Regional Guide to Human Anatomy.

Regional Guide to Human Anatomy In recent times, students of anatomy continue to demonstrate a growing dependence on concise, easy-to-read anatomy textbooks rather than the traditional voluminous, all-embracing books that are recommended for classroom and laboratory works. In response to this trend, this book presents a concise conceptual format for the study of human anatomy, specifically for "allied health" students.

The 15 chapters that constitute the book are divided into four units. Each unit covers the anatomy of either an extremity or some closely related regions. For example, units 1 and 4 deal with the upper and lower limb respectively; unit 2, the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis; and unit 3, the head and neck. Throughout, the systemic approach to the study of anatomy, which emphasizes systems and organs, is blended with the regional approach, in which the anatomy of the various tissues that constitute a specific area (eg, the axilla) is discussed. This is manifest in the general pattern of each unit, which usually begins with a brief outline of the osteology of the entire unit, is followed by a region-by-region description of neuromuscular anatomy, and ends with an outline of the vascular anatomy of the unit. This approach perhaps suits the broad spectrum of students for whom the book is intended. But, because clinical physical therapy problems are mostly regional in nature, a consistent regional approach usually provides physical therapy students a better anatomy background, as they invariably are exposed to systemic human or mammalian anatomy before admission to a physical therapy program.

With a total of 123 well-displayed figures, the book is certainly well illustrated. All the illustrations, however, are black and white line drawings, making it difficult for the student to distinguish among tendons, nerves, and vessels, especially as the figures are not labeled but are either lettered or numbered. Concise and clearly-written text on adjoining pages describes the lettered or numbered structures, but, because the book is intended only as a guide for a diverse range of students, these descriptions frequently are scanty and inadequate for the physical therapy student.

In my opinion, this book may be a useful text for several categories of students for whom it was intended, but even as a guide or workbook it does not meet the needs of physical therapy students.