Functional Systems

Welcome to Functional Systems

Rick Matteson, PhD

Associate Professor of Physiology
Course Director
Cell Function and Integrative Section Head

Office: BRB M-019B

Phone: 410-706-1809
Email: dmatteson@som.umaryland.edu
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Course Leadership

Nevins Todd, MD Andrea Meredith, PhD Terez Shea-Donohue, PhD Nevins Todd, MD
Dept. of Medicine Dept of Physiology Dept. of Medicine Dept. of Medicine
Co-Course Director Cardiovascular Section Head GI Section Head Respiration Section Head

Owen Woodward, PhD Hilary Whitlatch, MD Rick Matteson, PhD

Dept. of Physiology Dept. of Medicine Dept. of Physiology
Renal Section Head Endocrine Section Head Integrative Section Head
 What is Physiology?

• Study of normal function – it can be the function of the entire organism, or the functioning of an
individual cell or individual organ system (e.g. cardiovascular, renal, etc.).

• Medical physiology is concerned with the functioning of the human body, which in turn is
determined by the functioning of individual organ systems, component cells, and numerous
molecules.

• Physiology is a highly integrative science, integrating information from many disciplines,

including biochemistry, genetics, biophysics, and neuroscience, to name a few.

• It has become a highly quantitative science. Many leading physiologists were trained as
physicists, engineers, or mathematicians.

• Claude Bernard developed the concept of the “fixité du milieu intérieur”. Homeostatic
mechanisms are responsible for maintaining this constancy. Common theme in physiology –
negative feedback mechanisms are frequently responsible for homeostasis.

• Medicine is frequently the study of physiology gone wrong.

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Course Components

• Lectures
• Small Groups
• Clinical Correlations
• Exams and Grading
• Evaluations: Complete the lecturer and small
group evaluations after each section, while the
information is still fresh in your mind.
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Course Sections
• Cell Function
Dr. Rick Matteson
• Cardiovascular Function Exam 1
Dr. Andrea Meredith
• Gastrointestinal Function
Dr. Terez Shea-Donohue
• Renal Function
Dr. Owen Woodward
• Respiratory Function Exam 2
Dr. Nevins Todd
• Endocrine Function
Dr. Hilary Whitlatch
• Integrative Function Exam 3
Dr. Rick Matteson
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Final Grade Calculation

• Cell Function 15%
• Cardiovascular Function 20%
• Gastrointestinal Function 9%
• Renal Function 16%
• Respiratory Function 11%
• Endocrine Function 16%
• Integrative Function 8%
• Small Group & Clinical Correlation 5%
Total 100%
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Correspondence Between Letter Grade and Percentage

A = 90 – 100
B = 80 – 89
C = 70 – 79
“Conditional” = 65 – 69
F = below 65

(Round 0.5% or more up).

In addition, to receive a grade of “C” or above in the course, you

must also score  70 on at least 4 of the seven sections in the course.
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Clinical Correlations

• Emphasize Pathophysiology
• Many Include a Patient
• Exam questions (at most, one/CC) focus on
pathophysiology not clinical details
• Attendance is mandatory
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Small Groups
• Format Varies (problem sets, labs, clinical cases)
• Attendance is mandatory and you must confirm attendance by “swipe-in”
using your ID card.
• To get credit for each small group session, simply attend the session, and
sign in during the 30 minute window which begins 15 min before the start of
the session and ends 15 minutes into the session. Make sure that the card
reader says ‘IN’ and not ‘OUT’.
• If you forget your ID card, you must immediately go to OSA to confirm
your attendance and get credit.
• You must attend 80% of required sessions to pass the course. For
Functional Systems, you must attend at least 29 of 36 SG/CC sessions to
pass.
 Small Group and CC Attendance

• Forgetting to sign in, or signing in outside the 30 minute window, is NOT

considered an excuse and you will not be given credit for that day’s attendance.

• No excused absences are allowed except as approved by the Dean’s office for
religious observance, personal medical need requiring attention during SG time,
or research presentation at a national or international meeting. (Requests for
these excused absences should be made to the Course Director and Drs. Parker
(OSA) and Mallott (OME).

• A single SG/CC session can be missed without approval of the Course Director
and without decrement to the Attendance portion of the course grade.

• In addition, two bereavement days and two significant illness days are available
to use each academic year. A request must be made to OSA to use these days.

• For Functional Systems, the relationship between the number of missed SG/CC
sessions and the Attendance Grade is shown in the following table.
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Attendance Grade for Small Groups and CCs

Missed Sessions Conference Grade

0-1 100%
2 94%
3 84%
4 68%
5 48%
6 24%
7 0%
8 F in the course
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Exams

• Multiple-choice, best-answer type questions

• Fewer questions than exams in other courses
• Many questions test concepts rather than specific
facts or details
• Practice with the online calculator before the exam
 Resources
Required Texts

Blaustein, MP, Kao JPY, Matteson DR, 2012, Cellular Physiology and Neurophysiology, 2nd Edition,
Elsevier/Mosby, Philadelphia, PA.

West JB, 2016, Respiratory Physiology: The Essentials, 10th Edition, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins,
Baltimore, MD.

Recommended Texts

Pappano, AJ & Wier, WG, 2013, Cardiovascular Physiology, 10th Edition, Mosby Year Book, Inc., St.
Louis, MO.

Johnson LR, 2013, Gastrointestinal Physiology, 8th Edition, Mosby Year Book, Inc., St. Louis, MO.

Koeppen BM, Stanton BA, 2012, Renal Physiology, 5th Edition, Mosby Year Book, Inc., St. Louis, MO.

White B & Porterfield S, 2012, Endocrine and Reproductive Physiology, 4th Edition, Mosby Year Book,
Inc., St. Louis, MO.
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Items Specific to Cell Function

• You are not responsible for most “boxes” in the textbook. We
will provide a list of those boxes that you must know.
• We will also provide a list of equations you must know for the
exam.
• SG problem sets are posted on Medscope. Work through
these problems and be prepared to discuss them at the small
group session.
• You must stay in the SG to which you have been assigned.
Your participation in SG will be evaluated by your instructor,
and he/she has a list of students assigned to that section.
• Multiple-choice exam in Appendix F of textbook.
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Questions?