If you are curious about microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites) and willing to learn, that is the right class for you.

Microbiology (BIO204) is designed primarily to provide basic knowledge to allied health students since they are about 85% of the student body. However, any student is welcome.

If you have taken Physiology or Anatomy before, you will hear some familiar terms as we study the different microbes and the diseases they cause. But that is not a pre-requisite, you will be able to catch up with the terminology as we go along. The only pre-requisite for BIO204 is Fundamental Chemistry (CHEM210) or high-school chemistry.

There are many ways to teach Microbiology, in our case the focus is Public Health. We will look at the microbes and their impact and human and animal health through the lenses Public Health, which is something everyone can relate in one way or another, for example, should I take a flu shot this year? and how to make an educated decision about it.

We do look at some basic signs and symptoms of many diseases, however, this is not a Clinical Microbiology class, since we do not approach details of treatment or patient management.

If you feel excited about the description of the class, then you are a step closer to register.

If you feel that the human impact on the environment and climate change are your passion, you can learn a lot about that looking at microbes. Check BIO210M - Environmental and Applied Microbiology for a hands-on summer learning experience.