Learner Reviews & Feedback for Medical Neuroscience by Duke University

very interesting but difficult course and very thorough. All the info anyone who is not a medical doctor will ever need. The teacher is committed, patient, kind and overall excellent.

This is a very good course but i personally feel that the lectures should be spread over at least 20 weeks instead of 13. As it is currently taught, the course is placing a lot of stress and pressure on the student to keep up with the pace if the student also has other home or work commitments so it makes it difficult for such an interested student to go into all the depths the course asks for if time is constrained by the pace of the course. I feel that if the course had been taught over 20 weeks at least then i would have had more time each week to go into it in more details.

But overall i really enjoyed the lectures, and i know i have learnt all that i will ever want to know about the neurology of the human body

Thank you Dr White and team for all your time and efforts in putting out such a wonderful course. Students like me really do appreciate it all

It is a wonderful course for serious learners wanting to learn about the human nervous system and how it works. I myself am a medical doctor (I graduated over two years ago) and I can attest that (in my university at least) I didn't have neuroscience lectures with this depth and detail.

Due to my medical background I found it comfortable to go through the course without much effort or lots of extra studying. But I figure that if you do not have some such foundation it might be a bit more challenging to go smoothly with the course, and you might needs more extra studying and more time put into the course.

But if you are interested about neuroscience and want to learn the essentials of how the human brain works (as per our current knowledge) then I recommend that you put in the effort and go with the course even if you don't have a strong background in the life sciences or in medicine.

Many thanks to Dr White and everybody else who have participated in creating and maintaining this course.

I think it is a very good course in Neurosciences, because gave me an good update and now I felt me with total confidence if I wish to take more advanced course in Neurosciences. I am Physician(Professor of Internal Medicine/Nephrology)and I don´t belong to specialties like Neurology, but working for many years in Intensive Care Units;I had to handle many and differents cases of difficults Neurological Problems, with support of neurologists Teams, but I was aware that I needed and Update and more than that, an Integrative view of Nervous system Function.As Collateral effect, this course wake up on me an deep interest in Neurosciences, as very good serious medical hobby.

Thank you and congratulations for this course and I hope to see another course given by DUKE UNIVERSITY, headed by Dr Leonard White and his Team

Ivan vuc ina MD-FACP

Professor of Internal Medicine /Nephrology

University of Chile/Clínica las Condes

Santiago de Chile

Admittedly, some topics (especially neural signaling) could be explained so much more simply. Professor White sometimes picks the most random starting points to explain a new topic rather than explaining the subject matter in a Point A-Point B manner. Other times, there are other topics where information is omitted in an attempt to not overcomplicate the subject, although sometimes that omitted information could have easily helped to explain what the professor was talking about.

That said, this is an incredibly thorough, clear, yet manageable course. This course has the hands-down best resources (lecture notes, clinical case studies, interactive anatomy program, and a separate website) of any Coursera class I've taken. I've learned more from this class than any single class I've taken on Coursera or in college. Hats off and big thanks to Professor White, Ellen Vos, and everyone involved in this course.

I thank Duke University as an Institution, and particularly anyone who directly contributes to organize so competently this highly instructional course, "Medical Neuroscience", Prof Leonard E. White, and Coursera Team. It is huge appreciable and measurable effort.

I am celebrating my completion of Medical Neuroscience, I am glad and proud of what I have learned during the course, My knowledge regarding the field has been considerably enhanced. It is valid course for health care practitioners of all levels.

I am willing to keep learning specialized course of Medical Neuroscience, (Perception, Action and Brain).

I purchased text book, Neuroscience 6 edition. that has been helpful throughout the course with its Sylvius 4 online.

Congratulations and best wishes to Medical Neuroscience team for the skillful preparation and delivery of this instructional endeavor.

Dr Abdinasir Abukar

The best course I have ever taken. It was really challenging. The content is incredible. There are so many resources to enhance your learning. Most of all, WHITE'S EFFORT IS SOMETHING I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE. He delivered every topic in a really interesting, enjoyable, and exciting manner. You can see his compromise and passion for the subject in every video, resource, tutorial notes, or examples he uses. Even in the way in which he designed the exams; they really test your knowledge. Even after completing this course, I will definitely go back to all the resources he provided. I am sure I will make good use of all the information I learned here in my future career as a health practitioner. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COMPROMISE! TO YOU AND EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF THIS COURSE

I feel extremely thankful to the whole team of Medical Neuroscience course, specially Dr White and I've learnt a lot. Coming from a medical background I thought this was going to be no much learning, and this course has opened in me the appetite for more knowledge and to study neuroscience in deeper. I have improved my understanding of the conditions of the patients I treat with chronic pain and chronic diseases and I want to go in a deeper journey towards the learning of the brain and its functions and interactions with health and diseases. Thanks doctor White for your passion and generosity sharing your knowledge, time and skills in the brain education to make that other people around the world improve and grow in abilities to help many patients.

Dr White is outstanding in his delivery of this course material. His tone, composure and endurance is admirable. The course content is challenging but Dr. White seamlessly and very humbly at times expresses and reinforces its values in a highly encouraging and inspiring manner.

I was especially impressed with Dr. White's humble introduction to self organization and dynamical systems with how he expressed how initially challenged he was with the concept of these forces and the challenging shift he chose to make away from what he had upheld to embrace these intrinsic values.

Thank you Dr. White and team for making this a highly stimulating and educational experience.

With gratitude,

Ken Ware

This course is, without a doubt, the best! And the instructor is a real master. You see many people teaching out there, but few with the enthusiasm and pedagogic skills of Ph.Dr. Leonard E. White (sorry if I used it wrong). He explains everything into detail and very clear. He know how to approach the subjects without overwhelming his expectators. The only bad thing about all this, is that there no other courses on coursera with Leonard E. White! I don't know if you will actually read the reviews, but if you do: please keep teaching like this, with so much care and love. You're the best! If you ever have the opportunity, please teach again on coursera.

Greetings,

Gabrielle A.

While I found the course extremely challenging because of the tight schedule, the content was absorbing and exquisite. When I began nursing, we were told the brain was largely an uncharted mystery---and it was. But science has since discovered and uncovered so many facts and nuances about brain functions! Dr. White was careful to introduce basic concepts and then build on them to bring students to great depths about the different systems that comprise the brain and CNS. He made the course interesting and comprehendible, as well as a pleasant experience. Thank you, sir, for giving much of yourself as you organized and produced the videos, tutorials and other resources.

I found the material well-organized and explained throughout the course. Lots of learning options (video, textbook, on-line labs, and Sylvius) made it possible for me to adapt my learning style as needed to complete each of the 13 weeks. I really appreciate Dr. Len's enthusiasm for his subject, and the great support of his teaching assistants. It is a challenging course, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you will be amazed at what you have learned by the time you take your finals. I found the Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases textbook valuable for learning how medical observations are integrated to make a diagnosis and form a treatment plan.

Truly an amazing course. It meant for motivated people, as it isn’t for the lazy. I must admit to its difficult. At times it feels like the amount of information is comparable to drinking water out of a water hydrant. Especially if you haven’t studied at a university level previously (like me). Anyways, don’t let my description fool you. This course WILL make you question not only the biological basis to you existence, it will also make you question the highly subjective aspect of the experience of your consciousness. You will need to apply yourself and be very hardworking. I believe you will make it (like I did) and evolve in almost all aspects as a person.

This is a beautiful course.It seems long and daunting at first sight,but each step of learning is made enjoyable by Dr White.The course supplementary materials and resources are beautifully designed too.I especially like his passion for teaching which is evident in the way he talks and does acts like wearing shirt on one side to give us a perspective into the life of patients suffering from Neurological problems.While i was sad to hear of this accident,I wish him the speediest of recoveries.I absolutely loved the videos inside his house too(in one episode he mentions that a deer may have passed by-lovely to have a house as this in the midst of nature)!

This advanced-level course was designed carefully and clearly, so i think it's the best choice for those who's interested in medical neuroscience. However, learning through 13 weeks could dampen anyone who's just a beginner in this field, especially who is not native english speaker like me. Because there are many terms and knowledge to remember, then to coordinate and to express them again so that everybody could get the points. Even sometimes i found myself unable to extract my ideas in spite of understanding what's going on in discussions. At last, I wish prof. White and his partners a healthy and happy life :). It's really a nice work!

This course wasn't easy but I was so happy to be challenged intellectually. I majored in psychological science for my undergrad degree and I found this course exceedingly helpful as I'm in a public health field combatting addiction through a SAMHSA grant program. The other topics reinforced what I learned so much about my major for undergrad and why I love studying the brain. I found the lessons around neuronal development and transmission to be more helpful than what I learned in school. This is a great course for those who like to be challenged and are very curious in brain science.

Great course that helped me to gain more in-depth knowledge on brain structures and made me review a lot of what I had already read about this subject. I especially enjoyed the parts about neuroanatomy and would have appreciated even more detailed presentation and more revision.

The Purves 6th edition is very helpful (actually, it's a must), and the Sinauer website (which I had no access to) is also to be recommended.

Len White explains things very well and makes the course come alive. I was looking forward to listening to him every morning. I might 'revisit' to enhance my LTP :-)

The content was very interesting and I would like to thank Professor Leonard E. White for his valuable time and clear explaining of the functional organisation and neurophysiology of the human central nervous system. In the early stages I wasn't so passionated about some topics (because I did not know about them), but overall it is a very complete course which will definitely help you for your professional career but also personal development and help your relatives on all sorts of topics ranging from neurological diseases to prevention and drug use/addiction. Thank you again.

Thank you very much Mr. White and team. The course is a really jewel. Mr White broadly shows different pathways and amplitudes about our brain and it composition in many aspects: biologic, anatomic, physiologic, cognitive. Indeed it is a complete and unique class. Also Mr White teach all this complex stuff with extraordinary quality in different scenarios: lab, room, his house, in a forest, unfolding new approaches. However the quizzes are very very hard and detailed but they inspire our study. Best regards from Brasil, and thank you again, Mr White, his team and Coursera.

Doctor White and his team are a bunch of heroes, giving people like me a chance to learn they would never have in their lifetime. I want to send all of them my thanks and ensure them of my heartfelt gratitude. I for one will not allow such a magestic effort go to waste and I am certain that the knowledge that doctor White has imparted me will aid me in diagnosing and alleviating the pain of future patients I will have (lest some tragic incident might find me, God forbid). I swear to remember the kindness of my teacher so I might repay the world in kind one day. Thank You.

With absolutely no background in biology or anatomy, I was able to follow this exceedingly well-designed course and do extremely well on quizzes and exams. It was a HUGE amount of work (~10 hours/day, 7 days/week) due to my lack of relevant background, which only makes my successful completion that much more rewarding. Everyone should take this course. If people grokked what a magnificent organism they are, I think there would be a lot less self-abuse, chemical dependency, ... I think Duke should consider designing a curriculum for grade school and high school.

This is a challenging course requiring a significant time commitment (I kept seeing recommendation of 16-20 hours per week, maybe less depending on your background). It is supposed to provide content on par with a medical school or a graduate health profession (e.g. physical therapy) neuroscience course. Dr. White is a great instructor--his kind demeanor counterbalances the somewhat overwhelming content of the course. You will end up pulling all the material together for the final to diagnose patient cases. Overall, a very rewarding course!

An amazing journey through the world of medical neuroscience. A captivating lecturer and a well structured course which can only lead to one outcome: increase in knowledge and sense of curiosity to learn more about the fascinating life of our neurostructures.

Thank you Dr. White and many thanks to the whole team for making this very complex matter accessible to everyone. I hope others will considered the completion of the course as the beginning of a pleasant "pathway" through more discoveries of the most complex organ of the human body.

Good Day to all.

Medical Neuroscience is a well-structured course for medical graduates and faculty who wants to perceive a better understanding of the current research and concept of the Central nervous system.

It's a difficult subject, but explained in a most simplified way and make you engaged, enjoy, and aware of never facts and trend in neuroscience.

I am happy to be a part of this course and looking forward to more advanced courses at duke university.

All my best wishes to Dr. Leo and his team.

Happy Christmas and happy new year!

I took this course to challenge my brain after chemotherapy and during radiotherapy. Not sure if that helped my learning as the retention of the information was affected! But it did help to clarify some aspects, especially as I had some understanding of basic neurology from my previous extensive studies in physical activity and consciousness.

The course is very well laid out and masterfully delivered, and packed with information.

The level said "advanced", and I found that accurate.

Thank you very much for this amazing experience!

As a current medical student, Medical Neuroscience here on Coursera really equipped me to perform well in my studies in our school's neuro course. I really appreciated the concise yet thorough lectures from Dr. White throughout the course. I HIGHLY recommend this course to anyone interested in the brain and especially those students enrolled in a neuro course in their current studies. This course supplemented my regular class lectures and assignments very well and helped me to master the content much more efficiently and smoothly!