Anatomy professor
Feb. 26th, 2004 01:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninevirtuesThe anatomy professor at our school is a 4'10" dynamo. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met, and she (like most of the rest of the faculty here) is a charter member of the full-plate club: She teaches us (four hours of class a week, plus eight hours of lab a week), plus she is starting a wound care clinic at the local hospital, plus she treats people at said hospital, plus she publishes research papers, plus she is a mom.
Okay... I'm a hyperfocused, pretty organized and efficient triathlete, used to fitting in 2-3 workouts a day where you might not think there was room for those, and I am still stunned by the sheer amount of stuff this particular professor manages to get done-- plus, when she noticed that I seemed upset, she made arrangements to meet me outside class to chat. I'm not the only one she's done that for, either. She's rapidly become one of my favorite professors, so when I heard that one of the people in my class (who's been snotty to just about everyone, incidentally) had complained to her that anatomy "wasn't being taught in sufficent depth".... and this particular professor was very upset about that... I was displeased.
Survey says: Gail Must Shred Offending Party!
Whoops, wait a minute. Physical therapists have to pass a background check. Can't practice as a PT if felony shreddage is lurking on your record. Time for Plan B.
I ended up telling the professor that I was really enjoying the class, and getting a lot out of it, and that if she ever happened to need another cadaver for the lab, I would be happy to arrange that for her (even if it was slightly bruised when she got it). <-- this last was funny at the time, probably because of the words I chose and the facial expressions I was using. She laughed. Mission accomplished.
I further suggested to her that anyone who wanted more out of the course could certainly arrange to do some extra work in more depth after the quarter had ended... say, a special course that would take nine days to do... exactly the length of our current spring break. (Devious? Me? Naaaaah....)
Okay... I'm a hyperfocused, pretty organized and efficient triathlete, used to fitting in 2-3 workouts a day where you might not think there was room for those, and I am still stunned by the sheer amount of stuff this particular professor manages to get done-- plus, when she noticed that I seemed upset, she made arrangements to meet me outside class to chat. I'm not the only one she's done that for, either. She's rapidly become one of my favorite professors, so when I heard that one of the people in my class (who's been snotty to just about everyone, incidentally) had complained to her that anatomy "wasn't being taught in sufficent depth".... and this particular professor was very upset about that... I was displeased.
Survey says: Gail Must Shred Offending Party!
Whoops, wait a minute. Physical therapists have to pass a background check. Can't practice as a PT if felony shreddage is lurking on your record. Time for Plan B.
I ended up telling the professor that I was really enjoying the class, and getting a lot out of it, and that if she ever happened to need another cadaver for the lab, I would be happy to arrange that for her (even if it was slightly bruised when she got it). <-- this last was funny at the time, probably because of the words I chose and the facial expressions I was using. She laughed. Mission accomplished.
I further suggested to her that anyone who wanted more out of the course could certainly arrange to do some extra work in more depth after the quarter had ended... say, a special course that would take nine days to do... exactly the length of our current spring break. (Devious? Me? Naaaaah....)
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Impressed
Date: 2004-02-26 12:01 pm (UTC)But yeah, taking out your classmate would probably be a mistake, no matter how satisfying it might feel. There would be paperwork involved, and really, who has the time.
Good anatomy teachers are a blessing. I'm very pleased to have found a really good one at the massage school in Palo Alto.
What texts are you using? Anything a plebe would know?
Re: Impressed
Date: 2004-02-26 02:42 pm (UTC)Well now, I'm still learning, only not what the cirriculum is trying to teach me. I"m on a "more people" track; I went from working in QA to a people oriented occupation, and now I'm headed for an occupation in which I work with people when they're in a trying circumstance. And I'm also learning that people will help you out and be kind to you, if you are open to that experience, and if you are kind and helpful back.
On the other hand, some people are just plain mean, or messed up. I do not have to be kind to those people, now do I. ;-)
As far as anatomy... We're using McMinn's Color Atlas of Anatomy, with CD-ROM, and I've noticed that drawings from www.exrx.net appear in our lectures suspiciously often. I wish I had a better book or CD, one that showed the layers of muscle one at a time and allowed you to build the layers one on top of the other. As it is, I end up in the prof's office every week-and-a-half or so looking at her extensive reference collection.
I remember the anatomy teacher at BTC. He was really good, and he was not above drawing on himself with a ballpoint pen, or stripping people fairly naked, to make a point. I will never forget the difference between proximal and distal now that I've seen him draw it on himself like a football play, complete with Xs and Os. ;-)
Re: Impressed
Date: 2004-02-26 02:48 pm (UTC)> have to be kind to those people, now do I. ;-)
Absolutely not; you have my permission.
>I wish I had a better book or CD
I borrowed a Classic application titled "MUSCLEtrainer" that I've been playing with and seems decent. I wish there was a X native version, but oh well. I'm also a big fan of the Acland Anatomy DVDs, if you can get access to those.
>drawing on himself with a ballpoint pen
These days he's using pastel chalks, dampened in a cup of water. Much more colorful and distinctive for those students sitting further away. Yep, that's Michael Murphy. He's a good one.
Will you be in NC through the summer months? If I'm out that direction, I'd really like to look you up.
Re: Impressed
Date: 2004-02-26 03:14 pm (UTC)Any chance I could borrow this MuscleTrainer too??
And.... I'll be around here until the end of July, with a one-week break in April that I'm carefully considering how to spend. I get a one-month break from late July to late August, and my tentative plan is to drive back to California, probably do some couch surfing.... see Mom, drive up to British Columbia for a week of bike maintenance training from my old coach, and then drive back to North Carolina... in one big triangle. (That is the tentative plan, subject to the whims of fate and finances.) Why... were you planning an east coast trip?