Preface Welcome to Audiolearn’s United States Medical Licensing Examination Part 1 Course, Presented by AudioLearn. The United States Medical Licensing Association (USMLE) is sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards and administered by the National Board of Medical Examiners. According to them the USMLE assesses the physician’s ability to apply knowledge, concepts and principles and to demonstrate fundamental patient centered skills that are important in health and disease and that constitute the basis of safe and effective patient care. The goal of this course is to offer a broad base of knowledge regarding the modern practice of medicine, focusing on the diseases encountered most commonly by the primary care health care practitioner. Diseases can be inherited or congenital, in which they are present from birth or acquired disorders discovered in adults or older children after some type of external or internal trigger. The first chapter this course is intended to be a thorough discussion of basic biochemistry principles. This will include a discussion of the major proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids (including their precursor molecules). The main biochemical reactions occurring in the cell and in the human body will also be discussed as part of this chapter. The second chapter delves into the anatomy of the human body. Anatomy, strictly speaking, involves the major structures of the body, from the brain through the head and neck, into the thorax and abdomen including the pelvic structures. The anatomy of the extremities is also covered as part of this course. Chapter three in the course examines physiology of the human body. Unlike the structural aspects of the human body in anatomy, physiology covers the function of the body. Human physiology can be approach on a molecular, microscopic, or macroscopic level. Each of the body parts involved in physiology operate partially independent of each other body, but mostly work together as an interconnected physiological system. The fourth chapter will cover the topic of embryology. This will begin with a discussion of the male and female reproductive aspects of embryology and the process fertilization or the union of egg and sperm. The early days and weeks of embryological development are covered in this chapter as well as the later development of the fetus. Disorders related to embryological development will also be discussed. The fifth chapter of this course will be a thorough discussion of microbiology, in particular, medical microbiology. Diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoal organisms will be a major part of the discussion in this chapter. The unique microbiology of these organisms will be covered including the most communicable diseases and their pathogens. The sixth chapter of this course will cover immunology. Medical immunology includes the innate and acquired immune system. Both aspects of the immune system have humoral and cell-mediated
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