Cody Eaton
Class Blogpost
Coming from a family in which both parents had a medical background, I grew up hearing anatomical and physiological terms in my daily life. In my junior year, I chose to shadow doctors, PA’s, and NP’s in the ER at Goodall Hospital in Sanford, Maine for the month of January. This experience was beneficial for several reasons including exposure to various occupations and paths in the healthcare field, but left me wanting more. Now that I have taken Anatomy and Physiology with Dr. Klepach, I am even more well equipped to navigate the increasingly complicated medical world in the future.
There were many experiences in this class that I was quite interested in, including the trip to Boston to attend the Body Worlds Vital exhibit, and the guest lecture from CDC Maine State epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Sears. Both of these very unique experiences taught me a lot about medicine and about the human body. Dr. Sears’ talk especially left me with a general feeling that I knew exactly what I want to do after Colby. His discussion of how the CDC uses experimental data and information gathering techniques to analyze possible epidemics was particularly interesting to me, primarily because I like the noble idea of keeping the public safe. As such, following the talk, I was more confident in my plans for the future. I now know undoubtedly that I want to work in healthcare, and now I just need to decide which path I want to take.
Additionally, the class afforded me an elevated level of insight because of the holistic progression of ideas that I have been able to study at Colby now that I am a senior. In other words, the class helped me connect some of the concepts that I had begun to explore in previous classes such as genetics and mammalian physiology. Concepts such as homeostasis and calcium regulation, which pervade many academic areas, were explored in this class and this helped me to create a broader schema regarding biological concepts.
The Grand Rounds experience was worthwhile as well. Thoroughly studying a particular case study provided me with a firm understanding of one medical concept, especially when I was responsible for understanding the anatomy and physiology that directly relates to treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma. By preparing a presentation about such a complicated topic, it was a necessity to understand the basic concepts behind the complex ones (e.g. anatomy of the colon to understand partial colectomy and ileostomy). Ileostomy is inevitably an important concept for someone who is interested in healthcare, due to the number of patients that will have one in their lifetime.
Overall, the class helped me with several anatomy and physiology ideas and concepts that I have learned over the years. Concepts such as distribution of muscles on the body, how the nervous system coordinates with the bones and muscles to move the body and send sensory input back to the central nervous system, and the circulation of blood in the body were explored throughout the month of January through activities, lectures, and laboratory. Not only did we have focused class time on these concepts, but Dr. Klepach also helped cement the concepts in our minds by providing us with a metabolic lab at the Athletic Center. This activity involved doing various exercises and analyzing spirometry parameters and heart rate before and after. Using this information, we then did a few analyses based on our own data that we obtained during the lab. This experience was good for several reasons. First, it allowed the class to learn in a context other than the normal classroom experience. It also helped to be active and learn physiological concepts at the same time, and by doing the activity ourselves it makes it almost impossible to forget some of the concepts involved.
Ultimately, this class was a very beneficial experience. In my future, I will definitely use many of the skills I have developed over the course of this month. For example, skills such as using a blood pressure cuff or a general understanding of blood pressure are life skills that impact all of our daily lives. Even though we did not have as much time exploring some of the anatomy and physiology concepts as I would have wanted, at least everything was touched upon at least once, and makes me hungry for more education. In this way, the class has served an important role in my development as a well rounded individual.