SYLLABUS for BIO 112: Healthcare Orientation
Fall 2009 -- Thurs 1:40 pm – 3:40 am (Sec 002C) -- Halsey Science 260
CLASS MOTTO: “What do you believe, and why do you believe it?”
Instructor:
Dana K. Vaughan, Ph.D. - Halsey Science 249 - Phone: 424-3076
email: vaughan@uwosh.edu
webpage: http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/vaughan/vaughan.html
My schedule - including office hours - is posted on D2L under Content.
Course Description: (2 cr) An introduction to the cultural aspects of healthcare sciences for students
declaring or considering a degree in any Healthcare-related program on campus. Topics will include:
current "hot" fields and employment opportunities; roles and responsibilities of healthcare workers in
society; professional ethics; scientific communication; planning (career choices, course selection,
research experience, internships); and an introduction to campus faculty, staff and facilities. Students are
encouraged to take this course as early as possible in their academic programs. May not also receive
credit for BIO 111. (Fall/Spring)
FAQ #1: “I have to take 112 for my major, but I’m a Junior/Senior and I’m so beyond this class!
What’s in it for me anyway?” BIO 112 is intended for students in their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd semesters of
college, transfers, or who have recently changed to a Healthcare-oriented plan of study from something
else. If you are a more “experienced” student, please: keep an open mind, assist those who are less
knowledgeable than yourself, and (at the very least) play along and do not begrudge less experienced
students their opportunity to learn (the easy way) what you may have learned the hard way. Besides, I’ve
had plenty of upperclassmen tell me they have learned something in this course, and that they wish
they’d had it as first-year students.
FAQ #2: “I already had BIO 111 but switched to a BIO/MICRO major that requires 112. Do I need
both of them?” No! There is enough overlap between BIO 111 and 112 that you can obtain a
“curriculum modification” that allows 111 to substitute for 112. See the main department office for
assistance.
Course Objectives: Students in this course will be offered instruction to develop their:
1. Ability to make the most of their educational opportunities at UW Oshkosh.
2. Familiarity with the wide variety of healthcare fields.
3. Strategies for career planning.
4. Personal progress toward appropriate professionalism.
5. Personal progress toward the habit of self-education.
6. Information literacy.
7. Critical thinking skills.
8. Writing and speaking skills.
9. Research skills.
10. Networking skills.
H1N1 INFLUENZA POLICY: The flu comes around every year during fall term but, this year, the
nation’s college campuses – including UWO – are particularly concerned with the H1N1 strain. Part
of the reason for this concern is that this form of flu seems especially hard on young people. Illness
during the semester is hard on any student who becomes ill, and it is hard on all students if the
instructor falls ill. The full UWO policy regarding flu symptoms of any kind is found at
http://www.uwosh.edu/home/h1n1 but here are the highlights for this class’s policy: If you come down
with any of these symptoms -- Fever, cough, body aches, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea -STAY HOME FROM ALL CLASSES until you are fever-free for 24 hours without having taken
fever-reducing medication. A mild lingering cough is not considered reason to continue staying
home. I will do my best to provide accurate recaps of lecture content to minimize the effects of
missing lecture.
Because of my responsibilities to hundreds of students, I will be taking what may seem like extreme
measures to avoid coming down with flu myself. Your cooperation is appreciated!
Special Needs and Accommodations: Students with disabilities are WELCOME in this class. Please
notify me at the first class meeting, with appropriate documentation, so that the pertinent
accommodations can be made.
Classroom Etiquette: Please: address me as “Dr. Vaughan”; arrive to class on time; if you are late,
enter quietly and sit to the side; silence pagers and cell phones as soon as you enter the classroom; do
not eat in the classroom, but feel free to bring a beverage; do not have side conversations during class;
treat your classmates (and me!) with dignity, even if you disagree with their ideas; speak to me privately
about any conflicts that hamper group work to which you are assigned; do not pack up to leave until I
have indicated verbally that class is concluded for the day; if you have a question, raise your hand and
say “Question!” so that I do not miss you; do not monopolize the class conversations, make time for
everyone to speak; do not leave class early without notifying me ahead of time and giving a good reason.
Required Texts:
 McMillan VE. 2001. Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences. Bedford: Boston, MA. This is the de
facto writing manual for the Biology & Microbiology Department and will serve you well for all sciencerelated courses in which writing assignments are given.
 Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science. 2009. An easy but worthwhile read about critical thinking about
healthcare issues, authored by a physician who sees patients and teaches medical school in Britain.
An older version has a mouse on the mainly white cover; if that’s what you bought, you’ll need the
new chapter which is a free download at www.badscience.net. The new complete edition has a pill
bottle on the red cover.
 Reading assignments online and uploaded to D2L.
D2L & Email Policy:

EMAIL COMMUNICATION and D2L will be used frequently throughout the semester. Emails
constitute legal, official University communication. Not checking your email is not an excuse for
performance problems in the class. Contact Academic Computing or any Campus Computer Lab
supervisor for assistance with email and D2L.

D2L is vital for accessing the course syllabus, assignment instructions, and so on. I also make
announcements on D2L and, more occasionally, via direct messages sent to the class’s campus
email accounts.

You should make a habit of accessing both D2L and your campus email at least once each weekday,
so that you receive timely notification of any last-minute changes or assistance regarding
assignments. Contact Academic Computing if you need help with D2L or your campus email account
(including combining it with a private email account).

If you have a question about our class, chances are that others have the same question. USE THE
D2L DISCUSSION BOARDS! I have set them up for anonymous posting.

Do not email me from accounts other than your official uwosh.edu account; I will not respond.
Late Assignment Policy: Late assignments will be accepted only under extenuating, Universityrecognized circumstances (illness, bereavement, University-sponsored activities such as athletics or
Model UN) with acceptable documentation. I reserve the right to record an “Incomplete” grade in order to
give myself time to grade any late assignments that I choose to accept.
Incomplete Grade Policy: The Undergraduate Bulletin states the University’s policy on Incomplete
grades. An “I” grade for this course means that you have until the end of the next time this course is
offered (Sp10) to make up the missing work. Once that missing work is made up, I must manually change
the “I” to the grade you have earned. If the missing work is not made up by the deadline, the “I” grade
automatically reverts to “F”.
Academic Integrity: The University’s statement on conduct says that “Students are responsible for the
honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for
respect of others' academic endeavors. Students who violate these standards must be confronted and
must accept the consequences of their actions.” Here are the consequences: If you cheat or plagiarize in
one of my courses, at a bare minimum you have earned a zero on the assignment, and I may elect to fail
you from the class and report you to the authorities.
Need help with your writing? Your McMillan textbook was chosen precisely because it is a short-butsweet reference for the basics of quality writing in the biosciences. For custom assistance, the UW
Oshkosh Writing Center is a student service precisely for you! Contact them about their services.
Feeling overwhelmed? University coursework is very different from high school coursework, and
demands higher level intellectual skills. The UW Oshkosh Reading Study Center is an all-university
service that can help you learn to learn more efficiently. Strategies for improved textbook study, time
management, note-taking, test preparation and test-taking are taught through both credit courses and
non-credit services.
VAUGHAN’s BIO 112 F09 ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES
Random
Oral recitation to class
Sept 24
Career Exploration Diary is due at start of class
Oct 8
5-Year Plan is due at start of class
Exam #1 (1 hr): after we have completed the unit on Healthcare Careers*
Written Recitations to-date to be handed in during Exam #1
Exam #2 (1 hr): after we have completed the unit on Health Literacy*
Written Recitations to-date, since Exam #1, to be handed in during Exam #3
Dec 17
Final Exam (2 hr)
Written Recitations to-date, since Exam #2, to be handed in during Final
*It’s impossible to put firm dates on these since we cannot accurately “time” a discussion-based
course like 112. Rest assured you will have at least one week’s notice of when Exam 1-2 will occur.
If you’ve kept up with Recitations and attended class, you will be well-prepared for these Exams.
ASSIGNMENT WEIGHTING
Grades on assignments will be converted to percentages and then weighted as follows for computing
your final grade in the course:
Recitations/Oral
Recitations/Written
Career Exploration Diary
5-Year Plan
Exam 1
Exam 2
Final Exam
Total
10%
20%
5%
15%
15%
15%
20%
100%
Exam policies:
o I never give exams earlier than the announced date and time.
o Absolutely NO late exams will be scheduled for reasons of holiday or end-of-term travel.
o If you miss an exam due to a University-sponsored activity (e.g. athletics contest), you will
know ahead of time and your coach will have provided you with a letter. Bring a copy of
that letter to Dr. Vaughan ahead of time, to permit a make-up to be arranged.
o If you miss an exam for any other University-accepted reason (e.g. illness or
bereavement), go to the Dean of Students Office in Dempsey Hall, obtain a written excuse,
and provide this written excuse to Dr. Vaughan to permit a make-up to be arranged.
CLASS CURVE
Note that the +/- system has gone into effect across campus as of Fall 2009 semester.
Letter Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF (Failure)
%
92.0-100
90.0-91.9
88.0-89.9
82.0-87.9
80.0-81.9
78.0-79.9
72.0-77.9
70.0-71.9
68.0-69.9
62.0-67.9
60.0-61.9
<60.0
Grade Points per
Unit (cr.)
4.00
3.67
3.33
3.00
2.67
2.33
2.00
1.67
1.33
1.00
0.67
0.00
BIO 112 Sp09 Topic and R&R List in order
This is the order in which we will tackle topics with associated R&Rs. In a discussion-based course
like 112, it’s impossible to put firm dates on topics; there is no telling how much a group of students
will have to say on a subject. Therefore there are no dates given. You must attend each class to
know which topics/readings have been covered, and to get a feel for how much further ahead to R&R
for the next class. ALWAYS read a bit farther than you think you’ll need to!
1) Introduction
a) Syllabus overview, clarification as needed, oral recitation practice
2) College, Career, and Beyond
a) Strategies for academic success (McMillan Ch. 9)
b) Standardized exams
c) Writing as thinking (McMillan Intro and Ch. 7)
d) UWO Healthcare R&R
i) Majors and minors at UWO
ii) Planning your college degree
(1) Major
(2) Gen Ed
(3) Professor relationships
iii) Graduate school explained
(1) Planning your application
(2) Role of grad school recruiters & admissions offices
iv) Residencies for specialization
v) Continuing medical education
vi) Getting started on the Career Exploration Diary & 5-Year Plan
3) Healthcare careers
a) How to research a career
b) New careers: e.g. Healthcare coach
4)
5)
6)
7)
c) What is a “profession”? How is “professionalism” built?
d) Professional skills
i) Interprofessional skills R&R
ii) Ways of keeping current: SITN, PubMed, Kaiser Family Foundation, etc.
iii) Statistics (McMillan Ch. 2)
iv) Graphs (Powerpoint and McMillan Ch. 3)
e) Professional experiences
i) Your academic résumé; extracurriculars that matter
Critical Thinking is the Most Important Skill (Bad Science required textbook)
a) Scientific Method R&R
b) Evaluating HC information (McMillan Ch. 1)
c) Baloney Search R&R
d) Critical Thinking/Evidence-Based Medicine R&R
Health Literacy
a) Health Literacy R&R
b) Types of HC documents (McMillan Ch. 4-5-10)
c) The HC publication process
Healthcare Systems
a) Research & Development (R&D)
i) Basic vs. clinical, in vitro vs. in vivo
ii) Medical Studies Primer, How Treatments get to Market R&R
iii) FDA approval process
iv) Comparative-effectiveness research
b) Healthcare delivery
i) Physician extenders
ii) Types of clinics
iii) Global health
c) Information Technology
i) Bioimaging
ii) Electronic Health Records
iii) Telemedicine
d) Paying for Healthcare
i) America’s mixed-bag approach R&R
(1) Uninsured/out of pocket
(2) Private insurance
(3) Single-payer (yes, it already exists in America)
ii) How other nations do it (Sick Around The World film) R&R
iii) Setting prices: Physicians as businessmen
(1) Dr. Gawande’s New Yorker article R&R
iv) Healthcare Reform (you are living in an historical time!):
(1) Identifying the problem(s)
(a) Interview with Wendell Potter, former insurance executive R&R
(2) Identifying agendas
(3) Identifying the actual process of reform
(4) Are we having a health-literate healthcare reform debate?
Whatever You Want To Talk About