Microscopic Anatomy (a.k.a. Histology) - 4.5 hours
Course Director: Dr. Thomas S. King
Office: 231D
Phone: 567-3899
Textbooks: Some books and atlases that have helped past students are:
Functional Histology Atlas by Kerr
Histology: A Text and Atlas by Ross, Romrell, and Kaye
Human Histology by Stevens, Alan and Lowe
Wheater's Functional Histology by Burkitt
DiFiore's Atlas of Histology by Eroschenko
Color Atlas of Basic Histology by Berman
The Morphology of Human Blood Cells
Basic Histology (Lange Board Review) by Paulsen
High Yield Histology
Course Description: You will spend about 4 hours each week in lecture, and another 4 hours in lab. Course material is roughly aligned with Gross Anatomy & Embryology, Biochemistry, and the Immunology division of Microbiology. An important component of lecture is 2x2 slides (as in, photographic slides which are pictures of microscope specimen slides). Lab is required. This is also your best chance to get to know the professors, and to get help. Many of us are not familiar with using a microscope or identifying different structures on that level, and it is important to get extra help early if you need to. During lab, your instructor - a professor or a second-year medical student TA - will show you 2x2 slides of examples of the tissues you are studying, then you will look at your own microscope slides.
You should try to find a good atlas (photos or drawings of structures), and there is also a course CD-ROM atlas which comes with the required course syllabus. It is important to look at all the examples of a given cell or tissue that you can find, since they vary enormously -- and the ones you see in lab will not be identical to the ones on the exam! There are three written phase exams. Each phase exam will consist of a written exam comprised of USMLE-format multiple choice questions including black/white and color images. In years past, the phase exams in this course have included a "projected slides" exam but this will be eliminated in favor of using images printed onto the written exam for each phase.
Helpful Resources: Professors and the TAs are available each week in lab to address questions. The course director is available throughout the week (appointments work best though "drop-ins" are OK too) to answer specific questions or go over material a student finds difficult or confusing. Most TAs also tutor on request, and there is usually a practice projected exam before phase sponsored by AMSA. Slide carousels are available in the library. Also, the CD-ROM provided with with syllabus is excellent. |
