Reproductive Education

I just proctored the last lab practical of the quarter for my A & P class. Because it is an 8 o'clock class, I have a small number of students that enrolled. Usually, the number of students that actually attend is even smaller; a group of 5 students come each week faithfully. This half of the quarter, we covered (among other things) the Endocrine and Reproductive systems. For those of you not in the know, the Endocrine system deals with hormones and the glands that secrete them. I am certain you all know what the Reproductive system entails.

Due to harsh winter weather and missed days of class, those two systems were the only topics on the exam today. The students in this lab did well overall, but I have another one at 10 o'clock, and I can already see the mistakes that will happen.

Question 25.
Part I: Name the organ from which this tissue was taken.
Part II: Name the structure indicated by the pointer.

If you look closely at this photo AND you have studied this information, you would know that this is taken from the ovary. Imagine a pointer on the outside of the circle on the right: the one with the small pink circle in the middle, surrounded by some more pink, with what looks like a large hole on the left and a small hole on the right, all of which enclosed by an oval of purple cells. THAT is the structure the department wants you to identify.

The answer should be: Organ = ovary and structure = secondary follicle.
The answer I get most often is: Organ = penis and structure = primary follicle.

There are at least two things wrong with that answer! One, this is NOT the penis. And two, a primary follicle is not found in the penis. Ovum develop inside follicles, and last I checked one needed to be born XX in order to have ovaries and follicles. One might then ask, what does the histological section of the penis look like? We use a cross-section of it, and it looks something like this:

See that face smiling at you? Yes, that is the penis. A student once compared it to an alien face, and ever since then, the comparison is used, every quarter. Yes, both pictures have circles, but can you see the difference? The squiggle in the center of the picture is the urethra, which is surrounded by the corpus spongiosum. Those compose the mouth of the alien, the eyes being the two circles above that, properly named the corpora cavernosum. Don't you think, if you studied the information, that these two pictures look different? Be honest now.

The Reproductive system is always good for laughs like these, partially because the students think they know all there is to know. For goodness sakes, they say, I've been using these things forever. Shouldn't I know all the parts? Well, yes, you should. But you don't. And that is why I am here. To sort out the penis from the ovary, discuss how the uterus differs from the vagina (really, they are different organs!), and show you exactly what cells make testosterone and which make the sperm (all within the testis, just different populations of cells.)

Aren't you glad you stopped by? Any questions?