THE CLINICAL AUTOPSY: LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE OF THE DEAD

• Start date: May 31, 2021
• Final date: July 4, 2021
• Duration: 5 weeks (plus 1 additional week)
• Full time duration: 50 hours

Repercusión en los medios

• Entrevista realizada a la Directora del Área de Innovación Docente, Aquilina Fueyo, en el programa "El tren de RPA", sobre los MOOC impartidos por la Universidad de Oviedo. (Escuchar)
• Reportaje "Autopsias del HUCA por el mundo" Periódico digital La Nueva España. (Ver publicación) (Ver vídeo)

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This MOOC is about the clinical autopsy and learning to understand the language of the dead. It is a course conducted by professors at the University of Oviedo and by pathologists at the Central University Hospital of Asturias who believe that awareness on the importance of the post-mortem study of bodies as a current diagnostic tool should be a priority for our society. Thus, this course aims to sensitize students to investigate the main causes of death through the clinical autopsy and improving the quality of care by reducing the number of errors. We will also focus on performing autopsies in risk situations such as prions, HIV or COVID-19 infected patients, paying special attention in safety measures for the professionals involved. In this course you will learn many theoretical aspects related to the autopsy: History, types, techniques, risks, lethal diseases, neuropathology, and many more things.

COURSE SUMMARY

This MOOC course lasts 5 weeks and it is divided into 5 units as follows:

• Week 1. Fundamentals of the Clinical Autopsy.
• Week 2. Materials and Methods.
• Week 3. Autopsies and Risk (COVID-19).
• Week 4. Main Fatal Injuries.
• Week 5. Neuropathological Autopsies.

The course contains more than 150 minutes of videos (1 video-presentation, 5 video-guides, 5 video-lessons and 10 video-materials), 50 preliminary questions, 15 optional activities, several forums and 5 evaluation tests. Besides, following the guidelines promoted by the University of Oviedo on accessibility to resources, all videos have been subtitled and all transcripts can be accessed in English. Therefore, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the working environment at the UnioviX platform and share any question or doubt that you may have in the forums.

WARNING: In the following MOOC you can see potentially sensitive videos and images with real bodies.

Triggers: Death, dead bodies, autopsies, fetal autopsies, abortion.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives are:

1. Create a community of people bound by the interest of improving their knowledge about the clinical autopsy.
2. Promote and foster the use of clinical autopsies as an essential diagnostic tool for reaching final diagnosis, improving our knowledge of diseases and reducing errors.
3. Raise awareness in society concerning tissue donation for research. For that, students will know how a brain biobank works as a fundamental platform in scientific progress.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE PARTICIPANTS

The course is directed to everyone interested in this field fo study, and no previous knowledge is required except for learning skills for the use of the online platform where the course is carried out. Although it is not necessary to have any previous medical knowledge, there will be some key words you should learn in order to understand some of the lessons.

EVALUATION SYSTEM

Before each unit, there is a 10-question test to determine your previous knowledge. Later, theoretical knowledge will be developed accompanied by video lessons. Some of the topics are accompanied by other video materials. After that, there will be a series of optional activities to work on the key concepts learned in each unit. There will also be forums that will allow online interactions between students. We will finally have evaluation activities in which you will have the opportunity to prove all you have learned from each unit. Thus, to go forward, you will have to pass a test that consists of 10 questions, 4 options, and only 1 is correct, and failures do not penalize.

COURSE STAFF

Iván Fernández Vega

Doctor in Medicine, pathologist at Central University Hospital of Asturias and assistant professor at the University of Oviedo. He is the director of the Brain biobank at the Principality of Asturias.. His teaching and research focus on the fields of cancer and neuropathological diseases. He has led many academic projects during the last years. He has been awarded 8 prizes in research, management, and teaching in the last 4 years as a leader of his own projects.

Aurora Astudillo González

Full professor at University of Oviedo. Head of the Department at Central University Hospital of Asturias. She is the scientific director of the Biobank at the Principality of Asturias (tumors, DNA, and brain subsections). Corresponding academic of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Asturias. She has a long university career during which she has developed her teaching and research in the fields of cancer and neuropathological diseases. She has led many academic projects during the last years.

Jorge Santos-Juanes Jiménez

Associate professor at University of Oviedo. Medical doctor specialized in pathology and dermatology. He works as a dermatologist at the Central University Hospital of Asturias. He has a long university career during which he has developed his teaching and research in the fields of cancer and dermatological diseases. He has led many academic projects during the last years.

Luis Manuel Quirós Fernández

Associate professor in the Department of Functional Biology at University of Oviedo. Director of the Proteoglycan Research Group and Deputy Director of the Fernández-Vega University Institute (IUFV). He has a long university career during which he has developed his teaching and research in the fields of cancer and microbiological diseases. He has led many academic projects during the last years.

Carla Martín Cueto

PhD in Biology and postdoctoral researcher at the Fernández-Vega University Institute (IUFV). Member of the Proteoglycan Research Group at University of Oviedo.

Elena Avanzas

PhD in English Studies. Associate Professor at the University of Oviedo in the Department of English Studies and the School of Medicine. She is a member of the research group TransLIT, where she studies the representation and the discourses surrounding death in popular culture (Medical Humanities and Death Studies).

Irene Fernández Menéndez

Graduate in Pedagogy by the University of Oviedo, she has an Online Education and E-learning M.A. by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). Since January 2007, she is a teaching (pedagogy) expert at the Innovation Center of the University of Oviedo (C1NN) and collaborates with other institutions, such as the "Adolfo Posada" Asturian Institute of Public Administration (IAAP) or the Institute for Educational Research and Innovation at the University of Oviedo. At the Innovation Center of the University of Oviedo, her main duties are to offer pedagogical advice to teachers as well as user support, and to develop user help guides for the use of the online teaching platform of the University. She also organized innovation events and OpenCourseWare (OCW).

Elena Rozas López

Graduate in Pedagogy by the University of Oviedo. Expert in ICT Educational Management and E-learning Environment Development by Open University of Catalonia (UOC). She has a wealth of experience in online tutoring and as a learning mediator, and she has also designed educational resources for private companies. In 2017 she joined the innovation team of ASAC Communications, who offer their services to the Innovation Center of University of Oviedo, and has since then become the coordinator of the innovation team at ASAC Communications. She is involved in the implementation of a program to create MOOCs at the University of Oviedo, offering pedagogical advice to teachers and participating in the setting up of this platform. She also provides user support, develops user help guide explaining how to use the online learning platform of the university and provides help in searching for innovative teaching resources.

With the collaboration of the Audiovisual Media team of the University of Oviedo in the recording, infographics and editing of video tutorials and audiovisual resources of the MOOC.

Francisco Javier Fernández Ovies		Irene Menéndez Fernández		Manuel Palomino Arjona