Embryology for medical students aims to help the undergraduate students in clear comprehension of the subject and to assist the students to perform well in examinations to achieve these objectives an attempt has been made in this book to give lucid and simplified account of developmental process so that the students completely understand the basic concepts of developmental process. Embryology as a field is in a period of unprecedented change in its knowledge base similarly this is a period of great change in medical curricular planning one of the most significant questions in embryology education for medical students is how much of the new molecular embryology to mix with the old developmental anatomy approach the other question is the most effective venue for instruction in medical embryology not all medical curricula have the same objectives nor do . Full lecture notes on embryology for medical students embryology note 1 fate maps of an early embryo a correct interpretation of gastrulation is impossible without a knowledge of the position which the presumptive germinal layers occupy in the blastula this position may be ascertained in various ways a chart showing the fate of each part of an early embryo in particular a blastula is called a fate map