Reproductive System — the first-year Physiology chapter on how life continues

Some students feel shy about this chapter. That is normal, and it is fine. But in a medical course, this is simply physiology. It is studied with the same care, and in the same plain words, as the heart or the kidney. You will one day speak with patients about these things. Learning to speak about them clearly starts here.

The NCH syllabus gives “Reproductive System” chapter ten of Physiology and Biochemistry (HomUG-PB). The sheet lists twelve topics. This piece puts them in an order that tells a story.

Part one: the male reproductive system

The sheet gives one long line: “Male reproductive system – testis and its hormones; seminal vesicles, prostate gland, semen”.

The testis makes sperm and also makes hormones. The seminal vesicles and the prostate gland add fluid to the sperm. Together, sperm and that fluid make semen. Your textbook will name the hormones and describe what each part adds.

Part two: the female reproductive system

Introduction to female reproductive system · Menstrual cycle · Ovulation · Menopause

After the introduction, three topics follow a woman’s life.

The menstrual cycle is the monthly cycle of changes in the ovary and the lining of the uterus. It is controlled by hormones. Ovulation is the moment in the cycle when the ovary releases an egg. Menopause is the time later in life when the cycles stop.

A tip: draw the menstrual cycle as a circle, with the days marked round the edge. Then mark ovulation on it, and the hormone changes along it. One good drawing does more than pages of notes.

Part three: fertility

The sheet lists “Infertility” and, further down, “Fertility” as two separate topics. It does not explain why they are apart. Fertility is the ability to have children. Infertility is difficulty in having them. It may help to study them together, as two sides of one idea. Ask your teachers how they want them answered in the exam.

A word of care. In this chapter, infertility is a topic of physiology: what the body needs for conception, and where that process can fail. It is not a topic of advice or treatment here.

Part four: pregnancy and birth

Pregnancy and parturition · Placenta · Pregnancy tests · Foetal circulation

Parturition means childbirth. The placenta is the organ that forms during pregnancy and links the mother and the baby. Through it, the baby receives what it needs and passes back its waste. Pregnancy tests are the ways pregnancy is confirmed. Your textbook will explain what they detect.

Foetal circulation is how blood moves in the baby before birth. It is different from circulation after birth, because the baby does not yet breathe with its own lungs. You studied circulation in chapter six. This topic asks what is different before birth, and what changes at birth.

Part five: after birth

“Mammary glands and lactation”. The mammary glands are the breasts. Lactation is making milk. This topic asks how milk is made and what controls it.

How the chapter sits in the year

This is chapter ten. It follows Endocrinology, and it depends on it. Hormones run through almost every topic here: the testis, the menstrual cycle, ovulation, menopause, pregnancy and lactation. Read your Endocrinology notes again before you start.

It also looks ahead. The second year has a subject for gynaecology and obstetrics, the medicine of women’s health and of pregnancy and birth. This chapter is the normal physiology that subject builds on.

What to take from it

1. Know the parts of the male reproductive system and what each adds.
2. Draw the menstrual cycle, with ovulation and the hormone changes marked.
3. Explain fertility and infertility in physiological terms.
4. Explain the placenta and foetal circulation.
5. Know what lactation is and what controls it.

The sheet gives twelve names and no detail. The hormones, the timings and the mechanisms come from your textbook and your teachers.

Where to go next on the platform

This piece sits in the first-year Physiology and Biochemistry room. “Endocrinology — the first-year Physiology chapter on hormones and the glands that make them” comes just before it and is needed for it. “Gynaecology and Obstetrics in the Second Year — two units, one frame” shows where this chapter leads.