Faculty within the department make significant contributions to the three main basic science courses in first year (M1) medical school curriculum:

• MD1 5001 - Human Body Foundations I
• MD1 5002 -Human Body Foundations II
• MD1 5003 - Human Body Foundations III

Within each of these courses are woven multiple disciplines that include Gross Anatomy, Histology/Microanatomy, Embryology, and Neuroscience. Faculty within the department are responsible for lecturing and/or participating as laboratory instructors in the following disciplines:

Gross Anatomy

Discipline Director: Dr. Paul Walker

The goal of the Gross Anatomy discipline is the engage the medical student in learning the key concepts related to recognizing all major structures of the human body and their relationship to each other. A systems approach is taken to review systemic functions within the following regions: Musculoskeletal/Peripheral Nervous System/Skin; Cardiopulmonary; Gastrointestinal; Renal; Reproductive and Endocrine Systems; Head/Neck. This goal is accomplished through lectures and a full body cadaver dissection, during which students work independently in groups of 5-6 to dissect a cadaver donated through the body bequest program.

OVAS faculty teaching in this discipline include: Drs. Elizabeth Berger, Dennis Goebel, Mark Ireland, Jean Peduzzi-Nelson, Nikhlesh Singh, Jena Steinle, Paul Walker, and Shunbin Xu.  

Histology/Microanatomy

Discipline Director: Dr. Rod D. Braun

The first goal of the Histology discipline is to engage the medical student in learning the key concepts related to recognizing the normal appearance of human cells, tissues, and organs, as well as relating the structure and histological organization of the cells, tissues, and organs to their functional role in the human body. The second goal is to begin to develop professional behavior in the medical student by having the student effectively and professionally interact as a member of a team of their peers. These goals are accomplished through lectures, review sessions and interactive virtual microscopy laboratories, in which students work independently in small teams of 3 or 4 students.

OVAS faculty teaching in this discipline include: Drs. Rod D. Braun, Bruce A. Berkowitz, A. Genene Holt, Ahmed Ibrahim, Ashok Kumar, Kwaku Nantwi, Lalit Singh Pukhrambam (Lalit P. Singh), and Ryan Thummel.

Embryology

Discipline Director: Dr. Rod D. Braun

The overall goal of the Embryology discipline is to engage the medical student in learning the key concepts related to the development of human cells, tissues, and organs. This includes learning the sequence of development of the human body from fertilization to adulthood, including the establishment of the major organ systems. Emphasis is given on the contribution of various germ layers and precursors to definitive structures, including the role of cell interactions, induction, growth, and differentiation. The origin of commonly occurring malformations in terms of abnormal developmental processes is also emphasized. Finally, students correlate developmental events with the structural organization of the human body as observed in the study of gross anatomy and histology.

OVAS faculty teaching in this discipline include: Drs. Rod D. Braun, Bruce A. Berkowitz, Dennis Goebel, and Ryan Thummel.
 

Neuroscience

Discipline Director: Dr. Paul Walker

The goal of the Neuroscience discipline is to engage the medical student in learning the major pathways and structures of the nervous system. This is accomplished using an inter-disciplinary approach to visualize how changes in these structures and pathways relate to clinical conditions. This discipline is heavily utilized in the Human Body Foundations-III course and is accomplished through lectures and neuroscience labs, which are computer-based and organized as small-group active learning sessions.

OVAS faculty teaching in this discipline include: Drs. Maria Bykhovskaia, Dennis Goebel, Tomomi Ichinose, Kwaku Nantwi, Zhuo-Hua Pan, Jean Peduzzi-Nelson, and Paul Walker.

MD1 5001 Human Body Foundations I Cr. 10

Human Body Foundations I is the first of a 3-part course series in the basic sciences that engages medical students with knowledge of the normal structure and function of the human body, prepares them for the study of human disease, sets the stage for success on the USMLE Step I exam, and provides the scaffolding on which the clerkship curriculum is built. Part I emphasizes fundamental principles in biochemistry, cell biology, embryology, histology, genetics, physiology, and pharmacology, and introduces students to the anatomical investigation of tissues and organs through full-body cadaver dissection beginning with the Musculoskeletal System. Offered yearly.
 

MD1 5002 Human Body Foundations II Cr. 10

Human Body Foundations II is the second of a 3-part course series in the basic sciences that engages medical students with knowledge of the normal structure and function of the human body, prepares them for the study of human disease, sets the stage for success on the USMLE Step I exam, and provides the scaffolding on which the clerkship curriculum is built. Part II focuses on three organ systems of the body: Cardiovascular/Respiratory, Renal/Urinary, and Gastrointestinal, emphasizing fundamental principles of physiology, histology, biochemistry, pharmacology, genetics, and embryology, as well as anatomical study through full-body cadaver dissection of the visceral systems. Offered yearly.
 

MD1 5003 Human Body Foundations III Cr. 10

Human Body Foundations III is the last of a 3-part course series in the basic sciences that engages medical students with knowledge of the normal structure and function of the human body, prepares them for the study of human disease, sets the stage for success on the USMLE Step I exam, and provides the scaffolding on which the clerkship curriculum is built. Part III focuses on the Reproductive & Endocrine Systems and the Central Nervous System and emphasizes fundamental principles of neuroscience, physiology, histology, embryology, genetics, biochemistry, and pharmacology. The sequence of full-body cadaver dissection is brought to a close with the anatomical investigation of pelvic and head & neck regions. Offered yearly.