The Good Life

Wow, what a great week. We got our test grades back much sooner than I thought, and I am happy to say that I did surprisingly well. I am quite satisfied. Lectures have also been very interesting, and they are all enjoyable since they are all anatomy lectures, which are my favorite. Wednesday morning we had our clinical skills class, where we got to interview an actual patient with bipolar disorder. It was fascinating listening to her talk about her condition and how it has affected her life, as well as some of the underlying causes. It was the most interesting clinical skills session we've had so far, and when it was over everyone wanted to keep going. Unfortunately we had lecture immediately following it and we had to cut the interview short. The lecture that followed covered the thigh muscles responsible for extending the knee (i.e. quads). After lunch we had lab, during which we dissected the gluteal region. There are many muscles, nerves, and vessels that pass through this region on their way to the thigh, so it was a slightly long lab. Thursday morning we had back-to-back lectures. The first covered knee flexor muscles in the thigh (i.e. hamstrings), while the second covered the leg muscles. In anatomical terms, hip to knee is called the thigh, while knee to ankle is the leg. What we commonly refer to as the "leg" is actually the "lower extremity". We then had the entire afternoon off, which was quite nice.

This morning, we went over the foot, which is packed with bones, muscles, tendons, arteries, veins, and nerves... not quite as complicated as the hand, but still rather formidable. This was followed by a lecture on the hip, knee, and ankle joints. This one was packed with enough material to fit a two-hour lecture, yet they managed to cram it into a single hour. This will definitely require a good deal of study time. Thankfully we only have one more lecture next week, so I can look forward to a nice, leisurely weekend.