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Teaching the Brachial Plexus to Medical Students in a Humane and Useful Way
Author(s) -
Cotanche Douglas Allen
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.582.10
Subject(s) - brachial plexus , anatomy , gross anatomy , upper trunk , medicine , plexus , computer science
Encountering and learning the brachial plexus has always been a stress‐inducing challenge for first year medical students taking Gross Anatomy. The complexity of its structure and the names and origins of all its branches can make even the brightest students' head spin. I have developed an easy tool for teaching the brachial plexus to medical students that allows them to draw a skeletal model of it in less than a minute and from there they can use this to fill in the names of the various parts of the plexus and its terminal branches. The model begins with a simple mathematical formula for the plexus: Y 3 X 2 M. From this formula, I demonstrate how to quickly and simply draw out the rami, trunks, divisions, cords, and branches of the plexus. The model allows the students to easily visualize the structure of the brachial plexus and also to determine the spinal nerve components in each trunk, division, cord, and terminal branch. I suggest to the students that they immediately draw this model on the back of a page of their exam (immediately after entering their name) and then use the model to help answer specific questions on the plexus or innervation of the upper limb that they encounter throughout the exam. I have seen them actually do this on their exams and, as a consequence, they appear to better understand the brachial plexus and do much better on relevant questions on the exam. Support or Funding Information Supported by funds from the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology at UIC