Introduction To Microscopic Anatomy
Course Objectives
Lectures
Labs
Organization of Course:
Lectures:
The Histology section of Organ Systems Biology does not have a regular schedule so you will have to follow the course schedule carefully as days and times very. The histology course is organized so that a one-hour lecture (in Moore) will be followed by one and a half to two-hour lab. Lectures attempt to give a structural/functional overview of all of the organs of the body.
Labs:
The labs are closely integrated with the lecture part of the course so that the lab following each lecture deals with the subject of that lecture. Labs meet in the 2nd floor McDonnell rooms where you have your carrels. You will find it most convenient to study with your microscope at or near your assigned carrel. You will need to share a set of slides and a microscope (with double viewing attachment) with another student. It is most convenient to do this with a student setting immediately next to you in lab, though you may prefer to work at a table rather than at your carrels. Every student must have keys for both their own locker and that of their partner so that you may have access to your microscope and slides in the absence of your partner.
Histology Lab Manual:
You will need this during every lab. It is very helpful to read the appropriate section before lab.
Microscope With Double Viewing Head:
Each pair of students will be issued an Olympus microscope with double viewing attachment. You must read and sign both a microscope and double viewing head agreement and return them to your lab instructor during the first lab. The microscopes are insured against theft and accidental damage, but you are responsible for locking them up in your locker or carrel when you are not using them. . Never leave your scope out unattended outside the scheduled lab period. Do not take your microscope from the second floor of McDonnell as no carrying case is provided. You and your partner will be jointly responsible for the microscope and head. Spare bulbs are available in the lab supply room (268 McDonnell). Report any mechanical or optical problems to your lab instructor. See your lab manual for instructions on the proper use and cleaning of the microscope.
Slide Sets:
Each pair of students sharing a microscope with double viewing head will be issued a set of microscope slides comprising two boxes. You will be jointly responsible for the slide sets and both must sign a contract.
There is a box A and B (containing different slides) which together comprise about 190 slides. You are jointly responsible for returning the complete set in approximately the condition you received it. For your own record, fill out an inventory of the slides in your set (use inventory sheet in lab manual). Also (and this is important) fill out a separate slide contract. At the end of the year, you will be responsible for returning all the slides indicated on the latter. You AND your lab partner must each sign the slide set contract and return it with the provided inventory. Exercise great care in the use of slides, many of the slides are irreplaceable. You are not permitted to take the slides from second floor McDonnell.
Examinations:
You will be given three exams on the material covered in microscopic anatomy (10/19/00; 12/22/00; 3/28/01). Each of these exams will include material covered in both the lecture and laboratory part of the course. There will be a written exam on lecture material (short answer, true false, matching, multiple choice) and a practical exam employing either projected slides or slides under microscopes and electron micrographs.
Grading system for histology:
The total written exams and total practical exams each count for approximately one half of your grade in the microscopic anatomy part of Organs Systems Bioloby. Note that only one grade is given for the combined Organ Systems Biology Course. This means you must get passing grades in both the histology and physiology parts of the combined course. The following grading system will be used for the histology part of the combined course:
P (Pass)
Overall score of 60% or better on both the combined written and combined lab exams.F (Fail) Failure to achieve the above
I (Incomplete) Failure to complete an exam for any part of the course.
Remedial action for scores of less than pass:
If your combined scores on either the written or lab examinations are less than 60%, you may be required to retake that portion of the final exam. Only one exam may be retaken.
Date and time of reexaminations:
The written and lab retake exams will be arranged with the Dr. Bridgman.
Location for all reexaminations:
All retake exams will be given in McDonnell Science room 478.
Textbook:
A textbook is recommended for microscopic anatomy since the lecturer will assume that the student is familiar with the fundamental information for each organ system as covered in our recommended text. There are several textbooks and text/atlases that may prove suitable for your needs, but we recommend the following:
Junqueira, Carneiro and Kelley - Basic Histology
(9th edition 1998, Appleton & Lange, 494 pages)
A soft bound text which is concise, accurate, up to date and well written. The drawings and illustrations are particularly good and micrographs are satisfactory. This textbook has about 30% of the total histo text market. Junqueira will not suffice as an atlas should you require one. We recommend this book as the text book for our course.
Atlas:
Virtually all of the popular atlases are now in color. The best way to select an atlas is to pick a particular organ system of the body and compare the micrographs and illustrations for this organ in all the atlases you are considering. Look for the following: adequate coverage, large photos, a range of magnifications, sharpness (especially on low magnification), color temperature (white backgrounds) and quality of descriptions. We recommend the following:
Gartner and Hiatt - Color Atlas of Histology
(second edition 1994, Williams & Wilkins)
This atlas has been well received by those students who purchased it. It is spiral bound so lies flat and is well suited for self examination. The excellent color photomicrographs fill the page and are accurately described. The second edition includes helpful tables and "3-dimensional" drawings. You may be able to locate a used first edition of this book which should prove quite satisfactory. In the opinion of the staff, this is the atlas to get and would make a good combination with the Junqueira text book.
Ross, Romrell and Kaye - Histology: a Text and Atlas
(3rd edition 1994, Williams & Wilkins)
This new edition of Ross and Romrell is now truly both a text and atlas. The atlas is outstanding in terms of the quality of its micrographs. Although the pictures are printed on a low gloss paper, the photomicrographs are excellent and are accompanied by numerous quality electron micrographs. The faculty has not had time to review this much improved new edition, but it is very likely that it would easily meet your needs for both a text and atlas.
Eroschenko - di Fiore’s Atlas of Histology
(seventh edition 1993, Lea & Febiger)
Oddly enough this is the only artist illustrated atlas (as opposed to a photographic atlas) for histology. As in the case of gross anatomy atlases, an artistic illustration of anatomy may be more instructive than an actual photograph. This is perhaps less so in histology than gross anatomy. In any case di Fiore is an old well established atlas that is very complete with numerous good illustrations and extensive descriptive text.
Audiovisual Materials in Library:
The library has several resources that you might find helpful in your study of histology including the following:
Menton Collection of Histology Slides:
This set of color 35 mm slides consists largely of photomicrographs of the class slide set used in microscopic anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine. Taped commentaries accompany the set.
AV KT47 No. 1: Epithelium, Connective tissue, Cartilage, Bone
AV KT47 No. 2 Muscle, Nerve Vessels, Blood, Marrow
AV KT47 No. 3 Lymphoid system, Integument
AV KT47 No. 4 Respiratory system, Oral cavity, Gastrointestinal system
AV KT47 No. 5 Liver, Pancreas, Pituitary, Thyroid, Adrenal, Urinary system
AV KT47 No. 6 Male reproductive system, Female reproductive system
The entire Menton collection was re mastered on the new Kodak Photo CD format. There are 6 CDs which contain exactly the same images as the comparably numbered 35 mm slide collections above. Because of the steady deterioration of color-slide duplicates, the CD images will be superior in the accuracy of their color. The images on these CDs may be easily accessed in the same sequence as the 35 mm slide collections, or may be quickly accessed in any selected order. The Kodak Photo CD is viewed by means of a Kodak Photo CD player and television monitor available in the library.
A computer tutorial version of the entire Menton collection (and EM collection) is on a file server in the Library and may be viewed on computer terminals located in the Library and the teaching labs.
Case Collection of Slides in Histology:
A set of 35 mm slides covering all tissues and organs. Taped commentaries available for No. 1.
AV TS27 No. 1 Epithelia, Fibrous connective tissue, Cartilage, Bone, Blood marrow, Lymphoid tissue
AV TS27 No. 2 Muscle, Peripheral nervous system, Eye, Ear, Cardiovascular system, Integument
AV TS27 No. 3 Digestive system, Respiratory system
AV TS27 No. 4 Urinary system, Endocrine system, Female and Male reproductive system
Leeson Collection of Slides in Histology:
A set of 261 color photomicrographs in slide trays with accompanying manual.
AV TS33 No. 1 Introduction, The cell, epithelium, Connective tissue, Blood
AV TS33 No. 2 Nervous tissue, Circulatory system, Lymphoid organs, Integument, Muscle
AV TS33 No. 3 Digestive tract, Respiratory system, Urinary system, Endocrine system
AV TS33 No. 4 Female reproductive system, Male reproductive system, Organs of special sense
Introduction to Functional Histology:
Telford and Bridgman, second edition 1995,
Harper & Row Publishers.
This book includes a relatively brief text with excellent drawings and photographs. The striking thing about this book is that there is a video ROM disk that can be used with it. Bar codes included through out the text call up series of excellent light and electron micro graphs. This will be available in the AV center in the library.
Suggestions for lecture portion of course:
1. You may wish to use a good textbook to supplement the lecture and lecture handouts. The lecturers will make no attempt to cover ALL of the basic material in the one or occasionally two hours of lecture they give on each organ system. You will be responsible for learning the basics from your textbook.
2. A bound collection of lecture handouts will be placed in your mailbox a few days before the beginning of the course. These notes are not intended to take the place of a textbook (though some are more complete than others). Since the lecture notes are usually in outline or abbreviated form we recommend that as soon as possible after the lecture, you add any marginalia or comments necessary for your full understanding.
3. Read your textbook and lecture notes before each lecture. If nothing else, this will familiarize you with much of the terminology you will hear in the lecture.
4. The quality of the lecture "transcriptions" depends on the quality of the lecture and the transcriber. Transcriptions are rarely edited by the lecturer and often reach the student long after the lecture. Don't depend too heavily on the transcriptions for your information.
Suggestions for lab portion of course:
1. What you see in the lab is in large part the reality of what you hear and read about in the course. The lab is critically important in preparing you for histopathology next year. The lab, and it's opportunity for discussion, is the one part of this course (or any other course) that you couldn't get almost as well from a correspondence course. So, don't miss a lab if at all possible and use all of the lab time to study the materials provided.
2. Read the appropriate section of your lab guide before the lecture and lab dealing with that subject. It will get you acquainted with the terminology and will make both the lecture and lab easier to understand. The boldfaced and underlined terms in your lab guide are particularly important -- you should have a general understanding of the definition and structure of each of these. If you look up each of these structures in a textbook and/or atlas before lab you would progress much more quickly and efficiently in lab.
3. Bring your textbook/atlas to lab with you. You will often find that there is a drawing or photo that illustrates something of interest to you in the lab. Such illustrations help you find your way around on the slides more quickly. Questions often come up in the labs that require a good textbook to resolve.
4. Don't leave the lab without seeing several examples of each underlined anatomical structure. Typically, the same structure will appear in several places on a slide and often on several slides. In this way you will learn to discern these important structures in several different planes of section, states of development and staining conditions.
5. You will spend much of your time at the microscope hunting for particular structures mentioned in your lab guide. As you scan the whole slide hunting for structures that are unfamiliar to you, don't forget to notice all of the old familiar structures that you learned to recognize in previous labs. This constant reinforcement doesn't take much more of your time and will be essential for your confident grasp of histology.
6. Work with one or more lab partners. Share good microscopic examples and insights with one another. Test one another by pointing to structures that are a subject of the day’s lab or even earlier labs. Work together on the double viewing microscopes or with the microscope-video system provided in each lab. Study and discuss the electron micrographs in small groups.
7. Some have found it helpful to keep a notebook in which to make drawings of the key histological structures featured in each lab. The drawings don't need to be great or even detailed -- the very effort of trying to draw something forces you to be an accurate observer. A set of such drawings would also be of assistance to you when you are reviewing for exams.
8. Use your microscope correctly! Dirty lenses, eyepieces out of focus with one another, improperly adjusted condenser or too high a magnification often stands in the way of a student’s ability to see and thus learn histology. Set your microscopes prefocus lock feature, it will save you time when looking at many different slides.
9. Take advantage of library resources. Several microscopic anatomy textbooks and atlases are on reserve in the library. Also check out the slide/audio-tape sets on microscopic anatomy in the AV Center of the library (see list on last page of this handout). The "Menton Collection" will be particularly useful to you as it includes several hundred "Kodachromes" of the actual microscope slides you will be studying in lab together with both a written and taped commentary. Many students have found that studying this set prior to the lab, and before exams, is particularly helpful.