When her teacher handed her a copy of the “Terminologia Anatomica,” the international dictionary of anatomical terms, she learned that the Latin term for the vulva - including the inner and outer labia, the clitoris and the pubic mound - was pudendum. Draper noted: “I was like, What? Excuse me?” The term derived from the Latin verb pudere: to be ashamed. Then one day she looked up the pudendal nerve, which provides sensation to the vagina and vulva, or outer female genitalia. The flexor carpi ulnaris, for instance, is a muscle in the forearm that bends the wrist - exactly as its name suggests. She could look up the Latin term for almost any body part and get an idea of where it was and what it did. As a first-year medical student at the University of Miami, she found the language clear, precise, functional. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.
