Remembering anatomy/ learning it

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phenom832

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I am having such a hard time learning all the muscles and joints and bones. Im taking anatomy right now in college and i am doing awful cause i just cant remember any of it. Whats the best way to study and learn this stuff i have a exam next week

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I am having such a hard time learning all the muscles and joints and bones. Im taking anatomy right now in college and i am doing awful cause i just cant remember any of it. Whats the best way to study and learn this stuff i have a exam next week

Study, study, study.

I am also taking anatomy. I study for about an hour 3 or 4 times a week, and 3 hours on Saturday. I think the only class that I studied more for was O.Chem!!!! Study all along, then you are not trying to cram it all in before the exam. Sorry to say, the time to start studying this stuff should have been at the start of the term.

Knowing the Latin roots also helps. My book has a list of Latin roots in the back, and I reference the list frequently to learn WHY things are called what they are called. Sometimes it makes sense, and it helps me remember.

The anatomy book that my school uses has an on-line component where there are figures that you can label. It is good repetition. I start looking at the figures before the lecture or reading the chapter. They don't make much sense, but I start to get the names and how they are related (big picture). Then skim the chapter to pick up main ideas. Then lecture the prof tells what is most important and what can be ignored. Then read the chapter and try to fit all the pieces into the big picture. Throughout I keep going back to the art-labeling activities on-line and get to the point where I can label structures 100% of the time. This really helps with lab activities.

Also remember that all the parts are tied together. When we were learning the bones, learning all the tuberosities and ridges only made sense if you know the muscles that attach at those places. Also, I am such a tactile learner that I needed to touch the bones and name the parts that I was touching.

mnemonics really help me remember lists. For example the longitudinal growth of long bones has Resting, Proliferation, Hypertrophic, Calcification, and Remodeling zones. So I used the phrase Rex Putnam Has Crappy Runners (Rex Putnam is a rival high school where I live). My professor has a lot of mnemonics that he shares with us, but the ones that you make up yourself are usually more meaningful.

The only bad part is that I know that Anatomy now will be to anatomy in med school like a McDonnald's cheeseburger is to prime rib. I try and learn MORE than the professor wants me to know so that later it is not as big of a shock.

Good luck with your studying
dsoz
 
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I like drawing the anatomical features. It helps me remember better.
 
Mnemonics helps so much! I didn't think it was that hard, but I'm very good at memorization. Memorization for Orgo however is such BS, I study more than all my classes and when the class average is a 34%, a 73% is considered excellent. :/
 
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Drawing helps, I personally like to write and re-write many terms/descriptions along with their pictures.
 
Honestly, there really isn't a shortcut to learning anatomy. Mnemonics can be helpful in some situations (carpal bones, for instance) but you can't rely on them because anatomy is really about the relations between parts instead of just knowing the names.

If you aren't getting it, then study more. I know it isn't shocking advice, but you need to study enough to get the relations between different features in your head.

My process went like this:

First look at the material was just getting used to the names.
Second look at the material was when I started to realize how things fit together - look for patterns, ways to structure it in your head.
Third look at the material was where everything snapped together and I started feeling confident.
After that I brushed up on weak spots.

I also never ever used an atlas, I would draw my own pictures from the cadaver and from the text based on my understanding of how things fit together.

Once you get a good understanding of the relationships, you come to realize that in a lot of places, there can only be one thing in that position - for example, between this muscle and that muscle there is only that nerve. It can't be anything else. That understanding comes with exposure. In the case of things that can be mistaken for each other, there is a dead giveaway that is emphasized in the text if your teacher is worth anything at all.

The short version - construct a map in your head to understand how things fit together; anatomy isn't about blindly memorizing. If you aren't getting it, study more.

EDIT: This is about my experience with med school anatomy; I'm not sure how the focus may differ from undergrad anatomy.
 
Well, I've heard that a lot of people use mnemonics to help them memorize the names more easily. Maybe this website will be of service: http://www.medicalmnemonics.com/cgi-bin/browse.cfm

I like to use mnemonics and such to memorize things as well. I just looked at that site though and some of their mnemonics seem like it'd be more work to memorize the little saying than the actual term itself! :laugh: :rolleyes:
 
I like drawing the anatomical features. It helps me remember better.
Try a variety of methods. I personally like drawing it out. I do it many, many times. I also like charts and mnemonics. I used flash cards a lot in undergrad but didn't use them at all in anatomy. You can try Netter's flash cards if you really like flash cards.
 
Perfect practice makes perfect.

Rote memorization, in my experience, is a direct function of repetition. Also, knowing Latin and Greek helps, but if you don't, knowing the word roots makes it 10x easier.
 
Go over it again and again in different ways until you have it memorized: by yourself, drawing it out, teaching others, looking at the cadavers (?), talking out loud, etc

Also, try to break everything into smaller chunks, e.g. there are 4 superficial, 1 intermediate, and 3 deep muscles of the anterior forearm
 
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