Anatomical Position

So we've all had the experience where somebody says, look to the left and you're like, wait your left or my left. We don't want that kind of confusion happening in the anatomy lab and we definitely don't want that kind of confusion happening in the medical field. If somebody tells you make an incision on the left, you want to be really clear. Is it your left? Is it the person who's talking to you? Is it their left? Is it the bodies left to get around? That kind of confusion in anatomy and physiology. We have a whole set of vocab terms that refer to the body and all of those terms refer to the body in anatomical position. Now, anatomical position is pretty straightforward. It's just this universally accepted position used for accurate communication and you can see it right here. This gentleman is standing in anatomical position and the basic idea behind it is that no matter what position the body is actually in, when you're looking at it, referring to it, if it's laid out on a table, if it's standing up, if it's curled up in the fetal position, if it's a contortionist and the craziest handstand you've ever seen when you talk about the body going forward and you talk about locations on the body going forward. You are going to assume that the body is in this position. So anatomical position pretty straightforward. The body is upright, standing up, it's facing forward. Those feet are gonna be about hip or shoulder distance apart. Uh The toes will point forward, the arms are by the side. And then the one thing that's a little bit unnatural about this position is that the hands are rotated. So the palms are forward in anatomical position, you want to be able to see the palms, the thumbs will be facing outwards just like this and you'll be able to see the inside of the elbow there. Now going forward in this course, whenever you're trying to locate something on the body, you want to talk about it as if the body is in this position and all the terms are gonna refer to the body. So left and right is going to refer to the bodies left and right. So for looking at this body, this body's left is on this side and the right is on that side. That can sometimes be a little confusing because you're looking at the body often and so quite often it's opposite to you. But having that common reference frame is going to really eliminate a ton of confusion going forward. So now, you know, if somebody asks you to make an incision on the left, you make an incision on the left side of the body.

This example asks us which image represents correct anatomical position. And if the body is not in anatomical position to identify why it isn't. So just quick reminder, anatomical position is standing upright, feet, shoulder with the part looking forward arms by the side. And then the only thing to really remember about it is that those palms are rotated so you can see the palms, the inside of the elbow and so that the thumb is facing outward away from the body. So with that in mind, let's look and see what we see. All right, a take a look and see if you see anything that means that it's not an anatomical position. All right, when I look at it right away, I see the hit, the head is off to the side that is not anatomical position. So I'm gonna mark that right away. And I'm gonna say a is definitely not an anatomical position. But let's just look at those other things that I always look for. I always look for the palms, those palms are visible inside of the elbows visible that's good. And the feet, the feet are facing forward shoulder with the part So everything else about this looks good, but that head to the side means that it's definitely not an anatomical position. All right. B take a look at B and see if you see anything. All right. B I see that the uh head is facing forward, the palms are forward, the feet are forward, shoulder with the part. This looks like a very good example of anatomical position to me. So I'm gonna give it the big old green check. I think that looks good. All right. C take a look at C and see if you see anything. All right, when I look at sea, first thing that jumps out at me is those hands. That's what I always think about for anatomical position. That's the one thing I said, that's a little bit unnatural sometimes about anatomical position is the palms are facing forward. These palms are facing next to the are facing in sort of in a little bit more natural position. So I'm gonna mark those definitely not in anatomical position. Uh The other things I look for the head looks all right. And then I look down at the feet. Oh, and I noticed something else here, right? Those feet aren't facing forward. They're sort of facing outwards in more of a ballet first position. So that's definitely not anatomical position. I'm gonna mark that as well. And so C is not an anatomical position because of the hands and the feet. So to review A and C not an anatomical position for the reasons we've marked B looks like a very good example of anatomical position.

Why is anatomical position important?

• A. To minimize medical errors.
• B. To give a reference position for directional terms.
• C. For easy communication among medical workers.
• D. A-C are all true.

If looking at a body in anatomical position from the back, which part can you see clearly?

• A. The inside of the elbow
• B. The fingernails
• C. The palms
• D. The toes