The First Ten Years of The A&P Professor!

On July 4, 2008, I published the first post on this blog—thereby launching The A&P Professor. 

I picked July 4—U.S. Independence Day—as my start date so that it would be easy for me to remember. It didn't work, though. It just yesterday occurred to me that I'd missed the tenth anniversary! Better a tiny bit late than never, eh?

I started The A&P Professor as a way to share what I'd learned—and am still learning—about the teaching of human anatomy & physiology. Having had a wonderful mentor in my early years of teaching of A&P (thank you, Sr. Virginia), and scores of colleagues sharing their A&P teaching wisdom in the Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS), I felt like I wanted to pass along the many treasures I'd collected over three decades.

And, well, I'm a writer. Meaning it's my nature to write things and share them. So I guess a blog was a natural fit for me, eh?

At first, I thought it might also be a way to share the "inside story" of my various textbooks, lab manuals, and other publications. But I soon realized that The A&P Professor works best when I don't do that. So I soon moved that aspect to other outlets and focus on the art and science of teaching A&P, period.

Soon came the website at theAPprofessor.org where I posted a lot of resources for teaching A&P. A year or so ago, the website got a big makeover and more modern design that works well on mobile devices. During that process, a lot of old stuff was tossed out and the website streamlined to be more of a professional development venue.

Along the way, I added a newsletter version of the blog, so that you can get an emailed copy of each new post as soon as it's posted—so you don't have to keep an eye on the blog.

The A&P Professor has long been registered as a trademark in the U.S., so we can all count on it being what it is and with the same person running it—and not something else entirely.

Along the way, I've added social media presence in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other channels. And a daily, curated roundup of science and teaching headlines at Nuzzel.

And, oh boy, have I heard from many of y'all over the years! It warms my heart when you stop me at a HAPS meeting, drop me an email note or tweet, or give me a call and tell me how much this or that thing I mentioned in my blog or another outlet has helped you. Or better, has got you thinking about a new direction to go in. You know, that feeling you get when a student or alum has told you that something you shared with them has truly helped them—or lit their own creative spark. There's not a feeling like it in the world, is there?

You're probably tired of hearing about (or just hearing) my podcast featuring content updates and teaching strategies for A&P. This latest (ad)venture is just the latest of the many ways I've been working to promote continuous improvement in the teaching of human anatomy and physiology. Mostly my own. As they say... when we teach, we learn. They're right!

I hope you'll continue your support of The A&P Professor for the next ten years.


For those who have not yet heard any of the new podcast series, try the first episode and move forward from there.