Here is a clip from a blog a wrote a while back on how I'd study anatomy if I were in 1st year again. Your mileage will vary. I just wanted to put this out there.
I often wish I had known certain things when I was a first year medical student. Now having completed that phase of my training, I know that if I had the chance, I would have done many things differently with regards to what and how I studied.
Anatomy
Here is my recipe for how to really, truly learn anatomy well.
1. Watch Acland's
I wish I knew about these gems sooner in my anatomy studying. They are a series of high-quality, expertly narrated fresh dissections. Dr. Acland goes through key structures and landmarks in each region of the body. There are a lot of details missing, to be sure, but these videos give an excellent overview of the body's anatomy. I think anatomy is best studied by zooming in a couple of times from different levels. What I mean is, first, you want to get the 30,000 foot aerial view of the territory, just so you're familiar with the big stuff and the definitions and the overall plan. Then, you want to zoom in a little farther. This is where you want to crack out an excellent, clinically-relevant text like Moore's Essential Clinical Anatomy so you can appreciate the finer detail. I also have become a big fan of
Big Picture: Gross Anatomy recently. I think I would have made this my primary book if I could go back to first year. Then, if you really want the nitty-gritty, you can go in even further with Big Gray's or Big Moore. I don't think this is necessary, but for those who love anatomy, this could be useful.
So, I think Aclands should be the first thing you do. Before you start a new body system, get a cup of coffee and some snacks and pull up Aclands on your laptop. Sit back, relax. No need to take notes at this point. Just absorb on the first pass. I DO recommend having a good atlas such as Netter's to consult if anything is unclear on Aclands (which it usually isn't).
2. Read... not too much at once, but a little each day.
After you've got that aerial view, now it's time to zoom in. There are a slew of anatomy texts out there. Gray's Anatomy for Students and Moore's Essential Clinical Anatomy are the most popular I think. Everyone will have their preferences. I used Gray's but I wish I had used Big Picture or maybe Little Moore's. Time is limited in med school and you have to make a choice about how much you think you can reasonably learn and retain for the long term. I think it's better to have a complete albeit superficial understanding of a topic rather than a more detailed but fragmented or incomplete understanding. That's why so many medical students opt for review books; they don't have all the details, but you get the big picture, so that later on when you do need to get more detailed, you've got the intellectual infrastructure.
I think for learning anatomy, the review books like BRS Anatomy or High Yield are too little information. I don't think bullet points work terribly well with anatomy. Other subjects, outline form is great, but I think with anatomy, it's good to get more of a narrative. But not TOO much of a narrative such that you get overwhelmed by the details. It's kind of like Goldy Locks. You have to find the source that is just right. Gray's I thought was too much. BRS anatomy too little. Moore's Essential Clinical Anatomy is just right. It's got more than enough detail (at almost 900 pages) but has ton's of clinical correlates (blue boxes), good pictures and straightforward, approachable, intuitive text. I think a medical student can reasonably make it through this book with a dedicated schedule and get more than enough detail about clinical anatomy.
I think it's important to pace yourself when studying anything, but especially anatomy. Just like with food, information gluttony makes you feel sick and doesn't stay down. So making a reading schedule is key. 15-25 pages/day max. Less is better if you can get away with it.
3. Make Anki Flashcards while you read.. then crush them.
I've extolled the virtues of Anki before so, I'll just summarize here. Anki is a spaced repetition flashcard program. If you want to remember something - anything - Anki is the way to go. If you want to remember something, you need to be drilled on it multiple times and at increasingly longer intervals. This is true of all factual knowledge, but with anatomy, this is particularly so.
Unlike physiology or pathology, where you might use some conceptual knowledge to deduce something about a disease process, anatomy is largely a memorizatoin game. There is no getting around the fact that you just need to spend time with the material - lots of time. And if you want to have a chance of remembering most of the stuff you're learning as you slog through the texts and slice into you cadaver, you need something like Anki to keep reminding you.
Here is what I recommend (and I actually did this; I started Anki because I was looking for a way to help me retain all the anatomy info I was hit with):
Read. -> As you're reading, take note of salient facts and structures. Make a card for whatever fact you want to remember. Include an image. If you have your anatomy texts online, you can copy and paste with ease right into your card. This is one area where I will hand it to Gray's - the images are best in this book.
So you make your cards as you go through your reading. Then after your reading, you immediately review your cards. It is essential to do this as soon as possible. Don't let any time lag between your reading and you reviewing. This process is critical for committing your hard-earned knowledge to memory. And remember, Anki will schedule these cards for future reviews.
You don't just see these cards once and move on. You need to continually review even while you're learning new stuff. That is why I say it's so important to pace yourself and set a reasonable schedule.
4. Repeat.
Do this same process for every body system. Watch Aclands -> read and make cards -> review cards -> read again the next day -> and so on and so forth.
5. Before you go to lab...
Anatomy lab is a rite of passage of medical school. When you're in there slicing through layers of fascia and fat and dissecting body parts, you really feel like a medical student. Some people find anatomy lab extremely helpful while others find it less so. I was in the latter camp, but I don't want to dissuade anyone from going to lab. You have to see what's best for you. What I will say, however, is that lab will be infinitely more meaningful if you know what you're looking for beforehand. Going in blind will make your time very low yield. You'll be picking blindly through a mess of parts that don't mean much to you. Your time would be better spent doing something else. On the other hand, if you've done your reading and watched Acland's before lab, you'll be ready to go - ready to be a rockstar.
At most schools, anatomy class usually precedes lab time. I generally found lecture to be pretty ineffective for the way I learned. I think a better way to prepare for lab would be to use the hour or so before lab to watch the relevant Acland's videos at 2x speed. I think if you do this, your lab time will be very well spent and quite useful. I wish I had followed this advice last year. I would have learned a lot more.
