Interview with Dr. Anna Folckomer

I interviewed Dr. Anna Folckomer this week so she can talk about how she and her co-founders of Immaculate Dissection put a unique twist on medical education and clinical relevance. I ran across their courses years ago and it has helped me to hone my diagnostic clinical skills. 

Who Is Dr. Anna Folckomer 

Just a brief introduction for Dr. Folckomer, she is a licensed acupuncturist, board certified herbalist, and clinical anatomist. She is one of the co-founders of the internationally-known Immaculate Dissection Seminar Series. Her practice includes dealing with pain management, injury rehabilitation, anxiety and depression, sleep and stress management, hormonal imbalances, digestive issues, oncological cases, and auto-immune disorders. 

How The Program Started

Dr. Anna started the Immaculate Dissection Series with Dr. Kathy Dooley and Danny Quirk in 2013 and have expanded to include 6 courses and the Collaborative that you can join for more in depth learning.  Their course work has evolved over the years.  Danny Quirk is their illustrator and is able to bring anatomy to life from looking at it in a text or on an immobile body.  

The Immaculate Dissection Series has the slogan, “Taking the ‘Gross’ out of Gross Anatomy. Putting the ‘Fun’ back in Function.” Clinical relevance is not a new thing in medical education, but it is a tricky thing. Their program basically paints all the relative anatomy in a person’s body so that there is more precision in studying it. It’s bringing anatomy textbooks to life and helps people studying in the fields of human movement to be better when faced with a real patient.

The courses that they offer in the Immaculate Dissection Series course work isn’t just catering to specific clients. They’ve had the widest range of clients like acupuncturists, chiropractors, Pilates instructors, yoga instructors, massage therapists, fitness trainers, physical therapists, doctors, osteopaths, dentists, equine therapists, and more. There’s no specific market that the program targets

Integrating Immaculate Dissection Series And Acupuncture

There are anatomical research articles that suggest early anatomists were the ones who set out the body maps. Whenever Dr. Anna is dissecting, she still locates her points on cadavers. She does not need convincing that her form of medicine works, but she wants to know how many ways she can explain it to her patients.

This is especially true because acupuncture theory sometimes falls victim to translation errors. It is a very poetic medicine and rooted in Eastern philosophy, which the Western hemisphere doesn’t really have an understanding of.  It is worth noting that it must not be a literal translation of the language because it will not make sense. What Anna does is she explains what she studied in acupuncture to her clients in a language she understands. When she dissects, she also constantly thinks about Chinese medicine to understand why such points do what they say it does. She usually sees the connection in these industries she works in and reinvents the material she is already in love with.

The Six Courses Of Immaculate Dissection Series

Immaculate Dissection Series has six courses but these are not in any specific order. They have the Core Concepts; Lower Extremity Concepts; Upper Extremity Concepts; Neck, Jaw, and Hand Concepts; Peripheral Nerve Entrapment Concepts; and Anatomy of Movement Subsystems Concepts.

During the pandemic, they started a collaborative program wherein they meet once a week for an hour. They help people who are on their own when it comes to their medical journey. Anna and her team thought that it would be great to come up with such a virtual meeting where specific topics can be discussed.

I have already taken their Core and Lower Extremity Concepts and I just started with their Upper Extremity Concepts. I loved the Core Concepts so much as it covers so much and can be used by so many people.

They do not require starting with Core Concepts, but we found that many who finally took the Core Concepts are very happy that they did. People realize that this is where it starts and ends.

The courses also help people understand the problems of the different parts of the body and have a thorough assessment protocol to give patients an individualized and more holistic approach in assessing their problems.

Working With Fertility Patients

Just like me, Dr. Anna also worked with many fertility patients. She makes sure that anatomically, the patients are set-up for success and there is a fair amount of pressure management that has to occur whether the patient is trying to conceive, trying to prepare for delivery, trying to make sure that the body can find its equilibrium and stability point after the body was flooded with relaxants, and even during post-partum 18 months later. Dr. Anna also makes sure that someone can minimize the complications and side effects of delivery by teaching them how to manage such pressure.

Those who are undergoing fertility treatments where they feel that their body is being manipulated are likewise helped by Dr. Anna to help them manage the way that they move things throughout their body.

Gut pressure is another thing that Dr. Anna talked about and it pertains to the male partner of the client.  For male clients, if they can’t get gut pressure down the pelvic cavity and they cannot make it stable, there is a lower chance of implantation, not being able to regulate the sperm temperature, and lower chances of conception.

If you want to ask more questions or know more about the program, you can visit Immaculate Dissection Seminar Series’ website here or you can check out Dr. Anna Folckomer’s own website here for all the services she offers.

If you have any questions, you can drop it in the comment section or you send me a message through Facebook or Instagram. I’d be happy to do another podcast about your questions. Also, if you want me to talk about something specific, let me know!

You can also check my TikTok account as I use the platform to educate viewers about movement, chiropractic education, yoga, pregnancy, and more! 

Thank you for listening and see you next week!