This course aims to provide dental students with fundamental knowledge of medical parasitology, including the classification, morphological characteristics, life cycles, transmission routes, pathogenic mechanisms, diagnostic methods, prevention, and control strategies of parasites causing human diseases. The course enables students to understand the impact of parasitic infections on human health, evaluate parasitic diseases relevant to oral and general health, and apply basic principles of infection control in clinical practice.

This course covers the fundamental concepts of medical parasitology and medically important parasites affecting humans. It includes the general characteristics of protozoa, amoebae, flagellated protozoan parasites, and apicomplexan parasites; introduction to helminths; and the morphology, life cycles, transmission routes, localization, and diseases caused by nematodes, trematodes, and cestodes. The course also addresses medically important arthropods, including mites, flies, lice, fleas, ticks, and bed bugs, with emphasis on their role in disease transmission, prevention, and control. Basic diagnostic approaches for parasitic infections and the importance of infection control principles in healthcare practice are also discussed.