I come on Bluesky these days less frequently that most first-year university students wash their bed sheets, but I’m popping on today to assure everyone that my dog is still adorable AND she recently made a tiny friend 🐶🌲❤️

Time to get excited. Like toddler at Disney World excited. CIRCLE OF WILLIS, a board game about vascular anatomy, is here! @befast.bsky.social and I set out to make a #MEdEd game that is more fun than Epcot. Life goal unlocked. Tell your friends and parents! www.neurdgames.com/circle-of-willis

Obligatory first day of work selfie from Wednesday afternoon! 📸✌🏼 It has been a whirlwind of a short week in my new position at UBC and my emotions are an overwhelming mix of excitement + ‘fish out of water’ / imposter syndrome, but I’m going to just keep swimming until it feels like home! 🐟💙

Excited to announce that our visual fields game, "Field Cut," is a finalist for an educational game award called the Gee! Being a finalist also makes it eligible for their People's Choice Award. Please vote for Field Cut here! www.geeawards.com More on Field Cut: www.neurdgames.com/field-cut

📢 Update: the Kickstarter for Epipocalypse: Bug Detectives is coming SEPTEMBER 2025. Learn ID epi with a card game! Click to be notified when it launches. Early backers will receive a free Emerging Infections bonus card pack. #IDSky #MedSky #EpiSky www.kickstarter.com/projects/pha...

Last day of work at McGill University was an absolute rollercoaster of emotions 💙 Excited to be starting my next chapter as an Assistant Professor of Teaching at UBC (@ubccps.bsky.social) on July 1st … but first, I have a lot of packing to finish and an overflowing email inbox to attend to 😂🎉

Ciao from my little home away from home in Italia! 💚🤍❤️ Looking forward to finally meeting the first year Harvey Med students in person in ~1 week… ma prima, le vacanze!! ✌🏼

Fresh off the presses!!! 🗞️🧩♟️🎲🎉 doi.org/10.1002/ase.... Part of a Special Issue on Anatomical Engagement & Science Communication… with lots of other great articles that you should also check out! #AnatEd #MedEd #GBL #GamifiedLearning

Teeny tiny London wishes everyone on Bluesky a Happy Monday!! ✌🏼🎉🐶

Just like that, I have wrapped up the final course I get to coordinate at McGill University! 💔😭 Anatomy for Surgeons (a.k.a., Anatomy for Med-4s Who Love Anatomy) is my FAVOURITE course & it's bittersweet to say goodbye... so obviously I seized one final chance to make silly student certificates 🫀✌🏼

Got a paper accepted on my (sort of) birthday!!! 🎉🤓🙏🏼 Non-leap years are a bit anticlimactic because my birthday gets a bit forgotten, but I appreciate the universe giving me a little win just the same! Cheers to my co-authors, getting older one quarter birthday at a time, and happy coincidences 🥂

This has been online for a little while, but I’m so excited to see this scoping review finally published 🎉❤️📝 My first LAST author paper with a couple wonderful students and some of my favourite #GBL friends & collaborators!! @drsarahedwards.bsky.social @empiricgame.bsky.social @tchanmd.bsky.social

It is with IMMENSE pride (& a touch of relief... WOW, drawing histology is more challenging than I imagined) that I share all 105 illustrations I contributed to the first ever Histology Colouring Book, created by Drs. Franz-Odendaal & Pinder 🤩🔬🖍️ histologycoloringbook.com #Histology #AnatEd #MedEd

My brilliant med students taught me that in French the pudendal nerve used to be called “nerf honteux”, meaning “shameful/disgraceful nerve” — presumably related to the better known fact that “pudendal” itself is derived from the latin verb pudere = “to be ashamed”! #ValentinesDay anatomy facts ❤️

Every time I open the news I want to start sobbing and/or punching pillows, so instead I’m crocheting Woobles cacti and succulent kits, & I hope they will cheer everyone else up a bit too 🌵🪴💚

Apropos of nothing 🙄 “large reproductive cell[s]” are called ova, “small reproductive cell[s]” are called sperm (spermatozoa, if you’re fancy), zygotes do not produce either gamete “at conception”, and some people never produce gametes at all… …and that’s just the TIP of the iceberg! 🫠

Even pulling super late nights to finish recommendation letters, manuscript reviews, and lecture slides is tolerable with my best friend helping me out 🐶💜

Yeah that tracks ❤️‍🩹 If at first you don’t succeed… ✌🏼

Merry Christmas Eve Eve 😉🎄 London and I are spending some quality time in our matching Christmas PJs while watching Richard Osman’s House of Games reruns on YouTube ✌🏼

Can we go all in and toss out the term "hysterectomy" while we're at it? 😤✌🏼 Just call it a uterectomy. It's not that hard!!

Completely inconsequential, I know, but I just need to cry into the Bluesky void so somebody somewhere can hear that I’m REALLY sad I inadvertently broke my Wordle, Connections, and Minute Cryptic streaks!!! 😫 392-day NYT crossword streak still going strong though 🏆

Hey! I've just realised that I haven't told Blue Sky about our histology colouring book. Made in collaboration w/ Dr Tamara Franz-Odendaal & images by the marvelous Dr @mikaelastiver.bsky.social. Check it out as a visual learning resource for those studying #histology. histologycolouringbook.com 🖍️🔬

First test to see if the #anatomy hive mind is alive on Bluesky... Xiphisternal joint ➡️ symphysis or synchondrosis? Moore's says synchondrosis (1º cartilaginous joint; hyaline cartilage) Last's & Gray's for Students say symphysis (2º cartilaginous joint; fibrocartilage) My brain says... HELP!!! 🚨🤯

In case you missed your emails, the deadline for abstract submission has been *extended* until December 9th!! 🎉🎉🎉 Please come join us in Portland, OR at the end of March and share your research + if you're into analog educational games, we've got an awesome workshop planned 🤓 🎲 🧩 #Anatomy25

Last day of undergraduate classes today (AND my last time teaching the Clinical Neuroanatomy course I love so much 💔🧠), so I went all out with mini pre-exam care packages for my students — complete with encourage-mints, positivi-tea, stickers, and a little hand written note (among other goodies) 🍬

Thank goodness my mom was able to snag me a copy in the states because international shipping is absurdly expensive 😳 Saving this for the holidays 🎄🧩

I have a new hobby… 3D cryptic crossword puzzles!! 🤓🧩 Why? Because I’m still pretty terrible at cryptic crosswords, but something about doing them in 3D just hurts my brain in the most satisfying way 🧠 Join me in my weird midlife crisis: 3dcalendarpuzzles.co.uk/puzzles/puzz...

My Friday night musings are centred around realizing that I have exactly two approaches to drinking tea: 1) Gulping it all down within 2–3 minutes, usually resulting in a burnt palate 🥵 2) Making a lovely cup and promptly forgetting about it until it’s freezing cold 🥶

Reminder: Students get 33% off a copy of Pharmageddon: Bugs vs Drugs the antibiotic and microbiology card game. Tell all your new #IDSky #MedSky friends! labbeaglegames.com/student-disc...

Bluesky neuroanatomy & neurology nerds 🧠👀 We don't have an account for the Global Neuroanatomy Network (GNN) on here *yet*, but please come check it out! 🌎🌍🌏 The GNN is an online resource repository & community of practice for neuroanatomy educators — new member applications are ALWAYS welcome!

New podcast on Body Banter: The intersection of Art and Science with Chris Smith bodybanter.ca

Hey all: I created a new starter pack for #MedEd enthusiasts! If you know of anyone missing, I’ll add you or them until we get to 150 - just reply to this message! go.bsky.app/8hfHZr

The vestibulocochlear nerve always struck me as the neuroanatomical version of a BOGO sale ✌🏼 Enjoy this neuroanatomy Pokémon-inspired cranial nerve card for the "inner ear dream team" — a.k.a. CN VIII Print-on-demand copies available from The Game Crafter: www.thegamecrafter.com/games/crania...

“We like to think of gamification as a hat … the hat can be worn by many different people with little or no modification.” Peep the Virtual Issue we compiled in @asmeofficial.bsky.social Medical Education! @drsarahedwards.bsky.social @empiricgame.bsky.social @tchanmd.bsky.social

This is Fred. He just found out he can chew his own ear. There aren't actually any rules against it, he checked. 12/10

*POKE* 🫵🏼 Which cranial nerves are involved in the corneal blink reflex? Check out these next two cards in my Pokémon-inspired cranial nerve #neuroanatomy series! Alt text has decoded emoji strengths & weaknesses. Hard copies: www.thegamecrafter.com/games/crania... DM or email for digital copies!

Sundays, amirite? 💤 Teeny tiny London is ready for another nap, and so am I!

Next up in the cranial nerve #neuroanatomy Pokémon card series, here are CN III, IV, & VI — everyone's favourite extraocular muscle threesome! Alt text includes decoded emoji strengths & weaknesses... I'm particularly proud of CN III 🍓 Grab a physical copy: www.thegamecrafter.com/games/crania...

Missing your daily fill of #neuroanatomy? Look no further: bsky.app/profile/did:... Tags for included posts: #neuroanatomy / neuroanatomy (with or without #) #brain 🧠👀 (no spaces) (@markrubin.bsky.social, perhaps you could add to your science feed master list? 🤞🏼)

#ITeachAnatomy #AnatomyEdu #AnatomyTeacher Nearly 1/3 full already (with current 150 cap)!!! ⬇️⬇️⬇️ P.S. all of the tags above also link to @rachaeldoor.bsky.social’s “I Teach Anatomy” feed: bsky.app/profile/did:...

New platform, new opportunity to show off my Pokémon-inspired cranial nerve cards 🧠🤓 Each card includes cryptic "strengths" & weaknesses" (perhaps better described as “stuff they help us do” & “stuff that might hurt / damage them in some manner”) as emojis... can you decode them? #neuro #anatomy

Where are all my #anatomy & #physiology education people at?! I created an “Anatomy & Physiology Educators” starter pack: go.bsky.app/CEaup1 Comment below to be added & share widely!! 🫀🧠🔬

Genuinely questioning how I ever ended up with >7K followers on the bird app since I mostly just share anatomy doodles & nerdy musings… Anyhow, here’s a picture of teeny tiny London in her skeleton Halloween costume! 🥹💀 Also, are hashtags a thing here?

In an effort to slowly rebuild my network & community over here, I’m hoping this recent project with which I was involved will help me find my people 🥰 Do you like histology?🔬 Do you also enjoy colouring?🖍️ Then you’re going to LOVE the Histology Colouring Book! 📖❤️ histologycoloringbook.com

Had a tough day, but at least no one dressed me up in a dinosaur costume against my will… right, London?? 😉🦖🐶

We found a textbook Tetralogy of Fallot in the anatomy lab on Friday which was SUPER cool — no signs whatsoever of surgical repair & the individual was over 80 years old when they passed away! But I don’t want to use the eponym, so what could be a descriptive alternative? 🤔🫀

Wishing you all a wonderful World Anatomy Day! 🌎💀 Today marks the anniversary of Andreas Vesalius's death in 1564 — a man who made tremendous contributions to the discipline of anatomy in his day & is highly regarded for his detailed dissections that transformed our understanding of the field!

Probably time to introduce myself, eh? I’m Mikaela! An Assistant Professor at McGill University teaching anatomy with a focus on neuroanatomy 🫀🧠 I am a passionate educator with a love for game-based learning! Check out my Pokémon-inspired cranial nerve cards: www.thegamecrafter.com/games/crania...