Human Dissection for the Health Sciences

From The Critics

Reviewer: Larry R. Cochard, PhD(Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine)
Description: This is a cadaver dissection manual for condensed anatomy courses in the allied health sciences.
Purpose: The author has streamlined the dissection instructions and organized the individual laboratory sessions to make the guide adaptable to a variety of course scenarios, particularly those in which dissection time is at a premium.
Audience: Although the book is suitable for most allied health programs, emphasis on the extremities at the expense of the neck, abdomen, and pelvis target this book for physical and occupational therapy courses. Brief coverage of the trunk plus a total of two pages on the oral and nasal cavities, pharynx, and cranial base will keep this out of most medical and dental curricula.
Features: The spiral-bound manual consists of 36 dissections designed for two-hour sessions. Each lab section averages about four pages including figures and consists of (1) a list of structures to find and learn, (2) general dissection strategy, (3) dissection procedure, and (4) comments on a clinical or functional point relating to the anatomic area. Related groups of lab sections are followed by a glossary and reference material for review. Line drawings supplement the dissection instructions, but are not a strong point in quality or quantity. The organization of the manual gives instructors more flexibility in eliminating, combining, or changing the sequences of dissections, although a feature counter to this goal and not typical of many courses is the simultaneous dissection of the thorax and abdomen.
Assessment: The descriptions, the figures, and the general appearance do little to make this dissection guide stand out from the many dissection guides published, but the author's primary goal is achieved. The short, concise labs make this book adaptable to condensed courses. The scope is too restricted for medical students, but with the recent trend for fewer basic science hours in medical curricula, it is getting close (and medical students would love the list of terms for each lab and the summary glossaries).

3 Stars from Doody