Foundations of Clinical Anatomy

This unit establishes foundational clinical anatomy knowledge and vocabulary and provides an organized overview of major body systems (integumentary, musculoskeletal, nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, immune/lymphatic, digestive, urinary, and endocrine). It builds on prerequisite science concepts and prepares students for deeper system-level analysis, clinical assessment, and applied practice in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze and correctly use regional, directional, and structural anatomical terminology in written and oral clinical scenarios and labeling tasks.
• Apply dissection models, imaging examples, and simulation tools to identify and describe the gross structure and primary functions of the integumentary, musculoskeletal, and nervous systems.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the cardiovascular, respiratory, immune, and lymphatic systems by tracing pathways, summarizing exchange and transport processes, and relating structure to basic clinical signs.
• Evaluate how the digestive, urinary, and endocrine systems contribute to homeostasis and interpret basic clinical implications of common dysfunctions using appropriate clinical anatomy terminology.