VCOM View Magazine Vol. 12 | No. 1

A Flourishing Approach

“We are asking ourselves how we can contribute to the culture of a medical school that we would like to attend.” -William Pearson, PhD

Imaging and Communications in Medicine, is the standard for communication and management of medical imaging information and data. Carter noted that this is how students will see patient imagery in clinical settings. For students, there can be a bit of a learning curve with integrating the new imaging into class. “It was very new to see different CTs, MRIs and X-rays, then have to understand what I was looking at,” said Natalie Pang, Class of 2026. “After the first exam, a friend and I started to use our lab time to walk through the images and point out structures,” said Pang. “Even though we were looking at radiology, we were applying our anatomical knowledge,” she added. Pang said that despite the difficulty at first, the time spent learning and practicing with the images paid off. “I could say imaging is one of my favorites now—it’s simple to say with practice and time, it’ll come, and it really does,” said Pang. Carter noted that both the cadaver dissection and the imaging are imperative for students to learn anatomy in three dimensions. “Having cadaver dissection and the imaging shows them that there is great diversity in human anatomy,” said Carter. “They can see real surgical interventions like a defibrillator/pacemaker, organ transplants, joint replacements, etc., and this pathology can be developed into research projects,”

she added. “Three-dimensionally, students get to see amazing things in their first patients that they simply wouldn’t observe in two-dimensional or just computerized imaging,” said Carter. “Osteopathic medicine puts more emphasis on anatomy, especially the musculoskeletal anatomy,” said Pearson. We are working on better coordination with Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM), and syncing that with what we are teachig in anatomy,” Pearson added. “Anatomy translates into other courses like OMM, or clinical medicine, where we get to apply our anatomical knowledge to understand a clinical scenario or how to treat a tight muscle with osteopathic techniques,” said Pang. “The new anatomy team has introduced initiatives such as imaging and imaging rounds, table conferences and wellness checks,” said Kristina Thoenes, Class of 2025. “Anatomy is a difficult course and can be very overwhelming, but the new faculty have made changes to make the course more fun and less stressful,” added Thoenes. “I feel the new team is now using anatomy to teach students how to flourish individually and within a community,” said Nate Risley, Class of 2025. “Similar to how different organs depend on each other to form an organism, individuals of different backgrounds work together to form a team,” he added.

11

Spring 2023 | VCOM V iew