The Human Body: Structure and Development

Course Description

Knowledge of the anatomical structure and embryonic development of the human body provides a foundation for subsequent basic science courses, clinical rotations, and a career as a physician. Through lectures, dissection laboratories, radiology sessions, and clinical correlates, this course will regionally demonstrate key concepts of the complex gross structural organization of the human body to enable further study of normal function as well as disease. The nine-week course will be subdivided into the following four units:

Unit 1: Back and Upper Limb
Unit 2: Thorax and Abdomen
Unit 3: Pelvis and Lower Limb
Unit 4: Head and Neck

Within each unit, consideration will be given to some or all of the following: support and movement (integumentary, skeletal, muscular, and articular systems), integration and coordination (nervous and endocrine systems), maintenance (circulatory, respiratory, digestive, immune, and urinary systems), and reproduction.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, students will be able to

1. Communicate in proper anatomical and embryological terms.
2. Relate anatomical structure to function, in part, as a result of dissecting the human body.
3. Visualize these structural relationships in three dimensions with awareness of body
   symmetry as well as anatomical variation.
4. Describe the embryological processes that create these relationships.
5. Identify the origins of birth defects and the resulting disabilities in the adult body.
6. Interpret normal anatomy from representative images (radiographs, CTs, and MRIs).
7. Solve clinical cases, the etiology of which are anatomical.
8. Function as a team in achieving a common goal.