Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Atlas of Anatomy

Rezensionen / Stimmen

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 08-JUN-09, Volume 301, Issue 17, Jason M. Organ, PhD, Center for Anatomical Science and Education, Department of Surgery, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO -- "As the number of anatomy curriculum hours continues to decrease at many major medical schools, Tank and Gest recognized the need for a new anatomical atlas emphasizing those structures most likely to be taught in the modern curricula. Provided with the unique opportunity to build an original atlas from the ground up, the authors of this fine volume did not disappoint. Drawing on their combined 60 years of classroom teaching experience, they designed an atlas with a strong approach to presenting anatomical information in a sequence not only logical from a teaching perspective but highly accessible to students as well. In fact, the authors' primary intent in their design was to create images that are faster and easier for students to use, because 'speed and ease of use have become critical needs in the era of compressed anatomical curricula'... "In each section, the authors take their audience on a journey from outside in, beginning with surface anatomy and ultimately progressing deeper through different dissection fields. This approach, coupled with consistent viewpoints for the images (ie, specimens are always placed in anatomical position, and perspectives are always directly anterior, posterior, medial, or lateral), makes the information easily accessible to the novice anatomy student and the not-so-novice instructor alike. "One of the most striking differences between this atlas and its contemporaries is the effective use of a ghosting technique in many of the illustrations, wherein a structure passing behind another structure is still visible through the structure in the foreground. The advantage of this technique is that 3-dimensional relationships of important structures-relationships often left to the imagination of the reader in other atlases-can be appreciated in 2 dimensions...Some of the most effective uses of this ghosting technique are found in the illustrations of the inguinal region...Students often struggle to understand which tissue layers of the anterior abdominal wall contribute to the superficial and deep inguinal rings...This ghosting technique not only allows Tank and Gest to show an external view of all 3 muscular layers and the transversalis fascia (with the contents of the inguinal canal appropriately illustrated) but also enables them to 'reverse' the image and present an internal view of the same structures and their 3-dimensional relationships. Indeed, the illustrations and labeling of the pectineal and lacunar ligaments are among the best I have seen, and I often found myself reaching for this atlas when students visited me with questions outside of the dissection laboratory. "In addition to the atlas, the authors and publisher offer a set of online supporting products...For example, all of the illustrations are available in an interactive, electronic format, enabling students to search images and compare features across images. Students can also use the interactive labeling exercises available online to test their individual knowledge of anatomy in preparation for examinations. "In short, this is a modern atlas constructed to complement a modern anatomy curriculum and designed to meet the needs of modern, computer-s