Anatomy before I start

[jgalt42]

Hello!

Will be starting med school in the fall. Super excited but also know that an information fire hose is coming down the pipeline for the next 4-8 years

I am taking the UC Berkeley Extension online course for general anatomy as an upper division prereq for a school I'm waitlisted in. I didn't have to choose anatomy but I went ahead anyways because I thought it would help me for the fall.

Just wondering/curious, will it really help me significantly for anatomy in the fall or only marginally? Besides being able to dissect, what other differences are there between this anatomy course and what I will experience in med school? Attached is our syllabus.

Thanks!

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[Dharma]

Hello!

Will be starting med school in the fall. Super excited but also know that an information fire hose is coming down the pipeline for the next 4-8 years

I am taking the UC Berkeley Extension online course for general anatomy as an upper division prereq for a school I'm waitlisted in. I didn't have to choose anatomy but I went ahead anyways because I thought it would help me for the fall.

Just wondering/curious, will it really help me significantly for anatomy in the fall or only marginally? Besides being able to dissect, what other differences are there between this anatomy course and what I will experience in med school? Attached is our syllabus.

Thanks!

Looks pretty solid! If you can really get a handle on muscle origin and insertion, innervation, and action, you'll be ahead of the game. Not sure how much, but you will be though. Difficult to tell from the syllabus how in depth the material will be. That said, you could just pick up an anatomy book and atlas (Gray's Anatomy for Students and Netter's are a good combo... although I like Grant's Atlas as well) and learn the same things.

Are you taking this now or will you be using your summer for the class? If it's the latter, I say don't do it. Enjoy the summer.

And a bit of general advice: Don't get sucked into the neuroticism of the typical med student. A lot of folks freak themselves out and start yammering on about firehoses and pancakes. Treat it like a job and it really isn't that bad. At least that's been my experience thus far. Enjoy the ride.

 

[DocVapor]

And a bit of general advice: Don't get sucked into the neuroticism of the typical med student. A lot of folks freak themselves out and start yammering on about firehoses and pancakes. Treat it like a job and it really isn't that bad. At least that's been my experience thus far. Enjoy the ride.

 

[CallMeDoctorLov]

Take it. It will help. Also, i agree ^.... Med school is not hard if you treat it like a job.

 

[DrWily]

And a bit of general advice: Don't get sucked into the neuroticism of the typical med student. A lot of folks freak themselves out and start yammering on about firehoses and pancakes.

I love pancakes. Physiology is like bacon pancakes with more bacon pieces on top. Biochem is like chocolate chip pancakes. Psych is like blueberry pancakes. Histo is like pecan pancakes.

But anatomy is like balut (duck egg) pancakes with extra wasabi whipped cream and little pieces of raw pigs feet. Oh, and they smell like formaldehyde. And there's no syrup.

 

[futuredo32]

I had a really hard time with anatomy as a med student. I had to drop it the first year of med school and do the "extended curriculum program" and retake it the second year of med school. For me, taking anatomy prior to med school would have really helped, but lots of students do fine without it.

 

[Didierdrogba]

OMS I here.


honestly, even if the course involves looking at real cadavers, I would only be about 20% for it. Solely for the fact that real cadavers look a lot different than in those pictures from textbooks, and it's somewhat helpful to get used to looking at actual cadavers.

If it's just an online extension course involving looking at just photographs, HELL NO!

Either way, i'd say that material retention in any anatomy course is going to be quite poor, and it's not worth the time or $$. Just read textbooks to get the basics down, and you will be set for your 1st year

If you really want to take something before med school, i'd say take physiology or microbiology instead. They are much, much more high yield

 

[Charlie Hustle]

Couldn't hurt, but there are literally thousands of people who start medical school every year with no formal anatomy background and do just fine. If you're just dying to dive into the material, then go ahead - knock yourself out. But don't think you'll be at a disadvantage without taking the course.

 

[alpinism]

Looks pretty solid! If you can really get a handle on muscle origin and insertion, innervation, and action, you'll be ahead of the game. Not sure how much, but you will be though. Difficult to tell from the syllabus how in depth the material will be. That said, you could just pick up an anatomy book and atlas (Gray's Anatomy for Students and Netter's are a good combo... although I like Grant's Atlas as well) and learn the same things.

Are you taking this now or will you be using your summer for the class? If it's the latter, I say don't do it. Enjoy the summer.

And a bit of general advice: Don't get sucked into the neuroticism of the typical med student. A lot of folks freak themselves out and start yammering on about firehoses and pancakes. Treat it like a job and it really isn't that bad. At least that's been my experience thus far. Enjoy the ride.

Great advice.

OMS I here.


honestly, even if the course involves looking at real cadavers, I would only be about 20% for it. Solely for the fact that real cadavers look a lot different than in those pictures from textbooks, and it's somewhat helpful to get used to looking at actual cadavers.

If it's just an online extension course involving looking at just photographs, HELL NO!

Either way, i'd say that material retention in any anatomy course is going to be quite poor, and it's not worth the time or $$. Just read textbooks to get the basics down, and you will be set for your 1st year

If you really want to take something before med school, i'd say take physiology or microbiology instead. They are much, much more high yield

That's why you get Rohen's atlas as well.

 

[Didierdrogba]

[/B]


That's why you get Rohen's atlas as well.

I think Rohen's is not bad, great in fact, but even the best photographic books still dont look like real cadavers

 

[Wozo30]

I didn't have any anatomy experience prior to school and did fine, even took a year to do research and teach in the anatomy lab. Any exposure will be beneficial but not needed. Just being introduced to the anatomical structure names will be huge. But don't freak yourself out and enjoy the experience. Med school is stressful but treating it like a job is great advice.

 

[Latcatin]

I had a really hard time with anatomy as a med student. I had to drop it the first year of med school and do the "extended curriculum program" and retake it the second year of med school. For me, taking anatomy prior to med school would have really helped, but lots of students do fine without it.

I agree with this. I was not a science major and really struggled with gross anatomy. To make it worse, everyone I happened to ask for advice beforehand just said I would be fine and that studying the summer before med school was a waste of time. That is really bad advice for people who haven't been exposed to A&P and histology in undergrad. I didn't even know the basic terminology. It sounds like the class that you enrolled in will be very helpful. I would like to see more optional summer programs for new med students.

 

[0011000100]

Hello!

Will be starting med school in the fall. Super excited but also know that an information fire hose is coming down the pipeline for the next 4-8 years

I am taking the UC Berkeley Extension online course for general anatomy as an upper division prereq for a school I'm waitlisted in. I didn't have to choose anatomy but I went ahead anyways because I thought it would help me for the fall.

Just wondering/curious, will it really help me significantly for anatomy in the fall or only marginally? Besides being able to dissect, what other differences are there between this anatomy course and what I will experience in med school? Attached is our syllabus.

Thanks!

I found that people who had some anatomy experience fared significantly better during the course. A lot of what you learn, and what will stick, will be because of the time you spent looking at cadavers.

It's a good idea to take this online course. I never spent much time memorizing muscle origins and insertions. I felt that it was a waste. But I would focus on blood supply, innervations, and the courses that significant vessels/nerves take in the body.