Clinical anatomy and the physical examination part I: Thorax, abdomen, perineum, and pelvis - Educational Affairs Committee, American Association of Clinical Anatomists

This paper by the Educational Affairs Committee of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists (AACA) is a sequel to one published earlier, "A Cli nical Anatomy Curriculum for the Medical Student of the 21st Century: Gross Anatomy" (AACA. 1996, Clin Anat. 9:71-99). In that curricular document a n umber of clinical procedures that apply gross anatomy to current medical pr actice are cited, including procedures related to the physical examination. This paper describes numerous anatomically based procedures that are perfo rmed during a physical examination to demonstrate that (1) gross anatomy fo rms a fundamental basis for physical diagnosis and (2) such an anatomic bas is is delineated in our previously published curricular document. The AACA Educational Affairs Committee also hopes that the examples presented here w ill serve as a starting point for incorporating elements of the physical ex amination within a clinical anatomy curriculum in gross anatomy at the medi cal school level. This paper focuses on the physical examination of the tho rax, abdomen, perineum, and pelvis; a subsequent paper will treat the physi cal examination of the limbs, back, head, and neck. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, In c.