Teaching in focus: Majid Alimohammadi

Name:

Majid Alimohammadi

My pronouns:

He / Him

Title:

Associate Professor in Teaching

Faculty/Department/Unit:

Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine

Location:

Vancouver

Year I started working at UBC:

2003

What first motivated you to become an educator?

As part of my education and training in Anatomical Sciences, I was given the opportunity to teach Anatomy, Histology, Embryology, and Neuroanatomy (lectures / labs) to different groups of students, which sparked my interest in choosing education as my future career.

Tell us more about your work.

Currently I enjoy teaching Anatomical Sciences in a wide variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programs including Science, Medicine, Physical Therapy, etc. I always remind my students: "I'm not going to teach you anatomy rather the approach to anatomical sciences."

What inspired your particular approach to teaching?

Holding a degree in Physical Therapy and a PhD in Anatomical Sciences helped me come up with the simple idea that teaching anatomy should be clinically oriented / combined with clinical correlations. This approach keeps students interested and motivated to learn more and give them the ability to connect the dots (anatomical facts) to get the big picture (clinical application).

What have you learned while teaching that has surprised you the most?

Anatomical Sciences are mostly "dry" facts that students think should be memorized. It has always been a very pleasant surprise to me, how adding a bit of clinical application and sprinkling some spices (fun facts / anatomical jokes) will make all the difference and convert relatively dry material into very interesting discussion topics.

What impact do you hope to have on your students?

I hope I can encourage my students to think critically and "out of the box." Most of my students are future practitioners and I believe this is one of the most useful tools they'll need in their tool box in the real world.

Are there any colleagues or mentors you’d like to acknowledge and why?

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my previous anatomy teachers, specifically Dr. J. Mostaghimi and Dr. M.A. Naraghi (Tehran University of Medical Sciences), for their invaluable guidance that have played a crucial role in shaping my understanding of the human body. I'd also like to express my deepest appreciation for my current colleagues, specifically Dr. W. Vogl, whose unwavering commitment and collaborative spirit have been instrumental in my professional development.