Lesson · A.5.1

The reproductive system

The male and female reproductive systems, the hormones that drive them, and the menstrual cycle, laid out the way HESI A2 Anatomy and Physiology questions actually test them.

ObjectiveA.5.1Read4 minExam weightContinuity ≈ 8% of Anatomy & Physiology

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What you will be able to do

Name the male and female reproductive organs and state each one's job.
Trace the path of sperm from production to ejaculation, and the path of an oocyte from ovary to uterus.
Walk through the menstrual cycle phase by phase and say which hormone is driving each one.

What the lesson concludes

Sperm are made in the seminiferous tubules of the testis and matured in the epididymis, not the other way round.
FSH and LH come from the anterior pituitary in both sexes, but they land on different targets in men and women.
The corpus luteum is the hinge of the cycle: it holds the endometrium together and its collapse is what starts a period.
Estrogen dominates the first half of the cycle and builds the endometrium; progesterone dominates the second half and maintains it.
If fertilisation does not happen, falling progesterone is the direct trigger for menstruation.