Approaches1 Running Head: Seven Organizational Approaches

The Human Body: Seven Approaches to Studying the Human When the human body's countless parts function correctly, the body is in a state of health or optimum wellness. The study of the healthy human body can be done in several different ways. Each way approaches the body from a specific standpoint and provides unique information about the body.

Approaches2 Each approach divides and organizes complex information about the body in a logical way. These approaches include the following: body planes and body directions, body cavities, quadrants and regions, anatomy and physiology, microscopic to macroscopic, body systems, and medical specialties (Turley, 2011). Body planes and body direction is one approach that divides the body into front and back, right and left, and top and bottom. The three main body planes are coronal, sagittal plane, and transvers plane. The body directions showcase the movement towards or away from the planes. The major directions are superior, inferior, anterior, posterior, medial, lateral, proximal, distal, superficial, and deep. There are many times in medicine that a doctor has to record information in a medical record or tell another doctor the exact body part or location of disorders or damage to your body or an organ. To do that, there are standard terms for describing human anatomy including the body and its organs. These terms are often used to describe medical imaging such as CAT scans, PET scans and MRIs where the scans take pictures of the body in flat slices (Media Partners, 2011). Body cavities are spaces that help protect and support organs. There are five major cavities of the body which are the cranial, spinal, thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic cavity. Each cavity holds organs within that specific part of the body. The cranial cavity holds the brain, cranial nerves, and other structures while the spinal cavity which protects the spinal cord, spinal nerves, and other structures. The thoracic cavity is within the chest and enclosed in the sternum which contains the heart, the lungs, trachea, esophagus, and diaphragm. The abdominal cavity stomach, small and large intestines, gallbladder, liver, spleen, kidneys, and pancreas are located in the abdominal cavity. The bladder and internal reproductive organs are located in the pelvic cavity which is a continuation of the abdominal cavity. When a doctor or health professional is studying or trying to diagnose and treat a specific organ and how diseases are affecting them, then this approach is used.

Approaches3 Quadrants and regions are another approach to studying the human body. The four quadrants of the body are divided into four sections which are the left upper quadrant, right upper quadrant, left lower quadrant, and right lower quadrant. The nine regions of the body are the right and left hypochondriac regions, the epigastric region, the right and left lumbar regions, the umbilical region, the right and left inguinal region and the hypogastric regions. A doctor may use this approach to study the specific functions of the organs and various parts and also check specific symptoms that usually lie in this region to determine the root of an illness. The human body can be studied by its structure and functions. Anatomy is the study of the structures of the body. Physiology is the study of the functions of those structures. This approach is often used when a health professional is in medical school learning the body or when doctors wants to study cells and how different diseases form. Anatomy is the study of structures of the body and physiology is the study of the function of those structures. Each has a dramatic impact on the other and that is why we often study them together (Booth, Wyman, and Stoia, 2013). Microscopic to Macroscopic is classifying the body and its parts from smallest to largest parts and how they combine to form systems. For example, a cell is the smallest structure in the body. Scientists study cells for research to help with cures for diseases and to create medicines. Body Systems categorize the body according to its structures and how they function together. The various systems are the GI system, respiratory systems, cardiovascular system, bllod, lymphatic, integumentary, skeletal, muscular, nervous, urinary, male genital and reproductive system, endocrine system, eyes, and ENT (ears, nose, and throat) system. This approach would be used to teach to in school to teach students about the various systems and also for specialized treatment by doctors that only treat specific ailments in a specific system.

Approaches4 Medical Specialties is how professional study medicine according to the body, its structures, and functions. Medical specialties are used to name departments in hospitals and other health care facilities where medicine is practiced. A person that in learning anything about the human body would have to have knowledge of each of these approaches to know each structure, function, illnesses associated within that given are, organ, or body system. You would not be able to tell if a person has pancreatic cancer if they have no clue where the pancreas is, knows what cancer looks like, or know the symptoms. In order to help a patient or help find a cure or study tissues, one must know where to get the appropriate sample from, how to test it, and know when there are reactions or resistance to medicines. Being in the medical field, no matter your title, you will need to know what the human body is, its functions, where organs are located, when to provide an x-ray or MRI or when to take blood and how to test it. The medical field requires a great deal of knowledge. Human body is made of ten different systems. All the systems require support and coordination of other systems to form a living and healthy human body. If any one of these systems is damaged, human body will become unstable and this lack of stability will ultimately lead to death. The instability caused by damage of one system cannot be stabilized by other systems because functions of one system cannot be performed by other systems. Knowledge of human body systems is very important for a medical professional because it is the base of all medical sciences and clinical practices. Although, generally, the structural aspects of human body systems are studied in anatomy and the functional aspects are studied in physiology but it is very important to have coordination between the two subjects because knowledge of structure is incomplete without the knowledge of function and the knowledge of function is incomplete without the knowledge of structure (Human Anatomy, 2010).

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References: Media Partners. (2011). Anatomy Terms. Retrieved from http://healthpages.org/anatomyfunction/anatomy-terms/

Approaches6 Booth, Kathryn, A., Wyman, Terry D., and Stoia, Virgil. (2013). Anatomy, Physiology, and Disease for the Health Professions, 3rd Edition. McGraw-Hill. Retrieved http://highered.mcgrawhill.com/sites/dl/free/0073402222/942729/Chapter01.pdf Turley, Susan. (2011). Medical Language. Second Edition. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. Human Anatomy: Body Systems. (2010). Mananatomy. Retrieved from http://www.mananatomy.com/body-systems