NSC2500: Assignment 1 (Essay)

Topic: Written Essay

Due:Wednesday 12^th April at 11:59pm Submission: via the assignment portal on StudyDesk Marks:Total of 100

Total weighting: 30% of the final mark

Purpose of assignment:

• Improve knowledge of homeostasis and how disruption may lead to a specific disease/disorder
• Understand and articulate how drug therapies address a particular pathophysiology
• Identify drug mode of action, indications, contraindications, potential interactions, adverse effects and therapeutic outcomes
• Learn how to integrate knowledge and present ideas logically and concisely
• Develop written communication skills
• Develop and improve critical thinking skills
• Specifically address Course learning outcomes 1 – 5

Task overview and topic selection:

For this assessment, you will produce an essay that describes the pathophysiology of a specific disease or condition, as well as present the pharmacology that is used to address this. Your will need to focus on the disease/disorder plus pharmacology that you have selected using the StudyDesk Topic Selection activity.

This topic selection activity will open at 9:00am on Monday 20^th February and will close at 11:59pm onWednesday22^ndMarch.Afterthisdate,anystudentwhohasnotchosenatopicwillberandomlyassignedtoone.Students affected will be notified of their topic via an email to their USQ email address.

Please note that each topic is also capped, with only 100 studentsable to select each topic on a first-come first-served basis. So,ifthereisoneparticulartopicthatyouareinterestedin,pleaseensurethatyouenteryourselectionas early aspossibleso that youdon’tmissout!

You will then research your specific disease/disorder and the indicated pharmacology. From this you are to write an essay that describes the affected system (the normal physiology), what has gone wrong to cause the disease (the pathophysiology), and then how the related pharmacology is used to address this. Your essay is to be targeted towards an educated audience (for example, your peers in the Course).

Ensure that you use the marking criteria that is included later in this document to make certain that you are addressing all of the required details and information.

Structure and components of the assignment:

Students will work individually to prepare an original essay on their chosen topic. The essay must be no longer than 1500 words (witha+10%leeway–youmaysubmitareportthatismorethan10%underthewordlimit,butthismay be too briefandyouwill not beaddressingthe requirements).

In addition to the text and general information, figures and illustrations can be very important tools to convey complex information to your audience. You are welcome – and encouraged – to utilise appropriate illustrations to support your text. Just remember that your text must refer to your figures/illustrations, and any figures or illustrations must also be appropriately referenced.

Whattoincludeinyouressay:

Your essay should include (but is not limited to):

• A summary/abstract (250 words maximum that does not count towards the 1500 word limit of the essay itself) that succinctly summarises the essays content.
  • Your summary/abstract should follow the format of: introduction, summary of the main points/discussion in your essay, including the normal physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology, and then finish with a short conclusion.
  • NOTE:referencesarenotincluded withthis

• An introduction and brief overview of the normal physiology and homeostasis of the system that is relevant to your chosen topic (Notethatathesisstatementis NOTrequired)

• The pathophysiology and the mechanisms leading to the disease/disorder

• The pharmacology related to the treatment of the disease/disorder
  • This must also include at least one specific drug example that addresses:
    • Drug naming (chemical, generic, and proprietary)
    • Mechanism of action (pharmacodynamics)
    • Pharmacokinetics
    • Route of administration
    • Indications, contraindications, precautions and side effects

• You should also consider any other important aspects that may be relevant to your topic, for example:
  • Are there any important drug interactions (other medications, natural products, etc) that patients should be aware of?
  • Are there any lifestyle, exercise, therapy, or other physical considerations that are relevant? (for example, is the age of the patient a factor? BMI? Comorbidities? Polypharmacy? etc)

• The relevance of the disorder and pharmacology to clinical practice must also be clear
  • This may be in any relevant context, but ideally your field of study (nursing, sports exercise,etc)
  • For example, consider how you would apply your knowledge of the topic to your field in aclinical setting. How would this improve how you operate? How will this affect the clinicaloutcomes?Howwill thisknowledge helpyou provide patientcentred care?etc

• Conclusions

Importantnote:Akeyelementofthisassessmentisthepharmacology.Alternatetherapies,ordifferenttypesofpharmacology,mayberelevantforthedisease/disorderthatyouarepresenting,butifyoudonotpresentthe pharmacology that is part of your specific topic you will not be addressing this part of the criteria andwilllosemarks.

Writingthesummary/abstract:

You will need to write and submit a short (250 word) summary with your essay. This should succinctly summarise the essay’s content. It should follow the format of: introduction, summary of the main points/discussion (including the normal physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology) and finish with a short conclusion.

YouwillhavetheopportunitytoengagewiththeSmarthinkingteamviatheUSQlibrarytogetsomeearlyfeedback on this element of your assessment. Please refer to the information on the related StudyDesk page. While this is not mandatory, the feedback that you can obtain from this process will be of particular help as you structure your main essay. Taking advantage of this will help you achieve the best possible mark for this assessment.

Your Smarthinking submission needs to completed by Wednesday 29^th March. Submitting this on time is important to allow sufficient time for the Smarthinking tutors to provide feedback on your academic writing, so that this can assist you to improve your work on this assignment.

With this component of your assessment, please just note that references and in-text citations do not need to be included. Your references will be included with your full essay.

Finding nformation

You may draw your information from a variety of resources, but you should focus on current, up-to-date, research and the current state-of-knowledge. A good guide is to select aminimumoffiverecentandrelevantjournal publicationson your topic and cover these in your essay (primary peer-reviewed research articles published in the past 5 years are what we are looking for).

All of your information sources should be referenced appropriately, and you should aim to avoid resources that may be unreliable or out-of-date (websites, news outlets, and similar, should be avoided).

Your references and in-text citations should be included within your essay, these do not need to be included with the summary/abstract. All references and in-text citations should be in the required reference format (Harvard AGPS or APA). References and in-text citations do NOTcontribute to your word limit.

Textbooks can be a good resource for some established information and concepts, and these can be very useful during your initial investigations. However, you should then source the key information for your essay from evidence-based and peer-reviewed sources. Textbooks may be referenced in addition to these, but you should ensure that you are using journal publications as much as possible.

• Youshouldaimforaminimum of5primaryjournalarticlesforyour essay
• These are the type of publications that are required to address the references criteria (ie, nottextbooks!)

Topics (100 students MAX for each):

1. Depression and SDRI’s OR SNRI’s

2. Breast cancer and bisphosphonates

3. Nerve pain (neuralgia) and anticonvulsants

4. Heart failure and beta-blockers

5. Pneumonic plague and antibiotics

6. COPD and corticosteroids

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