I hope this isn't too stupid of a question, but how high yield are the brain stem cross sections and determining which nuclei is which? If it is high yield, how do you go about memorizing all the nuclei and being able to differentiate the different cranial nerves. It seems impossible! Thanks
-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Step I brain stem cross section and nuclei
Started by AllUpOnYoMama
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
Just know what the cranial nerves do and what symptoms are caused by deficits in those nerves. Not a lot of anatomy on the test in general, so at best you may get a couple of cross sections. MRIs and CTs of brain injuries and disease are more likely neuroanatomy questions.
I had a few specific brainstem / spinal cord questions on my exam. So it is pretty important to have a decent idea of where things are. I believe I got by simplying by knowing my left from my right [eliminated half the answers] and using the "motor in the middle" strategy. As always, HY Neuroanatomy covers everything you'd need to know.
Was your SC question a lesion question (i.e. Brown Sequard)
Just went over neuro and there seems to be alot of low yield information, especially in comparison to what USMLE world focuses on. Does anybody know if UW is indicative of the level we should know these things? I would hate to have a question on the real thing with a brainstem picture asking me where a specific CN is. That would be craptastic.
Just went over neuro and there seems to be alot of low yield information, especially in comparison to what USMLE world focuses on. Does anybody know if UW is indicative of the level we should know these things? I would hate to have a question on the real thing with a brainstem picture asking me where a specific CN is. That would be craptastic.
That seems pretty HY to me...it takes about 15 min to learn, so I'd memorize it anyway...I did all of UW neuroanat and had 3-4 q's re:CN locations on an image or specimen of the brainstem.
