Sexual Health | Approach to patient | Female Anatomy and Physiology

Female Anatomy and Physiology
Session Overview
Description
This session will cover the anatomy of the female genital tract. It will also cover the physiology of the female genital tract as relevant to the practice of genitourinary medicine.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Identify the anatomy of the female genital tract and related anatomy
• State how this is important in daily clinical practice; i.e. correlate pathology to basic anatomy and be aware of normal variants
• Demonstrate understanding of relevant physiology

The female genital organs consist of an external and an internal group of organs.

The external organs (vulva) are placed below the urogenital diaphragm and below and in front of the pubic arch (Fig 1). They comprise the mons pubis, the labia majora and minora, the clitoris, the vestibule and bulb, and the greater vestibular glands. The interval between the posterior commissure and the anus constitutes the perineum.

The internal organs are situated within the pelvis, and consist of the ovaries, the uterine tubes, the uterus and the vagina (Fig 2).

This session will cover the female genital anatomy and physiology as relevant to patient examinations in a sexual health clinic setting.