Qualifier Information

Key Dates

The qualifier will open Wednesday, September 18 and your answers must be uploaded by 11:45 PM on Sunday, September 22.

Download the guide.

This guide is not exhaustive, but if you follow the guide, you should pass the qualifier. The qualifier will have 65 to 70 multiple-choice questions. The passing score is 65%. The number of questions in each discipline below will be roughly proportional to the amount of material in the course:

  • Biochemistry: ~30%
  • Cell Biology/Histology: ~30%
  • Physiology: ~20%
  • Pharmacology: ~12%
  • Pathology: ~5%

There will also be one or two questions on the History of Medicine sessions.

One question (worth 5 points) will ask you to submit a multiple-choice question that addresses content covered in this course. The question should have these elements:

  • Stem - provide some clinical or research context
  • At least four options
  • Rationale for correct answer

You may write your question before taking the qualifier and use another device or piece of paper to display your question during the qualifier to help you enter it.

You will have 4 hours to complete the qualifier once you have started.

Biochemistry

  • Know the basic mechanisms of transcription, RNA processing and translation and their regulation, but pay closer attention to those steps where a disease or therapeutic was mentioned.
  • Be familiar with the different metabolic pathways to the extent that you know the major inputs and outputs.
  • In the metabolic pathways pay closer attention to steps and enzymes that are associated with a disease or that are subject to regulation.
  • Be familiar with how the body responds (utilizes a different pathway) when one metabolic pathway is inhibited or the input to that pathway is in limited supply
  • Differentiate between competitive and non-competitive inhibitors of enzymes

Cell Biology/Histology

  • Identify and classify in histological images epithelia, connective tissue and muscle
  • Identify the different components of blood vessels in histological images and electron micrographs
  • Describe the general functions of different types of epithelia
  • Diagram how epithelia generate vectorial transport of solutes and water
  • Understand the general process of renewal of epithelia by stem cells
  • List the functions of the basement membrane
  • In histological images, identify signs of inflammation (immune response) and fibrosis
  • Know the different components of different types of connective tissue
  • Know the proteins that mediate interactions between cells and between cells and the extracellular matrix
  • Describe the basic mechanisms of muscle contraction and its activation in different muscle types
  • Diagram the homeostatic mechanisms that keep blood glucose concentrations around 5 mM.
  • List the oncogenic components of mitogen signaling pathways
  • Be familiar with the component of the insulin signaling pathway in skeletal muscle especially those that are found in other signaling pathways
  • Understand how tumor suppressors slow the cell cycle
  • Diagram how G-protein coupled receptors increase protein kinase A or protein kinase C activity
  • Describe how chaperones facilitate protein stability and function

Physiology

  • Diagram how the different ion channels and their permeability set resting membrane potential
  • Describe the changes in ion channels that generate action potentials in neurons and skeletal muscle
  • Describe how cells can take up a specific solute against a concentration gradient
  • Calculate the volume of fluid in the different body compartments of a patient given the patient’s weight
  • Given blood tests results, identify abnormal concentrations of sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate and anion gap
  • Calculate how administration of a certain volume and concentration of saline changes the fluid distribution in the body

Pharmacology

  • Differentiate between competitive and non-competitive inhibitors
  • Calculate the fraction of drug a that is absorbed by the body based on the pKa of the drug and the pH of the fluid compartments
  • Calculate the rates of clearance, volume of distribution and bioavailability of a drug
  • Diagram drug conjugation and detoxification pathways

Pathology

  • Differentiate the processes of metaplasia, hyperplasia, dysplasia, apoptosis, and atrophy
  • Identify conditions that lead to metaplasia, hyperplasia, dysplasia, apoptosis, and atrophy