19 April 2011

Overview of the Site and Objectives

To my newest readers,
In my experience, anatomy is a subject best learned in a class room setting. There are simply no substitutions for highly qualified lectures and a cadaver (human body) dissection where one can ask questions and try to assemble the large volume of facts into conceptual and applicable knowledge.  That having been said, I am going to try and create a site where the starting graduate student, knowing nothing about anatomy going in, like I did, or anyone interested in the subject, can come for supplemental information to aid in the process of understanding the wonderful and mysterious human body.
I am not a qualified anatomy professor.  I have not authored textbooks.  But I do have a detailed knowledge, a love of teaching and explaining things, and enough computer know how to try to put it together.  I will be borrowing from various other sites and works and will do my best to cite them as I go and provide external links to sites that helped me study.
A note about learning styles: Everyone learns differently. In the American education system, especially in the science classes, it tends to be a reductionist approach.  In high school I learned that A-->B-->C, for example DNA-->RNA-->Protein.  In college we delved deeper and looked at the pathway from A-->B and said, well what really in happening is A-->Ax-->Ay-->Az-->B, in this case examining the multitude of transcription factors and various proteins that come together and bind the DNA in certain ways in order to initiate transcription into RNA.  I, personally, love the reductionist approach and find it conducive to my logical, step oriented brain.  I would encourage you to think about how you like to learn and what ways work the best for you; examining pictures and contemplating spacial relations? reading text and building relationships between words?  If you can understand what is best for you it will help you tremendously in the long run because in anatomy you must synthesize huge volumes of information and understand it well.  To that I end I will try to incorporate as many styles as possible to try to give the best learning experience to everyone.  Many times it is helpful to look at something a different way, I certainly find that to be the case.
Lastly, please post any questions and I will answer them, and if I cannot answer it satisfactory, I will take it up with my anatomy professors and get you an answer.

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