[RyanC]

Overview:

The continuation of Anatomy Term I, this course contains many similarities (good and bad), to that course, so this review will be shorter, stuff importantly different marked with *.

My review is for the engineer (biomed/chem eng) portion, but most of this applies to the other courses that are below the title of this review.

Course Structure:

3 lectures a week, one tutorial or lab (alternate weeks)

Usually two of these lectures are regular content and one is a clinical case or pathological study ('what could go wrong').

Throughout the term, the professors alternate (one professor usually covers a system or topic) while the case studies have a guest lecturer presenting their topic. As last term, I usually found the pathology not as content-rich as the regular lectures, and found them skippable.. they are much more of value to the other faculties, though, such as the nurses and people who have medical school dreams.

Course website is available through avenue to learn or learnlink (for nursing/health scis) and additional content (+videos) on macanatomy ( ).

Lectures:

The lectures themselves are recorded, which means you can absolutely get away with never ever coming to class (not advised). Even if the recording screws up, there are videos from previous years available.

I found the power points very helpful, and almost sufficient to study from, even if you don't view the recored/live lectures. All the professors are great, very effective and most importantly: comprhendable.

*The only major downsides is that the professors weren't as good (for my year, at least). Some of the material was gone over way too much in depth, and some was useless. The overall structure of what gets presented when (order of systems) was a bit strange.

Labs:

*Laboratories focus on integrating lecture content with the wild confusing world that is real life (arteries branching off every which way, compared to the perfect colourful drawings) There is no mark awarded beyond attendance, but for most people, this is the time when most people end up learning the most and realize how far behind they are...-_- Despite nothing other than attendance marks.. this is a very smart thing compared to other courses, as you're focused more on learning and indulging your curiosity opposed to scrambling to 'get the answers', whilst missing the big picture.

*There is usually computer simulation, pure anatomy, dissection, and pathology components, depending on the particular lab. Sounds (heart and respiratory) and other recordings done via the computer or use of interactive dummy were not tested, as far as I can remember

*People usually split into groups of 3-5 and choose what they want to do. Most people are passive; make sure you get in there, feel a specimen up, and make sure you undertand, rather than just nodding your head. Don't get distracted if a professor drops into the lab to rant, complain, or give a lecture on a narrow topic. Don't miss the the last lab if Dr. Ball is there; his dance of the ovaries is very good.

Simulation: use of ultrasound, electrodes, blood cuffs, spirometeter, etc recording devices to investigate a volunteer's vitals to analyze some particular behaviour.. graphs and data can be tabulated in order to understand the relationships between various aspects of the physiology of the system. After the main simulation component is finished, there is a big page of questions that can be answered. (most people skim through this portion of the lab, but each midterm and exam has questions from this, and the labtime is the only time you can really learn this material)

Anatomy: Look at specimens to understand their structure; usually taken from the main anatomy lab you have access to any time, but some very good specimens are only available here.

Dissection: Get a wet specimen for dissection (usually following lab manual). Most of the investigation done here can't be done elsewhere.

Pathology: Sometimes focused on exclusively, or found in the anatomy, simulation, or dissection modules.. sometimes its own module.

Pre-lab quiz must be completed a day before the scheduled lab.

Tutorial:

Tutorial time is where you present or are given presentations on key topics.
Focus is on the course content, applied to a disease or general pathology that can be solved in a chemical/engineering context (biomeds+chem engs in my tutorial).

Questions and discussion takes place on avenue to learn to be awarded marks. Presentations themselves are marked and are usually in the form of powerpoint.

After-hours lab:

The lab is open pretty much 24/7 as far as I know.. its located in the hospital (hsc) right outside one of the exits of the hospital cafeteria. Access requires a lab card with an RFID chip in it which takes several weeks into the course to obtain (otherwise you have to pester the receptionist).* Go twice a week (after lecture) if you can, otherwise you'll be lulled into a false sense of security that this term's content is easysauce and you'll probably have to cram your butt off in between 2 other exams.

The lab consists of wet, plasticized, plastic, and other forms of specimens of deceased individuals. When you sign your consent in the weekly lab, you agree to treat the specimens with respect.. meaning no photos, etc. There are stations that focus on key areas (respiratory, brain, development, endocrine, lower limb, etc) with accompanying books that guide you through the system. There are radiographs, diagrams, pathology descriptions, and other things at each station.

The guides are great, but they're usually misplaced, and some specimens are hard to match (or even find!). During normal operating hours (business hours) there is always several lab technicians to help you out, and during study periods, teaching assistants and professors are around to guide you or answer your questions. There are outlets on the floor, tables, chairs, and dozens of textbooks at your disposal.

You're dealing with things that have biofluids on them, so nothing in the lab is 'clean', so there are gloves there you can wear, and handwashing stations available.

Course Material:

Textbook - highly optional (never bought it; honestly, its useless unless you're really into anatomy&phys; there are tons in the lab (but they're slimy))
Lab manual -optional, but useful to study with and guide you in labs; can share with friend (bought it)
Lecture notes / videos -mandatory! (used a lot)
Supplementary Notes on macanatomy (used seldom)
Avenue discussion (used seldom)
HSC Lab -used a lot! (for specimens)

Examination:

Laborator pre-quiz + attendance (pre-lab quiz mark awarded if attendance mark is, otherwise you get a 0)
Tutorial presentation + attendance
Multiple choice midterm
Practical 'bellringer' midterm
Multiple choice examination

Overall impression:

Favourite course out of every course I've taken at McMaster.
Course lectures are flawless and comprehensible.
Professors and TAs are very enthusastic.
Out-of-class studying (in the anatomy lab) is fun and interesting.
All content is in some way relevant to real life and is immediately appliciable.

Its an intense course to take if you were to select it as an elective, but definately enjoyable.

A major negative is that lots of time needs to be spent in the lab to get a high grade on the practical component.

*Don't think this course is easier than the previous one you took last term; its not. There are a lot of enzyme, hormone, etc questions on the final exam that will trip you up if you think you're smart.... . You have to know A LOT.. there are some questions with really tricky wording that have a single word that's incorrect to make sure you really know your stuff.
Be in the lab the day before exam(s).. you might just see them take away the specimens that will be on the test

Currently taking this course right now. Fully agree with what has been said with regard to this being one of the best courses that I have taken at McMaster.

Quizzes were done at the end of lab with i-Clickers. Seven questions: 5 from 5 lectures previous, one lab question, and one safety question.

I found MSK and the brain each pretty intimidating last semester and felt that this semester had more of a focus on function and systems. That's not to say that there wasn't a lot of memorization, but I could definitely reason my way more this semester.

Try to get out to the lab and catch Dr. Ball as he is very eager to help. Just don't get tripped up when he goes way into detail. I normally tuned out at that point.