Shadowing Practice: 🏥 Locating Organs with Surface Landmarks: Do You Know Where Key Organs Are? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
This is a cartoon which you're probably really familiar with as you've gone through your education
2
and just the idea of where the organs are within the abdominal cavity.
3
So here we can see we've got the sternum, here now we can see the Xiphy sternum,
4
this inferior limit of the sternum which demarcates the superior aspect of the abdomen
5
and then we can see it radiating down in this direction with those costal cartilages.
6
We can see really clearly now, tucked up on this right-hand side, protected by the ribs, we've got the liver,
7
this large organ, the largest gland in the human body.
8
And in the midline, we can see just about we've got the stomach here, which is then continuous with what's called the duodenum, and that's the first part of the small intestine.
9
But previously, I mentioned the appendix down in this lower right inguinal region.
10
And here we can see in the lower right inguinal region, we can actually find the appendix.
11
So these are really important landmarks which we can identify in the abdominal cavity.
12
This is an anterior view.
13
Over here, we've got a posterior view and we can see where the kidneys are located either side of the vertebral column.
14
We can also see tucked up over here, we have the spleen, which you can just about make out on this left-hand side.
15
So we'll look at the various positions of these organs as we go through the course, but this provides a good general overview.
16
So now we can relate the surface landmarks that we spoke about previously to a couple of these organs, like the liver and the appendix.
17
Here we can start off with the appendix, this blind pouch that's located at the beginning of the large intestine by the cecum.
18
And this is really important because, as I mentioned before, we may have radiating pain coming from this region.
19
So a useful technique for locating this pain is to use what's known as McBurnie's point, and this is a surface landmark for the appendix.
20
So again, we can remind ourselves of where the umbilicus is, we can see it here.
21
We can remind ourselves of where the anterior superior iliac spine is.
22
And as we can see in the diagram, we can draw a line between these two regions.
23
A third of the way from the anterior superior iliac spine towards the umbilicus, so about a third of the way across,
24
we can locate our appendix.
25
That's known as McBurney's point.
26
Palpation in this region can lead to quite severe acute pain.
27
And this could indicate that the patient maybe has appendicitis.
28
So that's where these surface landmarks are really important in being able to identify which organs lie deep to the skin.
29
We can also see over on this side again, mentioned it in the previous slide, the position of the liver.
30
And here we can see that actually the liver is hard to palpate palpate
31
because most of the liver is actually covered by these ribs.
32
And here this diagram may not be 100% correct in
33
that it's quite unusual for the liver to actually be so clearly observed free of the ribs.
34
It's usually only in patients that have an enlarged liver that it can actually radiate below the ribs.
35
And to palpate the liver, you can feel this costal margin.
36
And asking the patient to breathe in and out moves the liver.
37
And you can actually, pressing on the skin deep to these ribs, can feel this edge of the liver pressing against your fingers.
38
So it's really important that we mention the surface landmarks, as you can use them to try and feel and locate organs deep to the skin.
39
You just completed your first video of the world's best medical exam preparation.
40
Lecturio brings the knowledge of worldwide leading medical experts and teaching award winners to your PC, tablet or smartphone.
41
Prepare yourself and check your progress with thousands of quiz questions customized to USMLE standards.
42
And the very best, you can get in touch with our medical experts personally.
43
Visit Lectorio.com now and continue with the most inspiring medical education around the globe, anytime, anywhere.
📺 Same Channel
✨ Recommend Video
C141 sentences
Liver Anatomy (Function, Topography, External Structures, Ligaments)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C172 sentences
MRI-Negative Epilepsy
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
61 sentences
Abdominal Examination - OSCE Guide (Latest) | UKMLA | CPSA | PLAB 2
TOEFL PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
C13
52 sentences
Human Anatomy Eye
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
219 sentences
Review of Musculoskeletal System (Bones & Muscles) - Biology Lectures Series
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C13
152 sentences
Cerebral Vascular Anatomy And Imaging
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C15
52 sentences
Vol 3 - test 2 - section 4
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
41 sentences
Micro-Biology: Crash Course History of Science #24
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C16
77 sentences
Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology: Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology #1
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
56 sentences
RCoA Primary Examination: SOE Physics Question Example
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
99 sentences
Endocrine System
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C14
131 sentences
The medicine myth | Denis Noble, Nessa Carey, Guy Brown
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “🏥 Locating Organs with Surface Landmarks: Do You Know Where Key Organs Are?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: liver, appendix, organ, ribs, landmark. This video has 43 sentences and 706 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:24. The speaker talks at a natural 160 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| appendix noun | /əˈpɛn.dɪks/ | A text added to the end of a book or an article, containing additional information. |
| rib noun | /ɹɪb/ | Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum. |
| landmark noun | /ˈlændmɑːk/ | A recognizable natural or man-made feature used for navigation. |
| locate verb | /ˈloʊˌkeɪt/ | To place; to set in a particular spot or position. |
| palpate verb | /ˈpælpeɪt/ | To examine or otherwise explore through touch, particularly (medicine) in reference to an area or organ of the human body. |
| radiate verb | /ˈɹeɪdieɪt/ | To extend, be sent or spread out from a center like radii. |
| sternum noun | /ˈstɝ.nəm/ | The breastbone, consisting of the manubrium, gladiolus, and xiphoid process. |
| anterior adjective | /ænˈtɪɹ.i.ɚ/ | Nearer the forward end, especially in the front of the body; nearer the head or forepart of an animal. |
| costal adjective | /ˈkɑstl̩/ | Pertaining to a rib. |
| iliac adjective | /ˈɪliæk/ | Relating to the ilium. |
| inguinal adjective | /ˈɪŋɡwɪnəl/ | Of or pertaining to the groin. |
| intestine noun | /ɪnˈtɛs.tɪn/ | The alimentary canal of an animal through which food passes after having passed all stomachs. |
| umbilicus noun | /ˌʌmˈbɪlɪkəs/ | A navel. |
| tuck verb | /tʌk/ | To pull or gather up (an item of fabric). |
| abdominal adjective | /æbˈdɑm.ə.nl̩/ | Of or pertaining to the abdomen; ventral. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as we've, we'll, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: anterior /ænˈtɪɹ.i.ɚ/, umbilicus /ˌʌmˈbɪlɪkəs/, appendicitis /əˈpɛnd.ɪ.saɪt.əs/, posterior /poʊˈstɪɹ.i.ɚ/, inferior /ɪnˈfɪɹ.i.ɚ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like appendix, rib, landmark.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.