A course available through Great Lakes Seminars is designed to provide clinicians the ability to pinpoint the cause of muscle weakness and pain based upon functional anatomy principles.

The “Advanced Dynamic Anatomy: Bridging the Gap between Anatomy & Treatment” course locations and dates are available on the Great Lakes Seminars website.

The website notes that attendees will learn how to palpate all muscles that are responsible for dysfunction, as well as learn the difference between muscle function and action so they will be able to immediately recognize muscle dysfunction and identify the specific muscle at fault. The site adds that the course is intended to change the way attendees view finding the cause of common orthopedic issues and make treatment easier. Attendees should have a basic knowledge of anatomy as this is an applied anatomy course.

The site states that the seminar will follow a progression of principles and reinforce them throughout the 16 hours. The seminar is at least 75% hands-on lab, and the site says it will provide clinicians hands-on skills that can be used immediately upon their return to the clinical setting.

Course objectives include demonstrating the ability to palpate and differentiate each of the muscles in the upper extremity, the trunk, and the lower extremity; demonstrating the ability to state and find the origin and insertion of each of the ?muscles covered in the class; and demonstrating the ability to relate muscle dysfunction and common symptom patterns.

The course will provide an overview of the principles of palpation and functional anatomy, etiology of muscle strain/injury, muscle fiber types, and functional synergies. The site reports that it will also review the differentiation between muscle action and function, as well as proper palpation technique with specific attention to muscle fiber direction, depth, and contraction. Additional topics include the palpation of all relevant muscles of the upper extremity, lower extremity, and trunk and instruction for pinpointing the driver of muscle dysfunction.

Course instructor Greg Kopp, PT, MPT, OCS, CIMT, graduated with his MPT from Oakland University in 1995. He has guest lectured at Oakland University on ACL/PCL surgeries and rehab, and served as a teaching assistant at Oakland for examination procedures and therapeutic exercise. The site says Kopp is currently appointed as a clinical instructor for Oakland University. Kopp’s treatment philosophy centers on treating the driver of the patient’s condition/pathology, and teaching patients to manage their own condition. He also has an extensive background in weight training and exercise.

Read the course brochure to learn more

[Source: Great Lakes Seminars]