Course Information

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS REGARDING HUMAN GROSS ANATOMY

Welcome to Human Gross Anatomy!  In this course you will explore anatomy in the lab directly and actively so you can build your own knowledge of human anatomy.  Many students consider the chance to directly explore human anatomy a watershed moment in their medical education.  We have a staff of eight faculty (all with advanced degrees in anatomy-related fields) along with two graduate student teaching assistants who will work with you in lab.  All the members of the Gross Anatomy Teaching Team are available to you.  Remember that although most of us are active researchers, we will make the time to talk or meet with you.  Gross Anatomy is our priority when the course is in session.

RESOURCES FOR LECTURE AND LAB

Our web page for this course is a critical source of information (https://anatomy.oit.duke.edu/) and it contains: (1) course information, (2) table assignments, (3) faculty information, (4) detailed reading list, (5) cross-sectional images, (6) video resources, (7) terminology references, and (8) links to other courses.  All of these will be valuable to you.

Required:
Each student must purchase: Gray’s Anatomy for Students by Drake et al., 2nd or 3rd edition.
Each lab team must purchase: Grant’s Atlas of Anatomy by A.M.R. Augur and Dailey, 13th or 14th edition.
*Any recent edition of the textbooks is fine.  We have listed the most recent versions. 

Embryology text:
Langman's Medical Embryology, 13th ed. by T.W. Sadler (2015). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

LECTURES AND TEAM-BASED EXERCISES

GA Lectures: There are lecture slots in this course held in the Learning Hall 2050.  You can find the topics of these lectures and team applications (TA) listed Canvas.       Most of those slots are dedicated to didactic-style lectures (~50 min total), but some of those will be taught in concert with a clinician (~80 min total).   Lecture notes and sometimes short tutorials will be posted before the lectures.  To be prepared for lecture, you will need to read these materials and the textbook. 

EB Lectures: There are also lectures or TBE’s devoted specifically to embryology.  Embryology is part of the Gross Anatomy component of Foundations of Patient Care 1, and Dr. Matthew Velkey primarily delivers these lectures.  These lectures are very important in developing an understanding of anatomy that can form a useful basis for clinical practice. 

Team Applications: Team application attendance is mandatory.  TAs will be in the Learning Hall in your TBL groups.

HUMAN GROSS ANATOMY LABORATORY

Labs: There are 28 labs in this course, which are held in DS 042 PZ.  You will be assigned as a team, to a single cadaver.  You will also be organized into sections in the lab, with each section containing two faculty and one graduate student TA.  Your team will be responsible for dissecting the cadaver following the Online Dissector.

You must wear long pants and closed-toe shoes that completely cover your feet.  Shorts and sandals are unacceptable.  We have a video about lab procedure: https://anatomy.oit.duke.edu/Lab01/Lab1.html.  One tools kit for dissection will be provided for you.  Your team should purchase one additional tool kit.

ONLINE DISSECTION MANUAL AND PREPARATION FOR DISSECTION

To guide your dissections, you will follow an online dissection manual: https://anatomy.oit.duke.edu/.  The dissection manual consists of the following: (1) objectives and goals, (2) procedures, (3) functional context, (4) clinical context, (5) dissection hints, (6) relevant images, (7) clinical correlates, and (8) surface anatomy.  Sometimes there are optional dissections, but these should be read and studied for exams.  If time permits, you should take the opportunity to carry them out on your cadaver.  Also, there are many options to look at radiological images and cross sectional anatomy, both of which are an important component of Gross Anatomy and appear in lecture and practical exams.

Before coming to the laboratory, read the relevant sections in your textbook and in the dissection manual.  Study the drawings in your atlas of the region to be dissected.  Read any specific pre-lab material provided.  Make sure that you understand the general developmental history of the structures in this region, and of the way in which blood supply and innervation reach them.  This is really about making connections between anatomical parts that must work together and connecting that to what you are learning in other parts of this course.  In short, you need to come as prepared as possible to lab.

Dissection Captains: All students will read the dissector prior to attending lab and must be prepared to perform the day’s dissection.  However, in the interest of fostering teamwork and leadership skills, as well as streamlining the dissections, each cadaver team will designate a daily “Dissection Captain.”

The daily Dissection Captain is responsible for: 1) Reading the dissector ahead of lab and coming prepared to perform the dissection; 2) Leading their team through the dissection and delineating tasks; 3) Leading a review of the major structures explored following each dissection; 4) Making sure the dissection instruments are accounted for, organized, and cleaned following each dissection; 5) Making sure the cadaver is wetted and properly stored following each dissection; and 6) Making sure your station is clean, the light is turned off, and you have logged off the computer.

Radiology Captains: 

All students will have access to the CT scan images of their team’s cadaver.  In continuing to foster teamwork and leadership skills, as well as streamlining the dissections and corresponding radiological images, each team will designate a daily “Radiology Captain.”

The daily Radiology Captain is responsible for: 1) Reviewing the appropriate CT scans (corresponding to the region being dissected) ahead of lab and coming prepared to help the team members identify anatomical structures in the CT images of their own cadaver; 2) Leading their team through using the CT image viewer software and orienting everyone to the corresponding CT images; 3) Leading a review of the major structures explored following each dissection; 4) Making sure that all of the relevant anatomical structures have been identified to the best of the ability of the captain; 5) Collecting and organizing questions from the team about the CT images or identifying structures to then present to the radiology resident or fellow present during the week. Throughout the semester, radiology residents or fellows will be in the gross anatomy lab to answer questions and help teams understand radiological imaging and the structures they should be able to identify in those images.

Prior to the first dissection, each team will produce a schedule of daily Dissection Captians and Radiology Captains to be approved by the anatomy teaching staff.  Dissection Captain and Radiology Captain assignments should be evenly distributed among all the team members.  Each team member must take a turn as Dissection Captain and as Radiology Captain prior to any member taking a second turn.