Hello and welcome to module eight
of Genetics for Clinicians.
This module is about genetics
through the lifespan part one,
in other words, from preconception to the teen years.
And we're going to do things a little bit differently.
Rather than a standard lecture with PowerPoint slides,
I've collected, made a collection of online videos,
existing online videos of a variety of sorts.
Some of them are instructional,
some of them are family made videos,
some of them are organizations,
and there's a TED Talk in there.
So there's a variety of different types of videos.
They range anywhere from two minutes
to about 15 to 16 minutes each,
that start at preconception
and move through some newborn disorders,
some childhood disorders,
and some disorders that are affecting teens.
I think this is a really new, for me anyway,
an exciting way to present material
that I think is really actually educational on many levels.
Not only learning about the features
of the individual disorders,
something about their genetics
and how they're inherited,
but also learning a lot about
how they affect the individual,
and their families, and their relationships.
And I think this is really important for people
who are going to be involved in the care of people
with genetic disorders,
because it gives you a framework,
the patient and their family's viewpoint,
which is really quite different from that
of disorders that are common and easily treatable.
So in addition to the lecture,
which is that collection of online videos,
there will be an assignment
which is basically picking one of those disorders
that's reflected in the videos,
learning a little bit more about it,
and writing down, answering some questions about it.
That's the assignment for this week.
There will also be, of course,
a quiz and an online discussion board.
So this module and the next module
are the two modules assigned
to genetics in the lifespan,
genetics in the lifespan,
and are new for this year.
And they're really trying to get a little deeper
into the clinical side of things
than had been done in previous years.
And I hope that this approach is as effective
and interesting and fun as I expect it will be.
So I appreciate your flexibility
in exploring this new method,
and let me know how it goes.
This is also the week for the midterm exam,
for those of you who've chosen
to take it the week before the spring break.
And it will be available,
it's supposed to be available tonight,
but I have to make some modifications to it,
so it will be available sometime on Sunday.
And I hope that those of you
who are taking the midterm exam in the first week
can appreciate the value of that.
So if you have not signed up for a time spot
for the midterm exam, please do that.
I sent out an announcement email
this week about how to do that.
It's really straightforward.
You click on the button.
The sign up goes away,
that means you're signed up.
And there isn't really any additional feedback to that.
So have a great week, learn a lot,
and we'll see you on the discussion board.
Thank you for learning.