Anatomy for Lawyers

• Back pain is the second leading cause of missed time from work. 
• Eleven million people visit physicians with knee problems each year — the most common problem addressed by orthopedic surgeons.
• Musculoskeletal problems cost the economy more than $215 billion annually.
• 14 percent of the population suffers a back impairment during the year that will limit activities of daily living.

Professor Sam Hodge's The Back & The Knee provides an anatomical overview of these vulnerable body parts, which will assist you in ascertaining what abnormalities are trauma related. You will learn the individual parts that make up these joints. You will ascertain the function of vertebrae, spinal cord and spinal nerves individually and as a system as well as the bones and soft tissues that comprise the knee. Special focus on the mechanism of injury gives you insight on how to maximize or minimize a claim. You will also explore the physical examination of these body parts and translate that knowledge into effective direct or cross-examination of a medical expert when confronted with positive diagnostic or physical findings.

You can expect to have these questions answered…

• How do you identify a pre-existing condition?
• How do you use a pre-existing problem to your advantage?
• How can you minimize or accentuate positive findings on a CT scan, X-ray, or MRI?
• How to present or defend a herniated disc or torn meniscus claim?

Program Outline & Schedule (6 hours)

[Part I: 90 minutes]

Basic Anatomical Terms

• Keys terms for understanding medical reports and diagnostic test results pertaining to the back and knee
• Difference between ligaments, tendons, muscles and fascia
• The components of a joint

[15 minute break]

[Part II: 90 minutes]

Anatomy of the Back

• The parts that make up the spine
• Why physicians order X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs
• Spinal surgeries such as a laminectomy, discectomy, fusion, foraminotomy, percutaneous laser discectomy and artificial disc

[Lunch]

[Part III: 75 minutes]

Anatomy of the Back – Continued

• Spinal abnormalities and injuries

[15 minute break]

[Part IV: 75 minutes]

Anatomy of the Knee

• What bones and soft tissues make up the knee
• Differences between the knee ligaments
• Types of knee surgery, repair & replacement
• How trauma happens
• Diagnostic tests of a knee injury
• Capitalizing on diagnostic images

[Adjourn]