New Anatomy

URL study guide

https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/B_NEWANATOM

Course Objective

After completing this course, students should:
- Actively know the major joints and muscles of the upper and lower extremity;
- Understand the gross anatomy and physiology of muscles and their connective tissue;
- Be capable of solving basic biomechanical equations;
- Understand selected biomechanical principles (moment arm, line-of-action, moment, force) and be able to apply these on an intuitive level (i.e. be able to explain the concept in drawing or in words);
- Understand the basics of the engineering approach: the application of the rules of mechanics to understand the musculoskeletal system;
- Be able to apply the basic knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics and the engineering approach to design and execute a tendon transfer on conserved human dissection material to improve function;
- Understand the basics of the integrated approach: the definition of muscles as units interacting with their environment, more specifically ligaments, fascia and neurovascular tracts;
- Be able to critically reflect on the merits and limitations of the engineering approach and the integrated approach in writing and verbally.
- Be able to judge the value of either approach for the (study of) clinical treatments related to musculoskeletal dysfunction in writing and verbally.

Course Content

New Anatomy is a university-wide honours course for students interested in the human musculoskeletal system. The course is designed for those students who do not have a background in Human Movement Science (HMS) or Medicine, as the course covers material that is taught in a combination of HMS and Medicine Bachelor courses. The course programme is set-up in such a way that students with different background should be capable of acquiring a sufficient level of anatomical and biomechanical knowledge to understand and discuss the “actual” subject of this course, i.e. the fact that it is possible to approach a seemingly well-described and studied subject as the human musculoskeletal system in different ways and that this approach is highly deterministic (i.e. it literally determines what you see). Of course, this is not unique for human anatomy; it is a universal phenomenon relevant for all sciences. And that is what we intend to convey in this course. While using the human musculoskeletal system as vehicle, we aim to make students aware of the importance of perspective. And of course the consequences of this perspective for clinical and fundamental research. In this course you will first get to know the basic structure and function of the human musculoskeletal system through (interactive) lectures, and then learn about two different perspectives on musculoskeletal anatomy through lectures and hands on experience in the dissection room.

Teaching Methods

The course consists of 6 ECTS, which equals a load of 168 study hours.
- Lectures (21 contact hrs / 40 hrs preparaton)
- Dissection classes (9 / 10)
- Interim Exam (2 / 20)
- Case report (0 / 40)
- Symposia (6 / 20)

Method of Assessment

Examination and grading of this course consists of the interim exam (25%), the written case report (50%) and the presentation (25%).