BACKGROUND:
Medical doctors are an integral part of a child's life.
They are the people that children constantly see as professionals and they
tend to look up to them. There are a large number of students who
want to become doctors when they grow up, yet few achieve this goal.
Low income students especially want to become doctors, but many do not
realize how long it takes or how much science it requires in order to achieve
this goal.
There are many branches of anatomy that one can specialize in,
in order to become a doctor. However, a base overview of the body
would include taking classes in gross anatomy (dissection of entire body),
histology (microscopic structure of organs and tissues), developmental
anatomy (study of growth), comparative anatomy (organ systems of various
organisms), genetics (study of heredity), and systematic anatomy
(organ systems). The study of the skeletal system is called osteology;
of joints, arthrology; of the muscular system, myology; the skin, dermatology;
the nervous system, neurology; the circulatory system, angiology; the endocrine
system, endocrinology; the internal organs collectively comprising the
digestive, respiratory, urinary, and reproductive system, splanchnology.
There are many more subdivisions that you may want to go over.
Becoming a doctor is a long and expensive process. In many
cases it takes over 10 years after high school to become qualified to be
a doctor. Doctors may specialize in certain fields after their general
internship which can include obstetrics (pre-natal mother care), gynecology
(women organs), ophthalmology (doctor of the eye), orthopedics (bone),
pediatrics (child doctor), podiatry (foot doctor), psychiatry (mind doctor),
and urology (urinary system).
PROCEDURE:
- Ask students how many of them want to be doctors
when they grow up. Don’t be surprised if a majority of the class
raises their hand. It is common for young children to respect doctors,
because it is doctors who make them feel better when they are sick.
(And besides, it sounds good!)
- However, many students do not realize how many types
of doctors there are. In this exercise we want the students to research
the many types of medical doctors that one can make a profession
from.
- Students should ready My Belly Hurts by
James J. Gonzales, M.D. This should give students a perspective of how
doctors use their skills to determine an illness.
- Don’t limit this search to just doctors. Students
should realize that there are many different professions from nurses to
ambulance drivers that need a level of medical knowledge.
