I've always thought that silly songs are great mnemonic devices in the human sciences. I've seen them work from kindergarten (remember the ABC song?) and up through medical school (even in pharmacology).
If you find them "catchy" then you'll find yourself repeating them in your head. Or maybe even out loud. And that's the kind of thing that helps your brain form long-term memories!
One I recently ran across is in a music video original produced to help 6th-graders learn about the heart. But it may help you as you begin your study of the heart in A&P!
Learning about blood types can be a bit confusing at first.
But the concept of blood types is important for several reasons:
Blood typing is used frequently in clinical medicine because the use of blood transfusions is common, and therefore so is blood banking and related activities.
Knowing one's own blood type is important for future medical procedures—perhaps even a life-threatening emergency.
Concepts of blood typing carry over into other types of tissue typing—a concept useful in transplant medicine.
Blood typing is a great introduction to basic concepts of immunology (something you'll be coming to soon in your A&P course) like antigens, antibodies, agglutination reactions, self vs. nonself, and more.
It's just one of those things you have to learn in A&P. Trust us, we know this will be useful to you later on—even if you don't think so now.
Here's a great video that lays out the essential concepts very briefly—in an easy-to-understand way. Sometimes, an explanation that's a bit different than that in your textbook or class discussion helps a new concept "click" in your brain.
One brief note: the video states that antigens are proteins. That's often true. But in blood typing, the A and B antigens are actually sugars. The Rh antigens are proteins. Not a big deal—they were trying to keep it simple for you.
Here's a copy of the chart of ABO blood types used in the video. You may want to copy-and-paste it into your class notes to supplement your learning resources.
Click on the image for other sizes.
Here's a chart showing donor-recipient compatibility for the ABO-Rh combined typing system.
One of the best ways to learn about the heart is to watch it work. But how can you do that, considering that if you open up the thoracic cavity, then slice open the heart, you'd break it?
But biomedical science has shown us another way to see the parts of the heart and how they work. It's called echocardiography.
It's a technique that uses the same technology as the sonograms you've seen of fetuses inside their mother's belly. Basically, it bounces sound waves through the body and makes an image of whatever bounces back (an echo). But echocardiography is adapted specifically to the heart and its function.
Want to see echocardiography in action and better visualize heart function? Try watching this video.
Here's a nifty little game that helps you practice applying principles of blood typing. The game has you type the blood of a series of "patients" then figure out which blood units are appropriate to use in a transfusion.
It's pretty simple IF you know the principles of blood typing.
First, review blood typing in your textbook.
Then try your hand at this game:
If you can't see the game in this blog window, go directly to my-ap.us/SYuJXo
Learning about all the factors that affect blood flow can be daunting. One of the tough things about it is trying to visualize how all the factors influence blood flow.
One factor affecting blood flow is peripheral resistance. This is the resistance to blood flow in the peripheral vessels . . . the arterioles.
What kinds of things can cause blood to "resist" flowing as freely as possible? Well, one factor is the viscosity of blood. One way to think of viscosity is "thickness" of a fluid. What makes blood thick? One factor is how concentrated the red blood cells (RBCs) are in each drop of blood. Is is often expressed as the PCV (packed cell volume) or hematocrit of blood. The more blood cells there are in a drop of blood, the thicker--or more viscous--the blood is. And the more it resists flow.
An analogy we can use to visualize this rather abstract concept is any of the classic TV commercials once used by Heinz to promote their ketchup. Heinz claimed that their ketchup is better than other brands because it has more tomatoes per bottle of ketchup. And that, presumably, can be demonstrated by the comparative thickness of their ketchup. In other words, Heinz ketchup is more viscous than some other brands of ketchup.
As the commmercial below demonstrates, the extra thickness or viscosity of Heinz ketchup means that it will flow at an incredibly slow rate.
So to summarize this analogy:
More tomatoes per bottle of ketchup make the ketchup thicker, or more viscous. The higher the viscosity of ketchup, the more it resists flow and thus the slower it will flow out the narrow neck of a tipped bottle.
Likewise, more RBCs per drop of blood make the blood thicker, or more viscous. The higher the viscosity of blood, the more it resists flow. This resistance can be significant where the blood vessels narrow at the peripheral vessels called arterioles.
In the past, heart disease and heart attack have been predominantly associated with men. Historically, men have been the subjects of the research done to understand heart disease and stroke, which has been the basis for treatment guidelines and programs. This led to an oversimplified, distorted view of heart disease and risk, which has worked to the detriment of women.
Because women have been largely ignored as a specific group, their awareness of their risk of this often-preventable disease has suffered. Only 55 percent of women realize heart disease is their No. 1 killer and less than half know what are considered healthy levels for cardiovascular risk factors like blood pressure and cholesterol. The Go Red For Women movement works to make sure women know they are at risk so they can take action to protect their health.
To help spread awareness at a time that many of you are studying the heart's structure and function, I'm sharing this brief video:
My friend Ellen recently sent along this video with the snappy tune Bloodmobile. This song from They Might Be Giants summarizes the main functions of the blood . . . a very timely topic for those of you at the beginning of your A&P 2 course.
While we're on a cardiovascular theme, you may recall seeing my previous post Pump Your Blood that features the classic song of the same name that has been used by countless A&P students to learn the path of blood through the heart.
When learning the structure and function of the cardiovascular system, it is wise to develop a thorough knowledge of the pathway of blood flow through the heart and vessels--the general scheme of blood circulation.
I'm not talking about a vague understanding that might permit you to figure out where the blood goes when it leaves the right ventricle after some consideration, and quick look at a diagram or your notes . . . I'm talking about a thorough understanding, so that you can immediately state with confidence, "past the aortic valve, through the pulmonary trunk and arteries toward the lungs."
And not just for the short term . . . long enough to pass your next test . . . but so thoroughly familiar that it will not likely ever be totally lost. And with occasional refreshers, will pretty much always be there for you.
Why such a thorough knowledge of this particular concept? Because you'll find it necessary in order to understand many, many other concepts about human structure and function. Once you learn it, you'll find yourself using it when studying pretty much every other major system of the body. And when you start applying A&P to clinical or athletic applications, you'll find you need it there, too!
So this is one of those things that seem daunting at first (but is really not so bad) and will be well worth a little effort up front.
How to manage it? Well that depends on your learning style of course.
One this is sure: just staring at the diagram in your book is not enough! That's the place to start, of course, but you have to do something active to fully understand and "own" this concept.
The next step is to make a list of the parts you "need to know" for your course in the order in which blood passes through them. An example of such a list is found at my Cardiovascular Learning Outline in the Lion Den. But we're still just getting started.
One great way to learn is to draw yourself a concept map of the pathway of blood through the pulmonary and systemic pathways, including through the heart chambers and valves. This is especially useful for visual and kinesthetic learners. Draw it the way the makes the best sense to YOU. That may be quite a bit different than
For auditory learners, try this favorite of a whole generation of A&P students . . . learn the song Pump Your Blood. It's just a start, but
Here's the video of the first verse of Pump Your Blood as animated in a St. Joseph's aspirin commercial:
Here's another version that includes all the verses AND the lyrics:
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Click here for a version from the classic TV show Happy Days (episode #142) . . . this is the "original" version of the song (performed here byAnson Williams, who acted in the show as Potsie) . . . the version I first saw (and used) to help me learn the blood flow pathway.
For a printed version of the lyrics click here (includes a link to a Pumps Your Blood
