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Online academic course ( free)

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RichBromiley

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I've just seen this- an open-access online course from the University of Copenhagen ( delivered in English). It may be of interest to some members of the forum?

https://www.coursera.org/course/diabetes

I don't know much more about course or what is included, but there is an explanatory video about the course on the website.

I hope you enjoy it!




Diabetes - a Global Challenge
Diabetes is a growing health problem in rich and poor countries alike. With this course you will get updated on cutting-edge diabetes research including biological, genetic and clinical aspects as well as prevention and epidemiology of diabetes. All provided by high-profile scientists from one the world's leading universities in diabetes research.

Course at a Glance
7 weeks
3-5 hours of work / week
English
English subtitles


About the Course
Obesity is a common disorder, and in the United States and many other western countries more than half of the populations are overweight or obese. The prevalence is increasing dramatically, and the number of obese individuals worldwide is now projected to reach as much as 1.1 billion by 2030. Along with the increasing numbers of obese people, the prevalence of type-2 diabetes is increasing tremendously worldwide due to the westernized lifestyle. However, the sensitivity of the individual to a westernized lifestyle and development of diabetes appears to be much dependent on his or her genetic risk factors.

As diabetes is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality, and thereby accounts for a large part of the public health care expenses, there is a great interest in diabetes research to improve knowledge, prevention and treatment of diabetes.

This diabetes course will give you the newest state of the art updates on diabetes research in the fields of clinical aspects of diabetes and regulation of insulin secretion, epidemiology of diabetes, heritability of diabetes, genetic aspects of diabetes, prevention of diabetes and insulin resistance, molecular insulin resistance, cellular aspects of diabetes, physiological regulation of blood glucose, type 1 diabetes and stem cell research in diabetes.

Each section will be covered by world leading professors in the specific areas:

  • Prof Thorkild Sørensen (Epidemiology of Diabetes and obesity)
  • Prof Jens Juul Holst (Physiological regulation of blood glucose)
  • Prof Allan Vaag (Pathophysiology of Diabetes and Genetic versus pre- and post natal aetiological factors in T2D)
  • Prof Thomas Mandrup (Inflammatory beta-cell destruction in diabetes)
  • Prof Torben Hansen (Genetic aspects of Diabetes)
  • Prof Bente Stallknecht (Physical activity and its influence on insulin resistance and diabetes)
  • Prof Ole Madsen (Stem cell based therapy of Diabetes)
Recommended Background
The course is aimed at students who are on an advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate level with a background in biology, medicine or life sciences. Experienced health care providers and others interested in the newest diabetes research and knowledge can also follow the course.


FAQ
  • Will I get a Statement of Accomplishment after completing this class?
    Yes. Students who successfully complete the class will receive a Statement of Accomplishment signed by the instructor.

  • What resources will I need for this class?
    For this course, all you need is an Internet connection and eagerness to learn more about new research in a medical field, which influences all the world's nations.

  • What is the coolest thing I'll learn if I take this class?
    These years groundbreaking research is being done withing diabetology. This course will introduce you to the newest results from not just one, but many different areas of diabetes research, giving you an overview of the entire field.
 
I'll bump your post up Rich as it may be something that forum members would like to do.
 
I'm registered for that one. One of the things it has in it's favour is that it is a European course.
If anyone is worried about the idea of an academic course, or the background knowledge suggested, don't. You can take as much as you want out of these courses .
If you want you can just watch a few of the lectures that interest you or you can do all the 'work' and get the certificate
And the great thing is that it doesn't cost a penny!.

I've done quite a few and am now addicted.
They do vary a lot in their demands. I've just finished a genetics course that was very difficult with challenging questions. (I think they started with something like 80,000 registered at the start of part one, by the end there were just 500 of us and even fewer took the final exam )
I've also done courses which are tested by questions that wouldn't challenge a bright 10 year old . Some bright 10 year olds do them including home schooled children My granddaughter enjoyed watching some of the lectures on DINO101!


At the moment there is also a course called Nutrition for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from the University of California
It has units on heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity , and gastrointestinal disorders. It's halfway through so you would be too late to do all the assignments but you can still watch the videos. I'm watching it but not doing the assignment as it is very US biased . It seems to forget it has students from all over the world but as it is accredited for continued medical education in the US that may account for it .
It also has very closed tasks with no room for debate
(not recommended for people who low carb, week 2 assignment was to create a diabetes diet of 2000, cals , 65% carbohydrate with 3 meals and 2 snacks)

https://www.coursera.org/course/nutrition
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I will pretend to make a comment so that I can find this thread again more easily via "My Content"
 

Ooh! Another ology! I love the word diabetology. If I follow the course and progress to accreditation, does that mean that I can call myself a Diabetologist?
 
I have started this course on Diabetes and am finding it well presented and am learning lots. It's started by setting current situation globally with things looking worse than I'd imagined.

I've done a few British MOOC's from FutureLearn (UK organisation started last autumn) and have been really impressed. Also started 2 French ones, but much less impressed with presentation.

My main criticism of FutureLearn MOOCs is the way discussion between participants is difficult to follow and join in.

I wonder if anyone else on this site who is following this course on Diabetes would like to join me in setting up a Thread to discuss the course as it goes along?
It's not too late to start now!

Hoping to get some takers,
Jane.
 
I'm up for it!
 
I started it on Monday


Type 2 diagnosed 24/01/2013.
Novomix 30, Victoza, metformin 2000mg sr (but not taking them as they play havoc with my insides,
 
The first week was interesting I was a bit shocked by it's brevity (the course I finished on Monday had many more lectures and readings with horribly difficult quizzes so it was a complete contrast)
The forums are a mix, it's salutary to read some of the HCPs who suggest they encounter apathy , not everyone is motivated as people on here. Surprised to see the odd quack isn't quickly put down (leech therapy anyone?) but that's probably because there aren't any TAs (TAs are sort of moderators/people who have done well on precious incarnations of the course)
Personally, I hope that it gets a bit less general in future weeks.
I've just answered your thread Fergus as
P
 
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