5. Invasion and metastasis.

6. Tumor immunology.

7. Paraneoplastic manifestations of cancer.

8. Cancer epidemiology and prevention.

• Gender, ethnic, and behavioral considerations affecting disease treatment and prevention, including psychosocial, cultural, occupational, and environmental.

• Progression through the life cycle, including birth through senescence

1. cognitive, language, motor skills, and social and interpersonal development.

2. Sexual development ( eg puberty, menopause).

3. Influence of developmental stage on physician-patient interview.

• Psychologic and social factors influencing patient behavior

1. personality traits or coping style, including coping mechanisms.

2. Psychodynamic and behavioral factors, related past experience.

3. Family and cultural factors, including socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and gender.

4. Adaptive and maladaptive behavioral responses to stress and illness ( eg drug-seeking behavior, sleep deprivation).

5. Interactions between the patient and the physician or the health care system ( eg transference).

6. Patient adherence, including general and adolescent.

• Patient interviewing, consultation, and interactions with the family

1. Establishing and maintaining rapport.

2. Data gathering.

3. Approaches to patient education.

4. Enticing patients to make lifestyle changes.

5. Communicating bad news.

6. “difficult” interviews (eg, anxious or angry patients).

7. Multicultural ethnic characteristics.

• Medical ethics, jurisprudence, and professional behavior

1. Consent and informed consent to treatment.

2. Physician-patient relationships (eg, ethical conduct, confidentiality).

3. Death and dying.

4. Birth-related issues.

5. Issues related to patient participation in research.

6. Interactions with other health professionals (eg, referral).

7. Sexuality and the profession; other “boundary” issues.

8. Ethics of managed care.

9. Organization and cost of health care delivery.