Condensed Anatomy Class, is that good?

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oldman

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The University of Minnesota has a short anatomy class. 6 weeks of anatomy with nothing else. Is that better than a program that takes several months, but is interspersed with other classes?

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I don't think it would work for me, but obviously it works for some people since they are still doing it. I think it is just like any other differences in programs; different strokes for different folks.
 
Howdy,

Bad Idea.
 
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We had a full semester, about 4 months, and I thought that was a way too fast. I think 6 weeks would be a nightmare.
 
I took gross anatomy with other classes over a 15-week semester, and would have preferred to have done it all in one shot. The beauty of taking classes simultaneously is the integration of the subjects. Anatomy doesn't integrate at all with biochemistry or bioethics, etc., and the synergy of learning histology and anatomy together is negligible. About the only thing that needs to be taught in conjunction with anatomy is embryology.

In my opinion, the shorter the time spent reeking of formalin, the better.
 
for those of you who thought it was too much info when it was over a long duration, was it cause you were dealing with other classes? the curriculum at the U shows that i'll have gross anatomy and a class called, "medical decision making" from weeks 1 to 7.
 
We had something similar. The anatomy course was condensed a bit because of curriculum changes, but we had anatomy for 8 weeks. 6 weeks sounds really short even if anatomy is the only basic science course you're taking. For me it was a trade off. We had very little time for dissection in the limbs unit because our schedule was condensed (but then again I wasn't the active member in lab :wink: ). But as Kluver said, after anatomy you feel good closing the cadaver chapter of your med school experience.
 
We learn anatomy over the course of a year (except for our PIL students, who learn it in about 2 months). In my opinion, a year is too long. Learning anatomy is a different process than learning in my other classes, and over a year I feel like I have to switch learning styles too frequently. Although I'm fascinated by anatomy, I don't particularly enjoy learning it. The anatomy lab isn't exactly my favorite place to be, and the process of learning it is tedious to say the least. I think the ideal timespan to teach anatomy would be over a semester... you have a long enough span to learn in-depth, and you have longer blocks on average to focus on anatomy.
We'll be done with this class in exactly a month, and I'm counting down the days...
 
We did anatomy in 8 weeks - if we didnt finish the dissections during lab time, we were expected to come in and complete them on our own - perfectly reasonable, IMO. I didnt feel "cheated" of crucial information - everything was presented in terms of clinical relevance - we spent the least time on the least relevant things instead of "glossing over" an entire section of the body like the upper limbs. I liked it mainly b/c we could just immerse ourselves in anatomy and not worry about anything else.

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The less time that you have to spend in the anatomy lab, the better. The cadavers start to get stiff and dried out after 10 weeks. I think that our anatomy lasted around 8 weeks and that was fine. Anatomy is important, but you don't remember any of it after a year and have to go back and review it for the boards and your rotations regardless of how long you take to learn it all. 6 weeks should be fine. If everyone else in their class can do it, you can do it too.
 
And I thought OSU's 12 week program was a massacre.
 
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