The Departments of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Melaka Manipal Medical College, conducted a workshop on “Understanding the human body-Part 1” for school teachers recently.
According to a statement issued by Manipal University here, 57 teachers, mostly from high schools and a few from pre-university colleges of Udupi district, participated in the day-long workshop, which was inaugurated by H. Vinod Bhat, Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University.
In his address, Dr. Bhat said that the initiative of social outreach was one of the highest functions of any university and Manipal University has been a pioneer in the six decades.
For the teachers, most of them from biology, it was a learning experience with a difference. To learn from a cadaver in the Anatomy Dissection Hall with faculty members explaining various body parts was new for all of them.
One teacher exclaimed, “It was an eye-opening experience to actually see the bicuspid and tricuspid valves of the heart, which we teach from textbooks.”
Sessions on Nutrition and Physiology were also held. The session on nutritional science was conducted by the Department of Biochemistry in the Digital Laboratory of the college.
The faculty members used role play to explain various concepts of nutrition in health and in disease and addressed common concerns about nutritional value of different food groups, which oil to use, food for diabetics and the rise in obesity.
In the Physiology session, the participants witnessed a short role play followed by video shows explaining the basic concepts of vital functions of the heart and the lungs.
The teachers were given participation certificates at the valedictory function held later in the day by Poornima Baliga, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University.
Ullas Kamath, Dean of the college, spoke. Mohandas Rao, Head, Department of Anatomy, Kiranmai Rai, Head, Department of Physiology, and Guruprasad Rao, Head, Department of Biochemistry, were present.
