Biomedicine

90.

Faculty of Medicine

50

The Masters program in Biomedicine is based on the excellence of the University of Barcelona's teaching staff and research facilities as illustrated by the indicators of scientific production achieved by faculty members and research staff. The program provides a unique interdisciplinary approach to the field of biomedicine and equips students with the necessary skills either to take up research work or to find good professional employment opportunities.
The Masters program seeks to further the training provided by the undergraduate degrees in Science, Medicine and the Health Sciences. It has three main objectives:
1. To provide students with basic training and to update their knowledge regarding the molecular and cell mechanisms involved in pathogenesis and disease physiopathology, as well as instructing them in the hypotheses, methodology and techniques used in their research, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention.
2. To provide students with good, broad, homogeneous foundations for undertaking doctorate studies in biomedicine, by training them in the basic skills of experimental laboratory research under expert supervision.
3. To train students to undertake professional activities in the fields of biomedical research, clinical analysis, and the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries that do not require a doctorate degree or a specific qualification in the Health Sciences.

Candidates will be selected on the basis of their academic record. Other criteria, including acceptance by a research group to undertake doctorate research or membership of a biomedical institution, will also be taken into consideration.

Admission requirements: a degree in either Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Pharmacy, Medicine, Dentistry, Chemistry or Veterinary Science. Candidates with a degree in another science subject or Engineering may, in exceptional circumstances, also be considered. Students from abroad holding a degree in one of these subjects may also apply for admission.
Given the potential variety of subjects studied by students in their undergraduate degree, the Masters program includes a number of foundation courses to provide students with an introduction to certain essential areas they might not have studied before. Students are also offered a wide choice of options so they can adapt their studies to their own interests and future professional needs.
All candidates must have a good working knowledge of English.

To be awarded the Masters degree, students must demonstrate they have acquired knowledge and skills in the following areas:
a) Experimental Methodology in Biomedicine
Knowledge:
1. Basic techniques employed in the biochemical and molecular biology laboratory.
2. Advanced proteomic and genomic techniques.
3. Cell cultures and cell engineering principles and techniques.
Skills:
1. Design a simple biomedical experiment based on a hypothesis, methodological development, controls and the analysis of results.
2. Conduct a simple cell separation and fraction experiment and functional biomolecule analysis.
3. Design and prepare experimental models in animals.
4. Use bioinformatic tools, access databases and use them to analyse experimental data.
5. Use statistical analysis for experimental design, implementation and interpretation.
b) Biological Bases of Disease
Knowledge:
1. The structure and functions of the human body, and of the mechanisms responsible for maintaining homeostasis at molecular, cellular and organic level.
2. The bodily response to external and internal stimuli, and mechanisms of injury, response and repair.
3. The types of general molecular and cellular processes involved in disease.
4. Pathogenesis and molecular and cell physiopathology of the pathologies and diseases of special relevance because of their medical and social impact and/or for their molecular and cell study: metabolic and endocrine diseases, genetic diseases, neurological and mental diseases, oncological diseases, inflammatory and immunological diseases, and infectious diseases.
c) Disease Therapeutics and Prevention
Knowledge:
1. The most common explorations performed in the laboratory (biochemical, genetic, immunological, microbiological, cytological, histological).
2. The main principles underlying the mechanisms of drug action, the indications of the main drug groups, and the process of new drug design.
3. The foundations and applications of gene therapy, enzyme therapy and regenerative medicine.
4. The foundations of preventive interventions and of health promotion strategies.

Skills:
1. View drug structure using computer software.
2. Apply gene therapy techniques to simple cell culture experiments.

d) Biomedicine, Business and Society:
Knowledge:
1. The main principles of epidemiology and health economics.
2. The bioethical, medical and legal aspects of research and professional activities in the field of biomedicine.
3. The principles of R&D management, and of the factors involved in the creation of companies in the biomedical sector.
4. The principles of scientific communication among members of the professional and academic community, as well as with other sectors and the media.

e) Cross-disciplinary Research Aims:
Skills:
1. Understand the value and limitations of the scientific method.
2. Act in accordance with scientific methodology (problem definition, hypothesis formulation, selection of strategy and experimental methodology, obtaining, evaluating and interpreting results, and producing conclusions).
3. Search, obtain, organize and interpret biomedical information from databases and other sources.
4. Communicate the results using the media available with an awareness of their limitations.
f) Cross-disciplinary Objectives concerning Professional Values, Attitudes, and Behaviour.
Students should demonstrate:
1. A commitment to their own personal development and professional competence.
2. An ability to be self-critical and an awareness of their need for personal improvement.
3. An ability to recognize their own limitations, and to work in multidisciplinary teams.