Embryo Sucks!

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JABWS

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Okay, so you're saying there's ectoderm on the outside, endoderm on the inside, and mesechyme somewhere in between that's derived from paraxial and lateral mesoderm. Great. But wait, now there's ectomesechyme, and what portion extends caudally? Or was that ventrally?

:bang:

Anyone else feel this way?

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Okay, so you're saying there's ectoderm on the outside, endoderm on the inside, and mesechyme somewhere in between that's derived from paraxial and lateral mesoderm. Great. But wait, now there's ectomesechyme, and what portion extends caudally? Or was that ventrally?

:bang:

Anyone else feel this way?

Useless PhD crap.
 
Okay, so you're saying there's ectoderm on the outside, endoderm on the inside, and mesechyme somewhere in between that's derived from paraxial and lateral mesoderm. Great. But wait, now there's ectomesechyme, and what portion extends caudally? Or was that ventrally?

:bang:

Anyone else feel this way?

I hate embryo. One bolded term leads to another, and so on. :confused: :(
 
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Okay, so you're saying there's ectoderm on the outside, endoderm on the inside, and mesechyme somewhere in between that's derived from paraxial and lateral mesoderm. Great. But wait, now there's ectomesechyme, and what portion extends caudally? Or was that ventrally?

:bang:

Anyone else feel this way?

Yup. Going through early embryological development for the first time is downright painful. But some of that stuff will still be on your boards, so you might as well learn what you can.

It gets considerably better as things begin to take recognizable form. Heart development and congenital heart defects are actually really interesting, IMO.
 
I hate embryo. One bolded term leads to another, and so on. :confused: :(

I wish we had bolded terms. For me, it's page after page of words I've never heard of being related to other words I've never heard of, all building up to create a structure that's completely unfamiliar.
 
It gets considerably better as things begin to take recognizable form. Heart development and congenital heart defects are actually really interesting, IMO.

Agreed.

For the most part it's extremely annoying though. I think it's the only thing I've actually disliked with a passion so far.
 
Embryo is great. If you learn the general concepts lots of anatomy makes more sense. Congenital disorders are also very interesting and understanding the embryology is mandatory (and helpful). The embryo stuff on Step 1 is really easy too if you put in the time to learn it right during M1.
 
I thought this was a great resource: http://meded.duke.edu/symbrio/site/#

I kind of think embryo is a subject that really needs to be taught in movie form. I honestly learned most of it from Simbryo and some youtube videos, because reading a bunch of random words doesnt help you remember much.
 
It's good for learning the basic science of development (which does matter in understanding things like why things like AFP are elevated with spina bifida in utero etc) and it can be taught easily - but usually isn't.

Other than that, in the clinical world, it's absolutely useless unless you're doing research. But without getting too much into the old argument, we're training physicians, not PAs.
 
Okay, so you're saying there's ectoderm on the outside, endoderm on the inside, and mesechyme somewhere in between that's derived from paraxial and lateral mesoderm. Great. But wait, now there's ectomesechyme, and what portion extends caudally? Or was that ventrally?

:bang:

Anyone else feel this way?

The overall picture of how an embryo develops from a single cell is very interesting. The specific, this layer contributes to this structure above this line, and that layer contributes to it below the line, and make sure you know the exact name of each layer at each stage of development, sucks.
 
Embryo is another one of those things that mainly exists to give PhD's jobs teaching it.
 
I had a love-hate relationship with it. I found the concepts interesting, but so damn hard, largely because of all those damn growth factors and whatnot. So many... so hard to keep straight.
 
Medicine........ there's always something to the thing you just learned that has another thing tied to that.
 
It is difficult to visualize, but there are plenty of animations out there. I thought it was pretty interesting when I took it. It answers a lot of questions about why things are where they are in anatomy, and makes understanding innervation easier, if you can imagine where things were in relation to other things in the course of development, and where they migrated to. I found learning about it a real pleasure, kind of a treat. Does it have a huge bearing on clinical medicine? Not really. It definitely does supplement your understanding of the body and how it works though. I say learn to enjoy med school classes for the sake of it, since after all, you are paying vast sums of money for the experience.
 
Thanks for the resources everyone. I actually have access to symbrio through the online portion of the course, so I'm going to start using that to supplement my reading.

I'm not sure what the norm is for this course, but we don't have lectures. It's self-paced with one final exam at the end. Needless to say, it's not emphasized and feels more like an afterthought, something we are just required to trudge through because it's covered on Step.
 
Embryo is another one of those things that mainly exists to give PhD's jobs teaching it.

Hey man if you don't want to learn basic science drop out and become a PA or DNP.
 
I honestly don't remember most of embryo, but I'm glad I at least learned it at one point so when I need to look it up it will come back a little easier than if I was learning it from scratch. Learn it for your class, there may be some stuff about it on Step 1, then you'll probably never have a question about primitive streak ever again.
 
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