Reading the syllabus the day before the first class, I was pretty intimidated by the workload and how much material we were covering in less than a month. On the first morning, Professor Klepach told us that it is more important to prioritize our health and wellbeing over academic success, before even introducing yourself. Finishing up my last year at Colby, I have never had a professor do that and was both surprised and thankful at his approach to teaching and our learning. I also appreciate his eagerness to help us learn how to study better and absorb information, since this is perhaps the most useful thing I learned all month. At first, I started off trying to memorize every detail from the lecture, but slowly learned that understanding big-picture concepts and quizzing myself on the material was a much more effective method.
As an athlete, I am always drawn to science material that relates to kinesiology, so I particularly liked the muscle lecture. Specifically, I loved learning about tension production and the length-tension relationship. When discussing resting muscle length and how its optimization can increase power output, Professor Klepach even gave specific examples of exercises that lengthen muscles without adding muscle mass. I also enjoyed learning about muscle fiber composition, and how it varies based on your activity level. It’s crazy how many more slow type muscle fibers endurance athletes have than the average person; I have always heard about “fast twitch muscle fibers” and was surprised about this graph.
My favorite lab activity was definitely the heart dissection. I think constantly seeing cartoons and animations of body structures, it’s easy to forget what these structures actually look like in real life beings. Getting the freedom to explore the heart on our own and identify parts that we had only seen in graphics was a pretty cool experience that I am thankful to have had this Jan plan. Also, holding an organ in your hands made me appreciate all of the cool physiology that it can perform. It reminds me how complex of a level our bodies can operate at – without our conscience even knowing. I took a picture which I will attach below!
I also enjoyed the blood pressure and MAP activity. I don’t have much clinical experience, but getting to take someone else’s blood pressure after having it performed on me by nurses countless times was much more difficult than I thought. They make it look so easy! As an aspiring doctor, I’ll admit I have overlooked the crucial role of nurses (especially before COVID hit). It makes me appreciate them that much more and all they do for the entire medical team. I know the point of the experiment was probably less significant, but it really forced me to reflect on people I hope to be working with everyday, and for that I am grateful.
Overall, this class was a lot of work, but it was the closest I have felt to medical school and so I never felt unmotivated to do it. I am impressed by Professor Klepach’s ability to cover so much in such a short time, and thank him for never making us feel overwhelmed or stressed about how much we were learning. I feel well versed in anatomy and physiology, but also well versed in how to absorb and retain large amounts of material, which is a crucial skill I can’t wait to hopefully apply one day in med school.
Elizabeth Hennessey