Quarter 1

This course is an introduction to the structure and function of the human vertebral column. Topics of study include the osteology, arthrology, syndesmology and the neurovascular supply of the spine. A limited number of clinical conditions of the spine are introduced in the lecture material. The occipital, cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral regions of the spine are studied in the laboratory with human bone specimens. The laboratory also includes a number of unique cadaveric prosections that offer an opportunity to study the anatomy of the different vertebral regions.

This course defines and explains the relationship between structure and function of the four biomolecules: amino acids, nucleotides, carbohydrates, and lipids. Students will develop connections between molecular structure and nutrition, physiology, and clinical diagnosis. To explain the biological context of structure, students first review acid-base chemistry and the chemical properties of water and lipids are reviewed. To understand how protein structure dictates function, students identify chemical and structural aspects of a protein that support the general physiology of proteins as well as enzyme catalysis. Next, students study nucleic acids in the context of their role in replication, transcription, and translation. Finally, students will describe carbohydrates and lipids in the context of storage and subcellular structure. This course has an accompanying recitation forum that parallels the lecture material with emphasis on clinical correlates.

This course explores the origins and evolution of health services- including the role(s) of professions, practitioners, payers, politics and patients over time. Through this exploration, the student will gain knowledge of how health care has been shaped into today’s iteration of the industry. Priority is given to chiropractic’s chapter in this process. Roles, expectations, duties, opportunities and liabilities will be explored. The successful student will emerge from this course triangulated to the industry they are training to enter and their place as a chiropractic physician in that industry.

This course introduces the student to the fundamental examination skills of observation and palpation and instructs the student in the identification of normal bony and soft tissue landmarks of the spine and extremities.