best way to study histo slides?

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shreypete

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hey guys i'm back again. I have a histology credit test coming up on jan. 2 and i have to pass that in order to go on to the 2nd semester. i'm having a hard time studying the slides coz a lot of slides look very similar yet are very different. the worst thing is for the slide test, we're supposed to identify the tissue or organ (epithelial, connective, nerve, muscular etc) and also the staining.

how did/do you guys go about studying this insanity? do you first learn the theory from the text/atlas and then look at the slides? (coz i guess you perhaps will know what you're looking for)....are there any other methods for studying the slides? perhaps repitition? looking at the slides again and again?

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the worst thing is for the slide test, we're supposed to identify the tissue or organ (epithelial, connective, nerve, muscular etc) and also the staining.

Agreed.

Repetition is your friend. A good book (like Wheater's) is helpful, unless you have an outstanding professor.
 
I liked Kierzenbaum. It's a little dense and it gives you more info than you need as a MS1, but it links function of the organ to cellular structure and how it looks microscopically pretty well. I use it as a MS2 to review.
 
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Wheaters is an excellent resource, the best thing is they have some "self-testing" pages where there are only pictures and no descriptions. There aren't so many different staining techniques, so I don't think that aspect is bad. H&E, Ag, PAS (Acid Schiff), Trichrome, OsO4 seem to be ones that come up a lot.
 
In our class, before each test, someone would make powerpoints with the slides, making sure to put several different slides of each type with different stains, magnifications, etc. I used these to quiz myself. Also, studying with someone else and discussing the distinguishing features of each type of tissue. At the end of the day, repetition is the key... looking at the slides over and over again and quizzing myself until it was automatic.
 
I used Wheaters Functional Histology. The chapters are fairly brief and I felt it gives a good general overview of the stuff we covered and helped me to differentiate a lot of the stuff I was seeing.
 
If you're the type to need lots of info/background do Junquiera for histo. Wheater's sufficed for me but a lot of my classmates used Junquiera. Also, at my med school, during lab we watched these ridiculous 1980s histo tapes by Dr. David Moran which are really helpful where he points out stuff and gives you tests at the end(it may be time consuming) but look it up. perhaps, you'll find links to it online.
but as someone said above, repetition is your best friend for histo. if you look at the pictures enough, they'll start to make sense and get fairly easy. good luck!
 
hey thanks EBI831, i'm gonna try and find out more about those tapes. I guess i'm not feeling confident in histo. coz most of my time goes of for studying anatomy.....coz anatomy is just so voluminous.....
 
I usually try to use my eyes.......Then again I don't see that well from my ass. I think It's because I only have one eye on my ass, and it's red all the time.....

Sincerely,

Mr. RED EYE
 
Hey guys, thanks for all you advice...i finally passed histo with a 97%....and i owe it to you guys (coz i did use the sites you mentioned along with my text)...thank you very much
 
If you want something different, try drawing what you see on the slides, i helped me alot.
 
hey there andymac08, my histo. prof. says the same thing...but i find that drawing is the hardest part...i mean how are you supposed to draw all thosee intricate fibers and meshwork?
 
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