Human Body Project: My Residency!
Case Study Assignment
Task:
As a resident physician, you have been assigned a patient. It is your responsibility to
inform your patient of the diagnosis as well as inform the public of preventative measures.
Part 1: Individually research your disease.
Use the following questions as a guide.
1. Cellular cause of disease
A. Type of cell involved with disease
o What is the specific function of this type of cell?
o If an organelle or other cell structure is the problem in the disease, include information
about it.
o How is the structure of this type of cell designed to help it perform its function? Look at
pictures of different types of cells and compare their shapes. Are there more of a specific
type of organelle in this type of cell?
B. Cellular basis for disease
o What type of cell or cell part is not performing properly?
o Why is the cell not performing properly?
o Does this type of cell affect other parts of the body?
o What other body system(s) are affected? How?
C. Communication
o Does this cell communicate with other cells? Most cells receive signals from other cells.
2. Disease- Basic Information
A. Symptoms of disease
o Describe what someone with the disease would notice, and what doctors find when doing
an examination.
o How serious is the disease? What happens if it is not treated? What effect does it have on
normal living?
o Is it inherited? If so, describe the inheritance pattern and the gene responsible.
o What is a typical age of diagnosis?
B. How does the malfunctioning cell cause the symptoms? Usually there is a protein or enzyme that
isn’t produced properly. How is this related to the symptoms? Some of this information will
overlap with the cellular researcher.
3. Disease- Treatment and Research
Briefly review what type of cell is involved and how it is not functioning properly.
A. Treatment
o How is the disease currently treated? Is it curable, or is the treatment only for the
symptoms?
o What research is currently being conducted to find a cure/treatment?
o Is there hope for a cure/treatment?
o What institutions are doing research? (The website for the disease will summarize this
information.)
B. Are stem cells or gene therapy used in research? Can they lead to a cure? Do you have any
ideas on how this disease might be treated/cured? Why is continued research important?
4. Sources:
You must include at least three sources.
o One source must be the official disease website.
o The others must be from this list of sources or sites that are linked to these sources. If you
know someone who is affected by the disease you may do a personal interview.
o All sources must be properly cited.
Part 2: Collaborative Awareness Presentation
Counseling Presentation to the patient and familyYou just received the test results and have confirmed the diagnosis of your
patient. Someone has to be the bearer of bad news. Unfortunately, it is you…
the physicians. Explain to your patient and their family what their diagnosis
is, how you were able to make the diagnosis, symptoms and consequences
they will expect to have, what is happening on a cellular level within side
their body, and how you will treat their condition. Inform your patient of
specialized institutions that may be helpful in their treatment and current
research or findings that may be an option in the future. Your presentation
should be informative and compassionate. You should also provide a script and have a visual
( ie: model, poster, ect..) to aid in your explanation.
Part 3: A Collaborative Public Service Announcement (PSA) –
You have been hired by an advertising agency to develop and
create a public service announcement. The content of your
announcement has been requested to deal with the prevention
of the disease you have been assigned. The agency has allotted
1 minute. No more; no less. (points will be deducted for not
meeting the time requirement) The public service
announcement must be created using a form of
technology (ie: Animoto, Moviemaker, Voki, ect...) Power
Points are unacceptable!
Evaluation- You will be evaluated on four parts: 1) the report
with work cited, 2) the counseling session, 3) the awareness
presentation, and 4) peer collaboration