Gross Anatomy?

[Smash Atoms]

Current (and past) DPT students...

I have heard several folks (and read a few on here) make mention that gross anatomy is a beast of a course.

I am just curious in your various experiences, roughly how many muscles do you have to learn throughout the course of the semester?
Do you need anything past OIAN? (Like if it is a synergist to another, etc?)

Thanks!

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[truthseeker]

all of the muscles (and bones, and ligaments, and vessels and nerves). and probably no but if you know what they all do, you will know the synergists and antagonists.

 

[Smash Atoms]

Literally all 640 something? 900 or so ligaments? I dont even want to guess at how many tendons there are....

 

[truthseeker]

yup, if you want to be good at your job, that's some of the stuff we need to know. there is more too. like physiology, biomechanics, how the brain perceives things, and when you put your foot on the ground, the actions of all of the muscles in the leg are different because the foot is relatively fixed to the ground so the upper end moves, but its not really completely fixed to the ground so there is . . . .
Anything worthwhile is not easy.

 

[Smash Atoms]

Yeeesh....
We cover ~250 or so this semester in an upper division musculoskeletal anatomy (OAIN) course, but all 640ish is pretty beastly. Things get really tricky under the jaw, around the eyes, etc... Its all the small ones.

The rest is all a given, I was just curious because I have seen people make mention of gross anatomy covering 300-400 in a DPT curriculum, so I was interested to see what some other folks experiences were.

 

[jblil]

Literally all 640 something? 900 or so ligaments? I dont even want to guess at how many tendons there are....

In my job I often refer to, or educate my patients on, the major muscles of the legs and arms, chest and neck - probably around 60-80 muscles total. The stuff that you forgot you can always look up.

 

[truthseeker]

I agree jblil but in the class you have to be able to identify all or nearly all of them.

 

[DocTAP87]

I loved gross anatomy! Yeah, it was definitely a beast of a course though. We had to know nearly everything. I know we didn't know everything because more things are still coming up in subsequent courses but pretty much nearly everything was covered in gross anatomy from the brain to the 5th toe. We had to identify the structures and adjacent structures including origin, insertion, action, innervation on cadavers and plasticized models and then go into more detail on them in written exams. I had nearly 1,000 pages of material in two binders.

With that said, it was thrown at you in a way that wasn't overwhelming. The exams were not cumulative and we focused on certain body sections at a time. I bombed my first exam but after that, I got into a groove and understood what was expected and made it through the course. I really enjoyed the course though and this is where I found out that I am pretty good with my hands. And now when I'm working with a patient, massaging my SO, or even just working out, when I look at them I can see the muscles vividly in my mind.

You go into much deeper detail than undergrad anatomy.