Embryology and Genetics

The course actually was given the politically correct eponym "Medical Genetics and Developmental Biology." Call it what you will; it was still Embryology and Genetics. While there is a certain logic to this grouping, apparently the utility of it was lost to the department. It was integrated back into the Anatomy and Biochemistry curricula the following year. In any case, this course stands out as one which made a great deal of sense to me.

Embryology focuses in large part on the first twenty one days of development, beginning with implantation. There is an impressive list of events which occur, but like Anatomy, it is a finite list. In many ways, it is fortunate that our understanding of the process is so shallow. When one considers the real magnitude of the changes involved, it is absolutely mind numbing. Genetics, as it is presented, is the study of developmental abnormalities. Much of the focus is on specific chromosomal anomalies, diseases, and syndromes. Although it was a small, sophomoric victory, the information I gained in class allowed me to suggest a possible diagnosis for a child I happened to see in the pediatrics clinic. My assumption later proved to be correct, and I had made my first clinical diagnosis! I suspect that is the way in which medical training is supposed to work.

last updated 12/29/95

The Mature Medical Student

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cwpowell@thechildrensclinic.net

"For Thou didst form my inward parts, Thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb."
Psalm 139:13