Thursday, April 18, 2013

Identify the Structure!!!






Look closely at this picture; of course this is a delicious piece of beef. All of you might think, what's up with this guy?. Well, I could not resist to let a teaching moment go away. Look at the picture again, and bear in mind  "What could it be?", could be the psoas muscle, maybe the intercostals, aside from what it is,  you just know that all of the sudden the identification is almost impossible. Well, let's go to the point. Let's consider  a hypothetical situation. You too are dissecting, and suddenly  a structure pops up, and you ask yourself, "What could this be?" and of course, I asked this question myself. How do I cope with such a dilemma? I look for IDENTIFIERS. Identifiers are two or more structures or features that will reveal information that will help you to identify the anatomical structure in question.  Here is how this work:

1. Look at the whole pictures. Never narrow your field of vision. Philadelphia is full of horses with blinders!!!
2. Look for landmarks. Are you familiar with something in the field?
3. Is this a vessel or a nerve? From where this structure is coming from or going towards?.
4. What is posterior to it? What is in front?

I know, too many questions, but this is the way it is and you will get use to it. Try to see as many structures as possible, is all about practice.

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