BIO-412 – Pathophysiology Case: Necrotizing fasciitis
Introduction
The extensive study of anatomical, physiological, and pathophysiology concepts is critical for
understanding the diagnosis, intervention, and treatment of disease in a professional healthcare setting.
Collaborative and written communication is essential for healthcare delivery. To accomplish this goal, this
assignment is meant to help you learn to research, organize, and integrate information from multiple sources
to develop a short case study, write patient clinical scenarios, and develop question sets for a specific disorder
or disease that is studied in (or closely related to) this course. This assignment will further emphasize and
develop the analytical thought process that will help you to understand the material for the rest of the units in
the course, and will help you to learn to work with your peers to produce an article that is complete,
thorough, and accurate.
Learning Objectives
The goal of this assignment is to deepen your understanding of a specific disorder or disease by
researching the pertinent scientific and clinical sources, organizing the key pathophysiological concepts,
differentiating pathophysiological mechanisms and disease, and finally presenting your knowledge of the
subject in a clinically informative, concise document to your instructor and the class. In addition to the mini-
case study, you will develop a clinical scenarios based on the topics with a question and answer set that will
serve as preparation for complex, integrative clinical questions that are characteristic of exams that are given
in advanced clinical course work and board exams.
Instructions
Your instructor has selected several pathophysiological topics from the lecture objectives and textbook
for you to analyze and compare to other similar pathologies that affect the same system, organ, or
tissues. Feel free to choose any one of these topics, or to come up with your own topic if it is not listed.
I will provide a sample case study to illustrate how to organize your paper and the topics that need to
be covered.
Your final score on the assignment is based upon the submission of both a rough draft and a final draft.
The mini-case study must be uploaded using the Turnitin Assignment link. I will provide two
assignments links: one for the rough draft and one for the submission of your completed final case
study. They will be clearly marked. Please don’t confuse the two.
Refer to the course schedule for the due dates for submissions of your topic, rough draft AND final
draft.
DO NOT USE DIRECT QUOTATIONS OF YOUR SOURCES. While you have likely been taught that quoting
a source is acceptable practice, it is almost never done in formal scientific writing for many reasons,
including that it does not reflect original thinking and that it distracts the reader from the actual point
that is being made. From my perspective, it also indicates that the writer does not fully understand the
material that is being quoted. You should always paraphrase or summarize your sources and cite
them properly – never quote directly!
Avoid plagiarism at all costs! – always write in your own words.
Case Study Organization
Each case study should be a minimum of 2500 words and a maximum of about 4000 words. At least 4
primary and secondary (peer-reviewed) references are required. At least 2 of these sources must be from the
primary literature. Please see the document entitled Finding suitable sources for your case study for more
information on locating appropriate sources. Your case study MUST HAVE the following components:
STUDENT INFORMATION: Name, course, date, semester, and assigned topic. Please put this
information in the header on the first page. You do not need to repeat the header on subsequent
pages. In Microsoft word, you can access the header region by double-clicking the very top of the first
page.
ANATOMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND: Provide a discussion of the normal anatomy and
physiology of the major systems, cells, and/or tissues that are affected by the disease that you are
reporting on. This helps to give the reader a frame of reference for understanding the underlying
etiology of the disease. Avoid making very generic and broad statements, such as that the heart
supplies oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body, because your audience will understand very basic
facts like this. In general, if they are facts that you are having to look up because you don’t already
understand them, they should be included. If they are facts you could tell someone without looking in
a textbook, then omit them.
INTRODUCTION TO THE DISEASE OR DISORDER: Identify and explain the defining characteristics of the
diseases based on the background information provided in the previous section. You may divide the
material between this and the previous section however you see fit and in whatever order makes
sense. This section is appropriate for discussing a very brief history of the disease/disorder, its
prevalence, and the affected population(s). Try to provide a transition into the next section in order to
make the document easier for the reader to follow.
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF THE DISEASE OR DISORDER: Discuss the pathophysiology of the disease. Be
sure to define all terms and concepts, and provide a rationale that is easily understood by the reader.
Since pathophysiology is the study of the basis of disease, this is the section in which you should
describe what goes wrong, what it does to the affected systems, any compensatory mechanisms that
are triggered, and how this in turn can affect other systems, if applicable. This section is the main focus
of your paper! It should be the longest, most detailed section!
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF THE DISEASE OR DISORDER: Using your discussion of the
pathophysiology, discuss the including signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings that are supportive of
a diagnosis of the diseases. Compare and contrast the disorder to similar diseases, disorders, or
pathologies based on their etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and/or treatment. You do not need to
discuss all of these categories, since each topic is unique. In some cases, a differential diagnosis
discussion may be helpful to the reader. Also, take care in your discussion of the diagnosis. Don’t just
list items, BUT ALWAYS summarize the signs/symptoms/findings and then provide a brief explanation
of why they are related to the pathophysiology. Briefly identify and explain the common interventions,
therapies, or treatments for the disorder in respect to the pathophysiology of the disorder and the
health of the patient. Do not use bulleted lists, because they often exclude relevant details.
REFERENCES: Cite your references utilized for the study using APA 6 th ed. style formatting. In-text
citations should be used. When citing a reference in your text, it is only necessary to cite the reference
once per paragraph unless there is another reference used in between citations from the same article.
Please use the sample case study for reference on how to do this.
o Only primary (original research articles) and secondary sources (journal reviews, clinical
reviews, the textbook, and clinical texts) are legitimate sources. Wikipedia, WebMD, CDC,
Mayoclinic, and Medline (and other similar sources) are useful starting points, BUT ARE NOT
legitimate sources for this assignment. Citations from these sources will NOT count toward
the required 6 sources.
o Do NOT use patient information sites or disease-specific advocacy sites as sources! Not only
are these sources seldom up-to-date, they are written at an extremely basic level, they omit
important details, and are often subject to bias under the guise of convincing donors and
funding agencies to donate money to their individual causes.
CLINCAL NARRATIVE AND QUESTION SET: Develop a short clinical scenario narrative regarding your
disease/disorder that includes at least three multiple-choice questions at the end. Be sure to include
the following:
o Introduce the scenario and give pertinent information related to the disease include essential
signs, symptoms, findings, prior and/or current therapies, and other essential information
about the patient’s condition to inform the reader. Do not use clinical abbreviations or jargon
– spell things out.
o Questions: Develop at least THREE multiple choice questions about the scenario regarding the
disease. For example, questions regarding the diagnosis of the disease, identifying the proper
diagnostic test, or determining the best treatment option are all valid questions that could be
asked. Your questions should require critical thinking, not just rote memorization.
o Answer: Provide the correct answer and justify the answer with an explanation.
Please remember that formal scientific writing differs from writing in the arts and humanities. Most
scientific writing is done in third person, passive voice, and past or past-perfect tense. First person (I, me,
mine, us, we, our/ours) is very seldom used. Second person (you, your, yours) is NEVER used in scientific
writing. It implies imperative mood (you do this, you do that) and is considered insulting to the reader.
Although second person is sometimes used in patient information pamphlets from clinical offices, it is not
appropriate in formal scientific writing and is not appropriate for this assignment.
Your audience is a general scientific audience. It can be assumed that the reader will know basic
scientific facts like that the heart moves blood through the body, that the lungs are the site of gas exchange,
and that the function of any specific organ or organ system is necessary for survival. Avoid including very basic
information that your audience will already know.
When referring to your sources, avoid copying the source directly, or copying it and changing a few
words for words from a thesaurus. This is usually considered as plagiarism! Paraphrase the information and
write it in your own words! There are plenty of online tutorials that explain how to do this, such as this one
from MIT, and this one from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Assessment
Prior to the assignment due date your instructor will provide feedback on your rough draft – if you do
not submit a draft or submit an incomplete one, then no useful feedback can be given.
Your assignment may be selected for a distribution of a study guide for the class and questions may be
derived from your clinical scenario question sets.
