The subject "Functional Anatomy of the Voice". Twenty years of vocal pedagogy in medicine studies at University of Barcelona.

Abstract

In this work I present the optional subject Functional Anatomy of the Voice, which I teach in the Medicine Faculty of the University of Barcelona (Spain) since the academic year 1997/1998. I created this subject because I considered that it was necessary for medicine students to have a deep knowledge of the normal voice in order to understand its disorders.

The subject has undergone some changes arising from the use of new technologies and new teaching methods in the university. Currently it consists of nine theoretical classroom sessions and it ends with a voluntary Voice Technique workshop. 

Students must carry out three individual assessable activities through the Moodle platform in the Online Campus (Campus Virtual) of the University of Barcelona. The two first ones are of self-observation of the position and breathing, the third one consists on the creation of a voice database, of spoken or sung voices (of public domain). Students must also prepare in small groups a written essay on a topic related to normal voice they are interested in, which allows them to carry out a review and analysis of specific aspects of the voice.

I believe this subject allows students to gain a wide and multidisciplinary view of the voice. After having reached its twentieth edition, I am very satisfied with the results, not only from an academic point of view (academic results are always of high quality), but also because it is always very favorably received by students.