MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS

Medicine Handbook 1996

Published by Monash University
Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia

Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996


Respiratory medicine

Dr R Harding (Physiology) and Dr W Brook (Anatomy)

Objectives This unit aims to provide students with an ability to understand (a) the structural and functional basis of normal respiratory function, (b) the causes of respiratory dysfunction and tests that can be used to assess respiratory function, and (c) the basis for clinical management of respiratory dysfunction.

Synopsis This unit describes the structure, function and basic pharmacology of the respiratory system. It will provide a basis for an understanding of respiratory medicine, provide core material in the morphology, physiology and pharmacology of the respiratory system and to introduce concepts relevant to disordered respiratory function. Topic areas covered will include anatomy, embryology and histology of the thoracic wall and diaphragm, upper and lower airways, lungs and associated structures; gas laws and the physical principles of gas flow; lung volumes and mechanics; airflow and work of breathing; gas exchange and transport; ventilation-perfusion relationships; regulation of ventilation; changes in respiration during sleep, exercise and hypobaric and hyperbaric environments; acid-base balance and alterations in ventilation; transition from fetal to neonatal life; and introduction to the clinical identification, using lung function tests, of common respiratory diseases, eg obstructive airways disease and restrictive lung disease, and the basic pharmacology of agents used in these diseases.

Prescribed texts

Recommended texts


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