PROPAEDEUTIC SCIENCES

The course of Applied Physics, Statistics and IT has been designed to convey knowledge and understanding of basic physics principles and to introduce the student to the basics of statistical thinking and its application in practice.
The topics are geared to concrete analysis and research problems and deal in particular with situations and cases drawn from the medical literature.
The course will provide the necessary tools, mathematical, statistical and physical, to address issues of increasing complexity preparatory to other major disciplines of the degree course, such as Chemistry, Biology, Physiology, Biochemistry, etc.. , which are based on physical phenomenology and make frequent use of statistical analysis.
The course will also provide the conceptual basis for understanding a number of major technologies that with increasing frequency are used in medicine, such as: centrifuges, endoscopes, microscopes, transducers for
ultrasound equipment, laser systems, radiology equipment and NMR, radiation detectors, etc. In this sense, the module also aims to develop the students' attitude towards independent study and continuing education on the application of physical techniques to diagnosis and therapy in medicine.
As its final, but perhaps most important, goal, the course has been designed to stimulate students to become more familiar with certain common concepts, that are not always sufficiently explained in previous study, such as: mechanical action between bodies in contact, exertion and energy in action, dynamic aspects resulting from elastic force and impact, friction and thermal and thermodynamic aspects, static and dynamic properties of gaseous and liquid fluids, light and its manifestations, including in relation to the structure of the eye and its physical defects, fundamentals of electrical, magnetic and nuclear phenomena, the laws that govern potential and current, electromagnetic and nuclear radiation, detection and control.
Special emphasis will be put also on statistical reasoning, interpretation and decision-making process. We will insist more on the conceptual understanding that the mechanical calculation, especially in light of the wide range of software available for analysis. The theory will be made explicit by means of practical exercises and teaching cases, therefore, the ultimate goal of the course is that the student learn "how to do" as well as knowing.