DPT 6401 - Gross Anatomy & Embryology Lecture

This course is designed to teach graduate physical therapy (PT) students and other professional or non-degree seeking graduate students the essentials of human functional and developmental anatomy. Faculty members believe that understanding human development enhances the student’s comprehension of adult gross anatomical structure and confirms the origin of the many anatomical variations the student will study in the classroom. Thus, the two sub-disciplines of gross anatomy and embryology have been integrated throughout this course. However, a well-grounded knowledge of the details of a structure and its ontogenetic sources are not sufficient to gain expertise in clinical skills and reasoning. The function of structures across the life-span must also be appreciated fully. While the PT curriculum includes a variety of clinical courses aimed at gaining this understanding, the faculty has designed and included a series of laboratory activities, in addition to the detailed dissections, that focus on the discovery of “how function follows form”. Several hours per week will be dedicated to lab activities meant to illustrate the relationships between the cellular, tissue, organ, system, and behavioral components comprising the human body in action.