The curriculum of most schools of Chinese medicine is usually broken down into the following topics concerning the theory of Chinese medicine: Physiology of the Internal Organs; Aetiology; Diagnosis; Patterns of disharmony of the Internal Organs. In addition, the acupuncture curriculum is based on the study of the channels and points.Within each of these topics, various parts of the body are discussed. For example, when studying diagnosis the subject is broken down into interrogation, observation, palpation and auscultation. Within each of these broad areas, students study the diagnostic elements of specific areas. The result is that areas become disjointed and there is nothing to connect elements of channels and points relevant to specific areas.Giovanni Maciocia wrote The Energetics and Treatment of Body Areas - The Vertex, with the purpose to turn this attitude on its head and to place areas first so that everything else is subordinate to that. This book places the vertex first and each diagnostic and therapeutic element relevant to the vertex is discussed together.