General Pathology is a multidisciplinary science of medicine that studies the etiology and pathogenesis of diseases and in particular the reactivity of the organism and in cases where such reactivity is not adequate or insufficient, the mechanisms that determine the persistence of the pathological condition.
The course therefore aims to provide knowledge of the causes and mechanisms of the diseases and the alterations that derive from them at a tissue, cellular and molecular level.
This course represents a fundamental teaching for Medicine and Surgery as it provides a set of knowledge that connects the biological and clinical-surgical disciplines.

At the end of the course, the student must demonstrate that he knows:
1) explain the functioning of cellular responses to stress and pathological stimuli; cellular adaptations to stress; of necrosis; apoptosis; of autophagy and cellular aging;
2) describe the different cellular and tissue mechanisms implemented during acute inflammation, chronic inflammation, tissue repair, cell regeneration and angiogenesis;
3) know how to illustrate and explain the various pathologies of the immune system: hypersensitivity reactions, autoimmunity, immunodeficiencies, and also some zoonoses, coronavirus and Covid-19 infection, amyloidosis and spongiform encephalopathies;
4) critically discussing the characteristics of benign and malignant tumors; of the metastatic process; carcinogenesis and the molecular basis of cancer;
5) explain the clinical and molecular aspects of neoplasms; of the host's defenses against tumors: anti-tumor immunity or immunosurveillance; the main mechanisms of tumor evasion from immune recognition; possible biological therapies against cancer;
6) to argue functional aspects of the dynamics of genetic diseases and of the genetic alterations that cause human diseases; mutations; and epigenetic changes;
7) know how to illustrate and explain some issues of environmental and nutritional pathologies: such as the effects of climate change on health; the toxicity of chemical and physical agents; the effects of tobacco, alcohol; vitamin deficiency; and the correlations between diet and systemic diseases; and between diet and cancer.

The course in physiopathology the students learn the basic principles of and the mechanisms of systemic and organ physiopathology. This course focuses on the pathophysiology of common disease conditions affecting human beings across the lifespan. Pathophysiology is a course that builds on basic medical science (anatomy, physiology, microbiology and chemistry) obtained from earlier courses which will lead the student to clinical medicine. It enables the medical students and clinicians to understand how and why diseases develop and various symptoms occur, clinical manifestations appear, what the underlying mechanisms are and how to choose proper therapeutics. At the end of the course the student will be able to understand the pathophysiologic bases of common human health alterations and associated clinical manifestations and elucidate the pathophysiological principles underlying the pathogenesis and therefore treatment of the disease.