Dr. Robin's Inner Circle

Members Only Newsletter

A Note from Dr. Robin

Hey there!

It's back-to-school season! That means new courses, fresh labs, and curious minds ready to explore. I’m so excited to dive into another season of hands-on science with you.

Whether your early elementary student is joining us for MedPath Foundations for the first time or you've been with us for years and are ready for the labs and cases in Comprehensive Medical Biology (MedPath level 3), you're part of a special group who values learning together. I’m so grateful you’re here.

Together with you on this journey,

Dr. Robin

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Roots & Suffixes: -cillin ​ Even doctors come across words they’ve never seen before. Learning roots and suffixes helps you guess smart—so unfamiliar words start to make more sense!

Medications are grouped into classes, and drugs in the same class usually work in a similar way, help with the same kinds of problems, and often have the same side effects. All antibiotics ending in -cillin are related to penicillin. They all attack bacteria by stopping them from building their cell wall. Without a strong cell wall, bacteria can’t survive. They literally burst! ​Watch this time-lapse of penicillin killing E. coli (you can see them burst!)​

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Beyond the Lesson

Have you ever read a book that completely changed how you think about something? That happened to me when I read Tiny Stitches: The Life of Vivien Thomas by Gwendolyn Hooks. I already knew about the heart condition, Tetrology of Fallot and the surgery that saved so many babies—but I hadn’t thought much about how the solution was figured out.

It turns out it took three people: Helen Taussig, a doctor who noticed the problem and had the idea; Alfred Blalock, a surgeon who trusted his lab assistant to do the research; and Vivien Thomas, the brilliant medical mind who designed and tested the surgery. Each person added their part, and together they changed the world.

While Tiny Stitches is a picture book, it’s best for middle and high school readers—there’s a lot here to discuss and younger students may need help understanding the history and science. And if you want to learn more, there’s a powerful movie based on this story called Something the Lord Has Made. (Note: it’s not appropriate for younger viewers, but I’ve shown carefully selected scenes to my own kids after reading the book.)

After Completing the Lessons on Heart Anatomy

1. After you’ve learned heart anatomy, consider reading this book about the origins of pediatric heart surgery.
2. Then, head to the Parent Dashboard and check out the Curated Video Library to watch an animation and a real patient story about another serious heart condition treated with surgery: Transposition of the Great Vessels.

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Career Corner: Dentists!

Dentists are doctors who go to dental school, not medical school, and focus on the teeth! Did you know you can send in a photo of your completed coloring and answer to the career question for a chance to be featured in our newsletter

Today's Career Question: If you were a dentist would you rather take care of the health of teeth with check ups and filling cavities, or straighten teeth with braces and other tools? Why? ​ Download the Coloring Page Download the Career Page ​

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Ask Dr. Robin!

Do you have a question about a lesson you're doing? You can write in and ask Dr. Robin!

Question from Jayden (age 13, Glendale Heights, Illinois, USA):

How do muscles actually contract once they get the nerve single to do it?

Answer from Dr. Robin:

Inside each muscle cell are long proteins lined up in bundles. The two main ones are actin (thin filaments) and myosin (thick filaments).

The myosin proteins have little “heads” that can grab onto the actin filaments and pull. When your nerves send a signal, each myosin head pulls, lets go, and grabs again, over and over. It's similar to pulling a rope hand-over-hand.

As millions of these tiny pulls happen at the same time, the actin slides past the myosin until they overlap each other. This shortens the whole muscle fiber, which is what makes your muscle contract!

I've included a gif of this. It's from Wikimedia Commons and in the public domain. If the gif doesn't work, you can click here to see it.

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That's It for This Week!

We hope everyone enjoys this new format as much as we do! We had fun putting together the different resources for you. Reply and let us know which was your favorite section and if there's anything else you'd like to see!

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Questions? Get one-on-one assistance from Nurse Jill Cooper. Reply to this email, schedule office hours with Jill, or text or call 720-257-9030. Business hours are 9-5 M-F MST, closed for school holidays.