Academic Courses > DOS 513
DOS 513 - Anatomy for Medical Dosimetrists
Course Description
This course covered anatomy as visualized in axial, sagittal, and coronal planes in CT and MRI imaging. Significant structures in the head, neck, thorax, abdomen, and pelvis were highlighted, and special attention was paid to major blood vessels, lymph nodes, and cranial nerves.
Assessment
Grading was based on participation in a discussion forum and on a series of practice question sets and region-specific quizzes. The practice questions were very helpful as learning tools, because we had no time limits on them, and we could find out what we thought we knew and what we actually knew. This helped me know where to concentrate my studying. For some structures, I was used to being able to scroll up and down to get context of what it might be based on what is above and below, but with the static images in the quizzes, I had to really look for clues based only on what I could see in that slice. This is good practice for the board exam.
Writing prompts for our initial posts were provided each week, and we were expected to provide commentary on other students' posts by adding relevant additional material from the study materials, from independent research, and from life experience. Like most anatomy classes, this one was jammed full of information, and I had to spend a lot of time learning structures that were new to me. In my anatomy & physiology prerequisite class, I learned most of the structures based on diagrams and cadaver photos, so seeing everything in CT and MRI slices really helped me make links between what I already knew conceptually and what I will be seeing every day.
Writing prompts for our initial posts were provided each week, and we were expected to provide commentary on other students' posts by adding relevant additional material from the study materials, from independent research, and from life experience. Like most anatomy classes, this one was jammed full of information, and I had to spend a lot of time learning structures that were new to me. In my anatomy & physiology prerequisite class, I learned most of the structures based on diagrams and cadaver photos, so seeing everything in CT and MRI slices really helped me make links between what I already knew conceptually and what I will be seeing every day.
Discussions
Week 1: Protons and Photons and CyberKnife, Oh My!
Week 2: IMRT for Vulvar Cancer
Week 3: Contouring for a Parotid Case
Week 4: Contouring for Glioblastomas
Week 2: IMRT for Vulvar Cancer
Week 3: Contouring for a Parotid Case
Week 4: Contouring for Glioblastomas
Reflections
At the conclusion of each course, students are asked to reflect on what they have learned about the material and about themselves. The reflection is guided by five questions:
The new knowledge and skills I gained during this course were...
One of my jobs as a Junior Dosimetrist at SCCA Proton Therapy is to provide initial contouring for many of our patients, and I do quite a few intracranial cases. The midbrain had been a bit of a mystery zone before this class. I also increased the number of lymph node sites I think I can find again. I also learned more about CT and MRI anatomy of the female pelvis, since most of my pelvic experience before this class was for prostate cases.
The new knowledge and skills will benefit me by...
I will be much more confident in my contouring of the midbrain, mediastinal structures, abdominal structures, and both male and female pelvic structures.
I struggle with...
Cranial nerves are really hard. I can remember things for a few days to take a test, but I hope I can drill them in better so that I can remember them long enough to take the CMD exam. This was my second run-through after having studied them in my Anatomy & Physiology prereqs, and the reinforcement is helping. I also hope that the midbrain structures stay in my memory after this week, because those are extremely relevant to the proton center. Practice!
I feel pretty good about...
During my A&P prereqs, I remember getting angry that the same blood vessel had different names depending on what section of the body it was passing through at that moment, and I thought that made them harder to remember. That emotional reaction actually helped solidify the names in my mind, and as time has passed I now see the elegance that region-based naming provides. I feel really good about finding and naming most of the body's blood vessels, and I am pleased to see that lymph nodes follow a similar naming pattern, which makes them much easier to identify.
Other reflective thoughts...
This class would have been orders of magnitude harder if I had not spent the last year at SCCA Proton Therapy contouring many of these structures every day. Even with that extensive practice, I found there was still plenty to learn, and in my research for some of the discussion posts, I saw that there are yet more levels of detail that this class only grazed.
The new knowledge and skills I gained during this course were...
One of my jobs as a Junior Dosimetrist at SCCA Proton Therapy is to provide initial contouring for many of our patients, and I do quite a few intracranial cases. The midbrain had been a bit of a mystery zone before this class. I also increased the number of lymph node sites I think I can find again. I also learned more about CT and MRI anatomy of the female pelvis, since most of my pelvic experience before this class was for prostate cases.
The new knowledge and skills will benefit me by...
I will be much more confident in my contouring of the midbrain, mediastinal structures, abdominal structures, and both male and female pelvic structures.
I struggle with...
Cranial nerves are really hard. I can remember things for a few days to take a test, but I hope I can drill them in better so that I can remember them long enough to take the CMD exam. This was my second run-through after having studied them in my Anatomy & Physiology prereqs, and the reinforcement is helping. I also hope that the midbrain structures stay in my memory after this week, because those are extremely relevant to the proton center. Practice!
I feel pretty good about...
During my A&P prereqs, I remember getting angry that the same blood vessel had different names depending on what section of the body it was passing through at that moment, and I thought that made them harder to remember. That emotional reaction actually helped solidify the names in my mind, and as time has passed I now see the elegance that region-based naming provides. I feel really good about finding and naming most of the body's blood vessels, and I am pleased to see that lymph nodes follow a similar naming pattern, which makes them much easier to identify.
Other reflective thoughts...
This class would have been orders of magnitude harder if I had not spent the last year at SCCA Proton Therapy contouring many of these structures every day. Even with that extensive practice, I found there was still plenty to learn, and in my research for some of the discussion posts, I saw that there are yet more levels of detail that this class only grazed.
Academic Courses > DOS 513
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Published December 12, 2014
First Semester, Pre-Internship Updated January 18, 2015 |