Mid School Med

         This page has been stared as an adjunct tool for Mrs. Maichin's middle school human anatomy class.  If you are not part of the class, please feel free to join the discussion.  We can all learn from one another.·         

 Being asked to learn “what?” without learning “why?” seems disrespectful.   As a doctor, a scientist, an educator, and a student, the colleagues I respect most are those who push boundaries, i.e. those who ask questions.  Moreover, those who refuse to accept "because I said so" as an answer to those questions are our leaders.  It is always in your power to express your maturity and ask, “but why?” 

·         The successful physician, scientist, educator, and professional not only finds the courage to ask "why?" but attempts to answer that question for themselves.  The universe is filled with facts; facts are everywhere around you.  As a doctor, I see a patient who gives me a fact and says, "my chest hurts."  There are a million reasons for the patient's chest to hurt.  It is my job to figure out how to stop that chest from hurting.  But I can't do that without asking, "why does the chest hurt?"  Then I must answer those questions, or else that chest won't stop hurting.

      You are about to learn about the anatomy and physiology of the human body.  You will be presented with many facts.  You will be told the fact, "the heart pumps blood."  This is good to know, but a successful learner sees this fact as a challenge and asks themselves, "why does the heart pump blood?"  
 
      When in the classroom, we are accustomed to being asked questions by our teachers (the Socratic method).  But in reality, this is not the way medicine, science, and other investigatory disciplines are designed.  As an investigator, it is YOUR job to observe, and then it’s YOUR responsibility to ask the question.  How you answer the questions may be to rely on others to help you understand, to look to the teacher for help, or to forge a way of answering that question on your own. 

·        I will pose to you observations - facts.  In the human heart, the left ventricle is stronger than the right ventricle.  And the ventricles are stronger than the atria.  Does this reality leave you with questions? What are your questions? How are you going to answer them?  And most importantly, why do you even want to answer them?

Help yourself, and help others find the questions that need to be asked.  Greatness is borne from great questions; the answers are simply the reward.

Your first fact: The Left Ventricle is stronger than the Right Ventricle.

What are your questions, how are you going to answer them, and what are your answers.