Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Palpation Lab Activity

A frequent frustration for students can be to understand the purpose of palpation.  While at times it is taught as a way to identify anatomical structures, it must also be understood as a way to identify abnormal structures.  How many students could correctly identify a fascial bind?  What about a muscular "knot"?  Don't even get me started on a partial tear.  Here is a link to a fantastic article I read recently:
 http://nataej.org/5.4/0504-170175.pdf
Not only is it spot on, but it can make an otherwise drab lecture turn into a powerful teachable moment.  Essentially, each student completes various tasks including:
1.  Palpating a penny and describing it in a tactile fashion.
2.  Palpating bundled Twizzler candy with various deformations/abnormalities in it.
3.  Using their index fingers to compress a scale at specific pound intervals.
I tried this last week and the result was a resounding success.  Students loved it, and it took palpation to the next level for them.  Great article, great tool for educators.  

1 comment:

  1. Nice....we used to put a piece of hair under a sheet of paper and go searching for it with fingers, eyes closed in chiro school.

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