Best Mnemonics (Not in FA)

[kissmyasthma99]

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What are some of your favorite mnemonics not in First Aid? It can be one that is common and not in FA, or one that you made up. I'll start:

Courtesy of DIT:
Treatment for testicular cancer: Eradicate Ball Cancer
Etoposide
Bleomycin
Cisplatin

One I made up because I couldn't keep the thyroid cancers straight:

take
1 PRETty BRA Off Annie's BODY
FASt so
2 MEN can C her Mounds.

The 1 stands for MC which is Papillary - which is what the P in pretty stands for. The capital RET in pretty is because papillary tumors are assoc with the ret protooncogene. Bra is for BRAF - because papillary has also been assoc with the BRAF gene. The capital O and the Annie for Orphan Annie nuclei, the body is for Psammoma bodies. F in fast is for follicular, it's on the second line, because it's the 2nd MC. The capital AS - rhyme with ras - which it what mutation it's assoc with. The M in mounds is for medullary, which is 3rd MC, which is why it is on the 3rd line. It's associated with MEN2A and MEN2B which is what the 2 MEN is about. They are associated with the ret protooncogene as well, but you already knew that. The C is because it is from the parafollicular C cells. Therefore it produces calcitonin.

What are some of yall's favorites?

 

[mordounhas]

I couldn't keep the drugs that can cause Stevens-Johnson straight until I came up with PCP LAPSE

Phenytoin
Carbamazepine
Phenobarbital

Lamotrigine
Allopurinol
Penicillin
Sulfa drugs
Erythromycin

There are just the ones mentioned in First Aid.

 

[pianoman511]

OK - this is a bit...vulgar, but those are everyone's favorites. For Wernicke-Korsakoff there is a degeneration of the mamillary bodies, so basically boobs associated with drinking....not too much of a stretch.

 

[kissmyasthma99]

I couldn't keep the drugs that can cause Stevens-Johnson straight until I came up with PCP LAPSE

Phenytoin
Carbamazepine
Phenobarbital

Lamotrigine
Allopurinol
Penicillin
Sulfa drugs
Erythromycin

There are just the ones mentioned in First Aid.

For that one, I use the seizures, sulfas, and cillins (+allopurinol). Gets you pretty far.

 

[kissmyasthma99]

That one reminded of mine for disulfiram-like reactions:

1st Can Makes you Puke

1st gen sulfonylureas, certain cephalosporins, metronidazole, and procarbazine.

And of course disulfiram. But if you need a mnemonic to remember that, you're screwed anyway.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

My all time favorite mnemonic is one I created recently (what can I say, I'm a fan of my own work) to help me remember the specific mechanism of action for the protein synthesis inhibitors (antibiotics).

http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/05/protein-synthesis-inhibitors-never-mix.html

There's also the one for the cofactors required in pyruvate dehydrogenase, alpha ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and branched chain keto acid dehydrogenase. I heard it from the guy in the Kaplan Biochem videos.

http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/05/cofactors.html

 

[golfman]

My all time favorite mnemonic is one I created recently (what can I say, I'm a fan of my own work) to help me remember the specific mechanism of action for the protein synthesis inhibitors (antibiotics).

http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/05/protein-synthesis-inhibitors-never-mix.html

There's also the one for the cofactors required in pyruvate dehydrogenase, alpha ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and branched chain keto acid dehydrogenase. I heard it from the guy in the Kaplan Biochem videos.

http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/05/cofactors.html

Well done. I hate those stupid protein synthesis inhibitors. Thanks!

 

[metalrex]

One colorful one I just remembered: I use this for the carpal bones rows and articulation, not quite original or HY, some of you may have used it too:

She Scaphoid
Looks Lunate
Too Triquetral
Pretty Pisiform

Try Trapezium
To Trapezoid
Catch Capitate
Her- Hamate

Helps me rem stuff like guyons canal, dislocation etc.

 

[golfman]

One colorful one I just remembered: I use this for the carpal bones rows and articulation, not quite original or HY, some of you may have used it too:

She Scaphoid
Looks Lunate
Too Triquetral
Pretty Pisiform

Try Trapezium
To Trapezoid
Catch Capitate
Her- Hamate

Helps me rem stuff like guyons canal, dislocation etc.

Nice one. I use "Some Lovers Try Positions That They Can't Handle"

 

[knuckles]

My all time favorite mnemonic is one I created recently (what can I say, I'm a fan of my own work) to help me remember the specific mechanism of action for the protein synthesis inhibitors (antibiotics).

http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/05/protein-synthesis-inhibitors-never-mix.html

There's also the one for the cofactors required in pyruvate dehydrogenase, alpha ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and branched chain keto acid dehydrogenase. I heard it from the guy in the Kaplan Biochem videos.

http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/05/cofactors.html

thank you, the protein synthesis ones are amazing.

one correction though, wouldn't tetracycline prevent aminoacyl-trna binding A site (not P)?

 

[Domenech]

Nice blog IMG! I think I'm gonna add some of your points in my notebook too for study

Also another thing. You gotta know which ribosome subunit is inhibited by a particular antibiotic. Streptomycin and Tetracyclines bind 30s. Most of the rest work with 50s. I think they're really fond of asking that in depth. Heck I even saw a question which asked which particular subunit of the 50s subunit is bound by Chloramphenicol. 23s I think and that's where the enzyme activity resides.

 

[aashkab]

Nice one. I use "Some Lovers Try Positions That They Can't Handle"

i remember learning these but are they fair game for the boards? is this "some of the stuff that isn't in FA" that is on boards?

 

[username456789]

i remember learning these but are they fair game for the boards? is this "some of the stuff that isn't in FA" that is on boards?

Certainly fair game, I'd imagine. I had a UW question today that straight up said "identify the lunate bone on this xray."

You can pretty much bet that unless they just ask a straight up identification question like that, it would be something like "hand x-ray + FOOSH = scaphoid/distal blood supply".

 

[aashkab]

thats what freaks me out. i guess i don't know "what is/what isn't on the boards". i'm using FA as the main guide but where does that "other" 35% come from. sigh, oh well, thats my rant for the day. i guess i'll have to review that when the question in world pops up.

 

[Rabbit Hole]

There is a website full of medical mnemonics that some of you may find useful:
MedicalMnemonics.com

Click on 'Browse' and you can sort by system, discipline, body part, etc.
You can download it for your PDA or download a PDF version.. I think they offer several options. It's free, of course.
I used it a few times during classes but not so much right now.

I have a few mnemonics of my own but they're too vulgar for SDN.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

thank you, the protein synthesis ones are amazing.

one correction though, wouldn't tetracycline prevent aminoacyl-trna binding A site (not P)?

Thanks for pointing that out! I will correct it right away.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

I also like the mnemonic for the B vitamins: The Rhythm Nearly Proved Contagious
B1: Thiamine
B2: Riboflavin --> FAD --> 2 ATP
B3: Niacin --> NAD --> 3 ATP
B6: Pyridoxine
B12: Cobalamin

Pantothenate is no longer considered a B vitamin, however in First Aid it's still referred to as B5.

 

[kissmyasthma99]

There is a website full of medical mnemonics that some of you may find useful:
MedicalMnemonics.com

Click on 'Browse' and you can sort by system, discipline, body part, etc.
You can download it for your PDA or download a PDF version.. I think they offer several options. It's free, of course.
I used it a few times during classes but not so much right now.

I have a few mnemonics of my own but they're too vulgar for SDN.

Thanks, I'll check out. And I'll go ahead and add one more:

X marks the spot for Fabry the treasure Hunter. (The two X-linked recessive lysosomal storage disorders = Fabry's and Hunters).

 

[metalrex]

I'll be grateful if someone has something for remembering that freakin' developmental milestones table from FA.....

 

[sswang00]

I'll be grateful if someone has something for remembering that freakin' developmental milestones table from FA.....

-Helpful to remember the shapes. Goes in alphabetical order
3-Circle
4-Cross
5-Square
6-Triangle

-TRIcycle at 3 yrs old. Double that: Bicycle at 6 yrs old

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

I'll be grateful if someone has something for remembering that freakin' developmental milestones table from FA.....

I created my own developmental milestones chart. It's kind of a hybrid between the ones in Kaplan, First Aid for the USMLE step 1, First aid for the basic sciences, and a few other resources. The bottom row of the table (the "others" row) has mnemonics for each age. The mnemonics cover a great deal of what's in the table, however there is still a lot of information that is not covered by the mnemonics, so you're still going to have to put in a lot of effort if you want to master this.

http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/05/developmental-milestones.html

I hope this makes life a bit easier for you metalrex. 🙂

 

[kissmyasthma99]

T4 dermatome - nipples

T is 4 titties!

 

[Tourterm]

I'm not sure how useful or 100% accurate this is, but as per First Aid's page 428, attached here is one for first line epilepsy drugs for various epileptic disorders. Sorry about the small size, but it had to fit size restrictions to be uploaded.

 

[SxRx]

Not sure if it's too useful....but I used to get confused btwn which symptoms are Wernicke and which symptoms are Korsakoff...so,

W with eyeballs drawn in the letter W is for Wernicke's for eye issues =opthalmoplegia, nystagmus etc....

K for Konfabulation in Korsakoff's

=)

 

[metalrex]

I created my own developmental milestones chart. It's kind of a hybrid between the ones in Kaplan, First Aid for the USMLE step 1, First aid for the basic sciences, and a few other resources. The bottom row of the table (the "others" row) has mnemonics for each age. The mnemonics cover a great deal of what's in the table, however there is still a lot of information that is not covered by the mnemonics, so you're still going to have to put in a lot of effort if you want to master this.

http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/05/developmental-milestones.html

I hope this makes life a bit easier for you metalrex. 🙂

Thanks bro! Good luck with your studying.

As for life being easier, it won't be until July 14th

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

Thanks bro! Good luck with your studying.

As for life being easier, it won't be until July 14th

hehe. Guess what!? My exam's on the same day! 😀 Good luck!

 

[kissmyasthma99]

I'm not sure how useful or 100% accurate this is, but as per First Aid's page 428, attached here is one for first line epilepsy drugs for various epileptic disorders. Sorry about the small size, but it had to fit size restrictions to be uploaded.

Thanks, this is awesome 🙂

 

[metalrex]

hehe. Guess what!? My exam's on the same day! 😀 Good luck!

lol, my result is on the same day,though I half wish it was the exam.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

Here's a good mnemonic from the Kaplan USMLE Step 1 Lecture notes:
Bacterial toxins that induce cAMP
c = cholera
A = anthrax
∑ = ETEC
P = pertussis

 

[drmedstudent]

any helpful way to remember all the branchial arch derivatives on pg129?

 

[2001bmw330xi]

A few:

Having trouble remembering schizophrenia versus schizophreniform timing, etc?
ABs FORM PHRENds (like, having abs forms friends):

schizoaffective ( > 2 weeks)
brief psychotic disorder ( < 1 month)
schizophreniform ( 1 - 6 months)
schizophrenia ( > 6 months)

----

What is the human source for Vitamin D2? Plants!
D2 = "D-two" = D-tulip

(yes, tulip is a flower, but you get the point, lol)

----

Superego is like a superhero ... the "moral" guy, telling you what's wrong.

----

Ever heard the expression, "fall by the wayside?"
Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): used to monitor intellectual decline, so:

"fall by the waiside" (wayside)

-----
this last one is a stretch...


Bipolar II = Hypomanic episode

("II" and "H" look really similar?)

 

[metalrex]

A few:

Having trouble remembering schizophrenia versus schizophreniform timing, etc?
ABs FORM PHRENds (like, having abs forms friends):

schizoaffective ( > 2 weeks)
brief psychotic disorder ( < 1 month)
schizophreniform ( 1 - 6 months)
schizophrenia ( > 6 months)

----

What is the human source for Vitamin D2? Plants!
D2 = "D-two" = D-tulip

(yes, tulip is a flower, but you get the point, lol)

----

Superego is like a superhero ... the "moral" guy, telling you what's wrong.

----

Ever heard the expression, "fall by the wayside?"
Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): used to monitor intellectual decline, so:

"fall by the waiside" (wayside)

-----
this last one is a stretch...


Bipolar II = Hypomanic episode

("II" and "H" look really similar?)

Thanks ! 👍👍

 

[neopentanol]

*vulgar

I Let My Penis Trip Vacuums

Hydrophobic amino acids: Isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, valine.

You can switch vacuums with vandals or vampires or whatever

 

[2001bmw330xi]

For Legionella pneumophila:

"I insist on bringing my silver umbrella, it might rain cats and charcoal" (instead of "raining cats and dogs"...😉)

Legionella, appears on silver stain, can also use Charcoal yeast with cysteine, it's catalase positive, often associated with hopsital tap water (the "rain" is supposed to make you think water).

----

Corynebacterium diptheriae:

"Stay positive dip****, of course I'll tell you right".

C. diptheriae, gram positive, tellurite agar

 

[metalrex]

Wow, you guys are THE incredible mnemonics brigade here 👍

Does anyone have anything for remembering the genetic inheritance pattern of major diseases? I know FA has some, but they don't seem to be enough to know.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

Wow, you guys are THE incredible mnemonics brigade here 👍

Does anyone have anything for remembering the genetic inheritance pattern of major diseases? I know FA has some, but they don't seem to be enough to know.

I don't have a mnemonic for these, but here is the method I use for the modes of inheritence:

X-linked recessive: the mnemonic in First Aid (Be Wise, Fool's GOLD Heeds Silly Hope)

X-linked dominant: hypophosphatemic rickets, Retts, and Fragile X

Autosomal recessive:
these are mostly metabolic diseases:
1. glycogen storage diseases
2. hemochromatosis
3. phenylketonuria
4. albinism
5. mucopolysaccharidoses except Hunter's
6. Sphingolipidoses except Fabry's

+ Hemoglobinopathies (thalassemias and sickle cell anemias)
+ ARPKD (obviously)

Autosomal Dominant:
these are mostly structural proteins: achondroplasia, hereditary spherocytosis, Marfan's syndrome

neoplastic syndromes (Familial adenomatous polyposis, Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, MEN, Neurofibromatosis 1 and 2, Tuberous sclerosis, VHL disease)
This is especially true for those involving oncogenes, because only one activated oncogene is required to produce a neoplasia.

2 others you need to know: Familial hypercholesterolemia, Huntington's disease

 

[knuckles]

XLD: don't forget Retts and Fragile X

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

Okay, I added those 2 to the XLD diseases.

 

[AppTrail]

QIQ QISS (quick kiss)

M1 Gq
M2 Gi
M3 Gq

a1 Gq
a2 Gi
b1 Gs
b2 Gs

 

[NoWayOut]

Huntington's Disease :
A B C D

Anticipation
Behavioral problems (aggressiveness, apathy or depression)
Chorea
Dementia

 

[HTxFrog]

Just thought of one for something I can never remember. For the dyslipidemias, they are in alphabetical order of what is increased, so:
Type I: Chylomicrons; Type II: LDL; Type III: Remnants; Type IV: VLDL; Type V: VLDL and Chylomicrons.
Maybe noone else has trouble remembering that, but that has been giving me trouble forever. Hopefully that helps someone.

 

[badasshairday]

Frog,

I found that very helpful. Thanks.



Now only if somebody could find an easy way to memorize the lysosomal storage diseases, including the deficient enzyme and the substrate accumulated. I swear, I think that page of FA is the absolute hardest to memorize.

 

[HTxFrog]

I put my way for remembering that in a post a few days ago, but its really bad so I wouldn't bother trying to find it haha

 

[wahaha007]

for me so hard to memorize major lipoproteins.
anyone help me out from that.
thank you.

 

[metalrex]

viruses man! anyone?

 

[golfman]

viruses man! anyone?

The only way for me to remember viruses is to memorize them exactly in the way they are presented in the first aid tables. Then, when a question pops up about +Rna or -Dna, etc... I just try to picture the table.

I know that doesn't really help, but I hardly ever miss virus questions now because I spent eons of time shoving that stupid table into my brain. Will be one of the first things I forget after the boards too. 🙂

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

Viral capsids

· All DNA viruses have icosahedral capsids except poxvirus (complex)
· All RNA viruses have icosahedral capsids except a few that are Helical: A HELYX
.o .A= Arenaviruses
.o .H= RHabdovirus (the only one with the letter "H")
.o .E= Emperors wear crowns "Corona-" viruses
.o .L= "L" is the third letter in HELYX, so any enveloped RNA virus that has an L in the third position is helical. These include FiLoviruses and DeLtavirus.
N.B. Calicivirus is a naked virus, and all naked viruses have icosahedral capsids.
.o .Y= "Y" is the 4th letter of HELYX, and the only RNA virus with a Y in the fourth position is BunYavirus
.o .X= The viruses that have "X" in their name are orthomyXoviruses and paramyXoviruses

Note that this mnemonic also works for the negative sense viruses. All the "A HELYX" viruses are -ssRNA except Coronaviruses which are +ssRNA. This is easy to remember because in this mnemonic, Coronavirus is the only that does not contain the letter that represents it ("E").

Any RNA virus not in the "A HELYX" is +ssRNA virus (besides "repeato" viruses of course)

The reason I chose not to use the first letter of the virus for the mnemonic is because there are so many viruses that start with the same letter, so it would be too confusing. This mnemonic made learning the virus families so much easier for me, and I hope it does the same for you.

You can download my full virology cheat sheet from my blog:
http://imgusmlestep1.blogspot.com/2010/06/virology-cheat-sheet.html

 

[NoWayOut]

I have a real stupid mneumonic on CONTENTS OF SPERMATIC CORD but I don't like it and I was wondering if anyone has anything better ...
the one I have is

CATS Vs PiG

Cremasteric
Artery of vas deferens
Testicular art
Sympath&parasymth nrvs of Spermatic plexus

Vas deferens

Pampiniform venous plexus
i
Genitourinary Nrv

I know stupid but I can't think of anything else...so yah got somethin' better?

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

I have a real stupid mneumonic on CONTENTS OF SPERMATIC CORD but I don't like it and I was wondering if anyone has anything better ...
the one I have is

CATS Vs PiG

Cremasteric
Artery of vas deferens
Testicular art
Sympath&parasymth nrvs of Spermatic plexus

Vas deferens

Pampiniform venous plexus
i
Genitourinary Nrv

I know stupid but I can't think of anything else...so yah got somethin' better?

I've come with something just for you, but it's not perfect, so you might want to play around with it a bit: SPERMATIC

S = Sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves
P = Pampiniform venous plexus
E = Epididymis continuation (i.e. the vas deferens)
R = Round ligament Replaces the spermatic cord in females.
M = genital branch of genitofeMoral nerve (yea, I know this one sucks lol)
A = Artery of vas deferens
T = Testicular artery
I = Ilioinguinal nerve (not in the spermatic cord, but accompanies it in the inguinal canal)
C = Cremasteric artery

The genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve is sometimes referred to as the cremasteric nerve because it takes part in the cremasteric reflex. So you may want to put it under "C" with Cremasteric artery, but then M wouldn't have anything.

Another one I just thought of is PERFECT:
P = Pampiniform venous plexus
E = Epididymis' continuation (vas deferens) + its artery
R = Round ligament (Replaces spermatic cord in females)
F = genital branch of genitoFemoral nerve
E = Extra stuff (sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, lymphatics, vestige of processus vaginalis)
C = Cremasteric artery
T = Testicular artery

 

[NoWayOut]

I've come with something just for you, but it's not perfect, so you might want to play around with it a bit: SPERMATIC

S = Sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves
P = Pampiniform venous plexus
E = Epididymis continuation (i.e. the vas deferens)
R = Round ligament Replaces the spermatic cord in females.
M = genital branch of genitofeMoral nerve (yea, I know this one sucks lol)
A = Artery of vas deferens
T = Testicular artery
I = Ilioinguinal nerve (not in the spermatic cord, but accompanies it in the inguinal canal)
C = Cremasteric artery

The genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve is sometimes referred to as the cremasteric nerve because it takes part in the cremasteric reflex. So you may want to put it under "C" with Cremasteric artery, but then M wouldn't have anything.

Another one I just thought of is PERFECT:
P = Pampiniform venous plexus
E = Epididymis' continuation (vas deferens) + its artery
R = Round ligament (Replaces spermatic cord in females)
F = genital branch of genitoFemoral nerve
E = Extra stuff (sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, lymphatics, vestige of processus vaginalis)
C = Cremasteric artery
T = Testicular artery

Thank you.