Good day, my name is Dr Theo Nell.
I am from the Physiological Sciences Department in the Faculty of Science.
Today I will be talking to you particularly on the Human Life Sciences programme offered in the Faculty.
So, students usually ask first what is physiology all about.
I tell the students that physiology is in and around us,
and we particularly look at the five levels of structures/levels of organization in Physiology.
We start off with atoms that come together to form molecules, molecules become macromolecules, organelles, cells and tissues,
that come together to form organs and organ systems to yield a full body or unit.
The study of physiology is all about how the human body functions and how
these different systems integrate with each other, and also why they do that.
The main focus in physiology is talking about balance in these systems.
The moment there is an imbalance, a disease develops which we also refer to as pathophysiology.
In physiology we have different applications ranging from exercise physiology, where we
look at histology, diet and then we look at more molecular type of applied physiology,
and also look at different divisions other than in physiology where we look at stress for instance
in the psychology context. It all comes together where it impacts on a social level.
A very interesting part in physiology is looking at different dimensions of the body.
So, we have extreme physical measures here, or extreme dimensions where we have obesity as an example,
where we have all these different diseases originating as a result of obesity.
Nearly just by measuring the dimensions of the different body compositions we can actually then
make judgments whether certain types of people are more prone to develop lifestyle diseases such
as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high levels of cholesterol, just to name a few.
So, one of the first questions students also ask is, “what do I need to start a BSc degree?”.
So, it is very important to have a Senior Certificate, a National Senior Certificate,
or university exemption certificate.
To qualify for a bachelor’s degree, you must have
a mark of at least 4 ranging from 50-59% in each of the 4 designated university admission subjects.
For a BSc in our Faculty, you need an average final mark of 65%.
If you choose to do a degree in the Biological Sciences with Mathematics (Bio) and Physics (Bio),
your final mark must be 5, or 60% for Mathematics.
Or if you planning to take thefull Mathematics your final mark must be 70% or 6 for Mathematics.
For a degree in the Biological Sciences, a final mark of 50% or 4 for Physical Sciences is required.
In the BSc Human Life sciences degree programme we have two different streams.
I have highlighted this in red.
We refer to the first stream as the Biology stream; and to the second as the Biology with Psychology stream.
In the Biology stream, we have different offerings: Curriculum 1 or an Adapted curriculum 3.
And for the Biology with Psychology stream, you take Curriculum 2.
The admission requirements are stipulated in the table next to this highlighted section.
So, what are the outcomes? We look at two specific outcomes:
academic outcomes; and then generic outcomes. With regard to academic outcomes, we look at
building a basic knowledge of the working of the human body, or functioning of the human body,
and you have to be able to distinguish between abnormalities within the human body.
Lifestyle influences such as nutrition and exercise − we look at a holistic picture here
of how that influence the optimal functioning of the body.
The answers on popular physiological questions such as cloning, genetic manipulation
and stem cell therapy are also part of the academic outcomes.
It is very important to integrate Physiology with other subjects such as
biochemistry, psychology and genetics. Generic outcomes is more focused on how to
think critically, how to retrieve, extract and condenses data, − data that are more academic.
You will learn to answer questions and how to communicate your findings; in writing, as well as with presentations.
During practical sessions, you will acquire new skills that you will use later on in your career.
If we look at the different angles of the human body
we have ageing, injuries, physical activity and disease pathology.
Then there is lifestyle, and how all these diseases of lifestyle such as diabetes,
hypertension and stress all impact on the functioning of the human body.
We look at this from a physiological perspective on how the functioning of the human body is changing.
We do research to answer questions related to this functioning. In the research, we focus more on
the mechanisms and therefore use humans, animals, or cells to examine these different interactions.
Another important question students, or prospective students, ask is:
“What can I do with this after I have completed a BSc degree in Human Life Sciences?”.
There is a lot of opportunities for students depending on what they want.
So, the pharmaceutical industry − where you can become a pharmaceutical rep or representative.
You can also go further to register for medicine. Very few students are actually selected at SU but
other universities such as at WITS do offer a postgraduate medical degree ranging over four years.
You can also pursue postgraduate studies in our department such as BScHons,
MSc & PhD, where after you can become a researcher, a lecturer, or exercise physiologist.
Other postgraduate options are also available after this programme.
With Psychology you can, for instance, become a clinical psychologist or an educational, or guidance psychologist.
You can pursue a career in education as a teacher, following a postgraduate certificate in education.
Many students also like to write, and they can do journalism where they can become medical or lifestyle journalists.
Then there is a very popular option students follow to become a patent lawyer,
after graduating with a LLB degree or you can even do a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).
Thank you!