Anatomy study tips

[shava9865]

Anyone have any good,solid tips for studying anatomy. I feel this class will be challenging just considering the sheer amount of info we'll be expected to know. Please feel free to comment.

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[spo01]

"Mr. Mr. Mr."-Mnemonics and repetition. Mnemonics and repetition. Mnemonics and repetition.

 

[scrlet52]

Its the easiest class you'll take

 

[spo01]

Its the easiest class you'll take

Are you kidding? Anatomy is a pain in the a*s and I put more effort into that class than any other. I've noticed that people who found anatomy easy also found physiology the hardest and vice versa. Maybe you fall into the former and I fall into the latter but either way it is far from being the easiest class you'll take.

 

[PodunkUDPM]

Its the easiest class you'll take

Hopefully you are joking... It's one of the most important classes you will take. Especially LEA.

 

[msa786]

"mr. Mr. Mr."-mnemonics and repetition. Mnemonics and repetition. Mnemonics and repetition.

exactly!

 

[darazon]

Has anyone used the flash cards that you can purchase at about every college bookstore? If so, was it worth the $30 or so?

 

[shava9865]

Has anyone used the flash cards that you can purchase at about every college bookstore? If so, was it worth the $30 or so?

Are they Netter's? I've been told that Netter's flashcards are extremely helpful.

 

[darazon]

Are they Netter's? I've been told that Netter's flashcards are extremely helpful.

Netter's are one of the brands they have. That's good to know - they looked like they would be very useful.

 

[lojick]

anatomy is neither a cakewalk or impossible... however, it demands alot of time, so here are some tips to ace it:
1. don't procrastinate
2. mnemonics- honestly, i don't know a single one, but they do serve there purpose. rote memorization is useful for first order questions and possibly identification in practical, but it fails to reinforce relations and functions.
3. functions and relations- if you know what the function of X is and it's relation/orientation to other anatomical structures, it will be easier to commit the info to memory and it will allow you to reason through 1st n 2nd order q's
4. prepare- prior to dissection/class look over the material even if it is just briefly that way you're ready for what is comin
5. repetition- unfortunately, there is no other way around it. anatomy, especially lea, is one subject you will have to be a master of for the rest of ur carreer, might as well get make it easy on urself from the start
6. pimp everyone n be pimped- you will spend many hours on ur dissection. try to keep the small talk to a minimum, and use the time understand the relations ur currently working on and come up w/ q's to stomp ur table... than have them come up w q's (by far, this helped me the most)
7. help others- there will be people that struggle w/ the subject. understanding the material is good, but if u can teach the material u will master it
8. don't procrastinate-@ the begining of the year it does not seem like a big deal, but by the end, test will start coming every week along with another hundred unplanned circumstances. if you want to minimize ur burn out and possibly still have a social life, practice time management from the begining of the semester n not the end

hope that was helpful

asfor books:
-any atlas will do, netter is the most popular
-a picture atlas is great, especially when the labs are closed before a practical

 

[PADPM]

Whether or not anatomy is easy is simply up to the individual. But from a practice standpoint, anatomy is one of the single most important classes you will have in your entire 4 years.

I can almost guarantee you that you won't be utilizing biochemistry or even histology on a daily basis, but you will definitely be utilizing anatomy daily.

To understand most injuries or pathology, you must first understand the anatomy. Naturally, physiology, function, mechanics, etc., all play an important role in putting everything "together", but it all starts with understanding basic anatomy.

You can't even think about being a competent surgeon without having a great knowledge of anatomy. You can't read a CT scan, MRI or other radiological study, especially if it involves cross sectional images if you don't know your anatomy. You can't adequately assess an injury or trauma if you don't know your anatomy, etc., etc.., etc.

The biggest problem I've seen with students studying anatomy, is memorizing individual muscles, tendons or structures and not looking at the whole picture. It's virtually impossible to learn anatomy by memorizing individual structures, without understanding how everything "fits together" and works.

You can not study anatomy notes without an atlas in front of you. It's impossible. You can't have notes that state that muscle "A" originates at this point and inserts at this point and is innervated by this nerve and it's action is to perform X function.

You need to look at a picture to SEE where it originates and where it inserts and then you'll simply figure out it's function.

I believe too many students attempt to memorize, rather than look at an atlas and understand the anatomy. If you understand the anatomy, you won't have to memorize.

Mnemonics are great when it comes to remembering certain facts such as which muscles are in a particular group or compartment, but I know a lot of people that can rattle off mnemonics, but forget what the mnemonics represent!

So, the bottom line is that anatomy is extremely important and will definitely be used on a regular basis throughout your career. To learn anatomy, you must understand it, not just memorize it, and you must utilize an excellent atlas while studying to see the "big picture" so you can integrate the material and not learn individual facts that don't blend together.

Remember, the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone and the ankle bone's connected to the leg bone.....

 

[krabmas]

I found the coloring books helpful for general anatomy.

For LEA I used the McMinn Foot and Ankle Anatomy Atlas.

As stated before repitition, repitition, repitition. I took notes in class, then typed them up, then tutored class mates.

I am a very visual person and am terrible at memorization, but the pictures in my head are worth more than 1000 words.

I would cover the words in the atlas and quiz myself until I got everything right on the page, then go to the next page - over and over and over. It helps to do this on a sunny day while lying out, just more fun.

 

[MaseratiGT]

Whether or not anatomy is easy is simply up to the individual. But from a practice standpoint, anatomy is one of the single most important classes you will have in your entire 4 years.

I can almost guarantee you that you won't be utilizing biochemistry or even histology on a daily basis, but you will definitely be utilizing anatomy daily.

To understand most injuries or pathology, you must first understand the anatomy. Naturally, physiology, function, mechanics, etc., all play an important role in putting everything "together", but it all starts with understanding basic anatomy.

You can't even think about being a competent surgeon without having a great knowledge of anatomy. You can't read a CT scan, MRI or other radiological study, especially if it involves cross sectional images if you don't know your anatomy. You can't adequately assess an injury or trauma if you don't know your anatomy, etc., etc.., etc.

The biggest problem I've seen with students studying anatomy, is memorizing individual muscles, tendons or structures and not looking at the whole picture. It's virtually impossible to learn anatomy by memorizing individual structures, without understanding how everything "fits together" and works.

You can not study anatomy notes without an atlas in front of you. It's impossible. You can't have notes that state that muscle "A" originates at this point and inserts at this point and is innervated by this nerve and it's action is to perform X function.

You need to look at a picture to SEE where it originates and where it inserts and then you'll simply figure out it's function.

I believe too many students attempt to memorize, rather than look at an atlas and understand the anatomy. If you understand the anatomy, you won't have to memorize.

Mnemonics are great when it comes to remembering certain facts such as which muscles are in a particular group or compartment, but I know a lot of people that can rattle off mnemonics, but forget what the mnemonics represent!

So, the bottom line is that anatomy is extremely important and will definitely be used on a regular basis throughout your career. To learn anatomy, you must understand it, not just memorize it, and you must utilize an excellent atlas while studying to see the "big picture" so you can integrate the material and not learn individual facts that don't blend together.

Remember, the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone and the ankle bone's connected to the leg bone.....

I found the coloring books helpful for general anatomy.

For LEA I used the McMinn Foot and Ankle Anatomy Atlas.

As stated before repitition, repitition, repitition. I took notes in class, then typed them up, then tutored class mates.

I am a very visual person and am terrible at memorization, but the pictures in my head are worth more than 1000 words.

I would cover the words in the atlas and quiz myself until I got everything right on the page, then go to the next page - over and over and over. It helps to do this on a sunny day while lying out, just more fun.

Like PADPM said, you may know 32423857439872389472389 mnemonics, but you won't remember them all for your boards after 2nd year, or more importantly, for your future patients. I found that working with someone else, say for muscles, and watching the muscles flex and relax was helpful for me.

The picture thing that Krabs brought up is good as well. I think the pictures help because you're memorizing so many particles of information. The anatomy pics put the info into a different format, and helped me to recall the material better with a greater understanding.

 

[beyoncefan]

Thanks guys for all the advice... there should be more helpful study threads like this instead of all those threads about Pod school vs. Med school 👍

 

[dyk343]

Are you kidding? Anatomy is a pain in the a*s and I put more effort into that class than any other. I've noticed that people who found anatomy easy also found physiology the hardest and vice versa. Maybe you fall into the former and I fall into the latter but either way it is far from being the easiest class you'll take.

I agree with this from a personal standpoint.
I did really well in Anatomy, and just okay in physio with much more effort put into physio than anatomy.

Being a bio major, physio should make more sense for me. Anatomy... wasnt that bad.

 

[malleolusman]

Just my experience, when I arrived to podiatry school and took general, it was a bit of a shocker in terms of how to learn the material.

I think different methods work for different people. When I took LEA the following semester, I knew exactly what I needed to do at that point to ensure success and I felt very comfortable. For me, it was long hours in the lab with my notes, reading, and then looking at the muscles, mumbling & repeating things to myself. I zone in and out in a library when I study, so sitting in a lab with a cadaver kept me very focused on the subject at hand as it was very visual.

It worked for me, but I also know people who studied strictly textbook over and over, and came to the lab 3-4 days before the practical and learned that aspect in a snap. Find what works for you, and stick to it, and some people said it before and I'll say it again - repetition is key.

ps: podiatry school is dental school. begin debate.

jk

 

[Paulywog]

I agree that Anatomy was one of the easier classes to study for because it is not conceptual and they don't find new muscles on a weekly basis. Just memorize and you are done. How can people say mnemonics are not that useful? I remembered most of them for my board exam and they came in very handy. There is a technique for good mneumonics though. Some people just make up random letters that do not correlate to anything and are harder to remember than the actual anatomy words.
There are numerous study aids out there for anatomy. Ask the 3rd and 4th year pods at your school what worked best for them and get ready to go to work. Lots of time and persistence is required.
I'm still puzzled as to why people say not to use mneumonics. They cut my study time and memorizing time almost in half. They also made studying a little more exciting. Maybe we can start a thread for everyones favorite mneumonics. Like many people said before, everyone learns in a different way.

 

[beyoncefan]

podiatry school vs dental school. begin debate.

lol 🙂