Preamble to Classes

Orientation is now over and classes begin in earnest tomorrow. There will be 4 hours of lecture that will cover the topics of:

1. Intro to Gross Anatomy

2. Anatomy as the Foundation for Clinical Exam

3. Embryology: Bilaminar Disk

4. Introduction to Medical Imaging

I am in CAPS (Clinical Assessment and Problem Solving) group A, which meets on Mondays, so I’ll go to that for 3 hours following lecture. It’s going to be a long first day.

We already have our first reading assignments, too. Our course packets tell us exactly what material we’ll need to pre-read in order to prepare ourselves for lecture. My reading assignment for tomorrow’s lecture included an overview of anatomicomedical terminology, a review of the body systems, a fairly in-depth coverage of skeletal morphology, a description of different medical imaging techniques, embryology, and finally a very technical case study intended to illustrate the utility of anatomical knowledge in clinical diagnoses.

I went to Caribou Coffee with my housemates in order to do the readings. Per usual, I ordered a “Northern Lite Cooler” and a multigrain bagel with cream cheese to get through the assignment. It was a fairly light read—only about 35 pages in total. There are some terms that were new to me that I’ll have to review later tonight before bed. For instance, there are 15 different kinds of bone markings (though several of them seem redundant to me), 4 of which I have never heard before: condyle, crest, epicondyle, facet, foramen, fossa, line, malleolus, notch, process, protuberance, spine, trochanter, tubercle, tuberosity.

Tuberosity is my favorite; it sounds completely made-up.

Sarah and Duane cooked some Korean food for Parry, Mike, Aaron and me, and then we all played Rockband 2 for a couple hours to celebrate the purchase of our new TV. We ended up getting a 32" HD from BestBuy.

Now the real work begins...