Cardiovascular System + Fluids

MCAT Basics (from MedSchoolCoach)

MedSchoolCoach

Science

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, we focus on the cardiovascular system and its connection to fluid mechanics. Beginning with an exploration of cardiovascular anatomy, the discussion covers various aspects of the heart: its function, contraction mechanism, the diverse cell types found within it, and its essential role in regulating blood pressure.

Finally, in the latter part of the episode, several fluid mechanics topics pertinent to the MCAT and their application to the cardiovascular system are addressed. These include total peripheral resistance, viscosity, the continuity equation, and the Bernoulli equation, offering insights into their relevance in understanding cardiovascular dynamics.

Visit MedSchoolCoach.com for more help with the MCAT.

[00:00] Intro

[02:32] Circulatory system overview

[08:48] Blood's journey from the heart through systematic circulation

[11:49] The reason the heart needs one-way valves

[15:14] The path of blood flow through the body

[16:52] Function of the heart

[22:21] QRS complex

[24:24] Cells that make up the heart

[28:33] Hormonal control of blood pressure and its relationship to the heart

[40:39] Application of physics fluids to cardiovascular system

[43:31] Peripheral resistance

[48:38] Viscosity

[51:54] Continuity equation

[55:02] Bernoulli equation

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to MCAT Basics, your ultimate guide to the essential topics you need to master for the MCAT,
0:06.2	brought to you by the physicians at med school coach. Every week, Sam Smith breaks down high-yield
0:11.4	MCAT topics, ensuring you're primed for success on test day. Join Sam as we explore the most
0:17.1	crucial subjects outlined by the AAMC, pulled from official practice materials and third-party resources.
0:23.3	Get ready to elevate your MCAT game with topics tailored to maximize your score potential.
0:30.0	Hello, I'm Sam Smith.
0:32.5	The goal of this podcast is to cover the highest yield topics on the MCAT and provide you with some insight
0:38.6	into the questions that the MCAT really likes to ask. This episode is going to cover the circulatory
0:43.8	system and a little bit of fluids. So the first thing I'm going to talk about is anatomy and I'll go
0:49.8	over the definition of veins and arteries and talk about blood flow and what that looks like
0:54.7	throughout the body.
0:56.0	Then I'll talk a lot about the heart.
0:58.4	I'll cover a ton of different topics within the heart.
1:00.8	And then lastly, I'll talk about how fluids, and I'm talking about physics fluids, can
1:06.2	be applied to the circulatory system and what topics within fluids you're most likely to see. And I just
1:12.0	want to mention too that I'm going to be talking about moving fluids, not fluids that are standing
1:16.3	still. So maybe I'll do a podcast later and cover more broad topics from fluids, but this is only
1:23.1	going to be about flowing fluids, not static fluids. So I'm not going to cover things like buoyancy,
1:28.6	osmotic pressure, any of those things. And this podcast is a twofer. I'm going to cover two
1:34.1	different MCAT sections within this podcast. That's going to be the chemistry physics section
1:38.8	and also the bio-biocem section. And I find this system, the circulatory system, to be probably the most
1:46.2	interesting out of all the different systems. This was one of the most fun episodes to write,
	...

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