Failed anatomy twice, need advice.

[Some dude 99]

I'm not from an US med school, so let me explain how the system works here in my med school. Medical schools in my country is 6 years long and divided in 12 semesters. Anatomy is divided in 3 parts (musculoskeletal anatomy, organ system, neuro), and we take them over 3 semesters. I failed anatomy 1 (musculoskeletal anatomy) but that does not prevent you from moving on with your course. So, they let me remediate. I failed that. Now, I'm a 3rd year medical student (it's a long story how/why I'm a 3rd year medical student if I failed something we take in the 2nd semester, but that does not matter), was able to pass the other 2 anatomies (not honor, just pass). To make things worse (or better, idk), I'm doing somewhat well in my other classes (~75 is what I usually get, with some ~80's and some high 60's here and there).

Thing is, although we are allowed to move on even if we fail a class, you can only FAIL --> REMEDIATE --> REMEDIATE AGAIN, after that they can kick you our of med school. Can, not will. So, pretty much, if I fail again I'll have a LOT of explaning to do so that they give me one last chance, but it's likely they'll give me that last chance.

All in all, where I stand right now: I can still fail remediation one more time, w/o being expelled. Our grades during medical school, where I live, WILL NOT MATTER at all when we're applying for residency. They won't even know I failed anatomy or my GPA or anything. So, thank Jesus, messing my chances of a good residency is not an issue here.

My question is: how on earth can I study if I have very little time with my anatomy professor (1 hr a week), more important things to study (right now I'm having surgery, cardiology/pneumo/hematology classes) and very little acess to my anatomy lab ? Any advices on websites or books I can find online ? I know it's a somewhat tall order, but I'm freaking out here. I know I'm not stupid, but I can't seem to understand anatomy. I just can't. Does not make sense at all to me.

If you read all my rant/post and still able to offer advice (or confort), thank you very, very much. Sorry for my english not being that good, but I think you guys will be able to understand what I'm saying.

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[Microshaft]

prepare your angus

 

[Jepstein30]

don't do what you did the first two times

 

[s5260205]

prepare your angus

 

[Stagg737]

Do you know what you missed on the tests/practicals? If you do, then you should know what you need to study to improve. If you feel like you don't know anything then you need to find a new way to study that subject. How did you study for it the first 2 times? Did you change your methods? What did the people who did really well do that you didn't? I think if you can answer those questions you should be able to figure out what you need to do pass this time.

 

[Smurfette]

Basically, you need to figure out what you did wrong both times before, and then figure out how to approach it differently enough to be successful. Also, if you are repeating this simultaneous with other responsibilities academically, you are at a big disadvantage. without knowing exactly what makes it difficult for you also makes it difficult for us to give you suggestions. Musculoskeletal anatomy involves a lot of straight-up memorization; try flashcards with muscle name, origin/insertion, associated nerve(s), blood supply, etc. if you haven't already. Carry the flashcards with you and study them during any down time you may have.

 

[Psai]

You need to pass anatomy but other classes are more important. You need your anatomy teacher in order to study. Makes sense

 

[Pacna]

Ask your classmates what they did and do that.

 

[Some dude 99]

Do you know what you missed on the tests/practicals? If you do, then you should know what you need to study to improve. If you feel like you don't know anything then you need to find a new way to study that subject. How did you study for it the first 2 times? Did you change your methods? What did the people who did really well do that you didn't? I think if you can answer those questions you should be able to figure out what you need to do pass this time.

I can do ok-ish in my praticals (~50-60%, which would be a pass). Thing is, on my written exam (which is half of my grade) we are only asked 4-5 questions. No multiple choice questions. So, as I said, we get 4-5 questions on our written, and to make things worst, let's say they ask about ''lesion X''. If you cannot ID what it is, your grade could and most likely will drop to the ~70-60. Why ? Because the subitens are all related to each other.

I've watched some videos, used Moore + Yokochi (the best options here in Brazil). Thing is, I guess, I can memorize where some stuff are and that's why I can get a marginal pass on my praticals.

But when it comes to my tests, and they ask (disclaimer: that is not an actual question, just making something up to try and explain why I have so many issues) : ''a 35-years-old male in your ER has a wound in the upper 1/3 of his arm, which is bleeding.. During surgery, you accidently cut a nerve that runs medial to that vascular structure. A) What nerve did you cut ? B) What movements will be abolished due to the injury ? C) What mm. that nerve innervates ? D) Name the lesion.
So, if I cant ID what the hell the professor wants, in a scenario like this, the most I'll be able to get is a 60%, due to ONE question. Which means, I'm FUBAR.

Any advice on how to ''translate'' what they ask on the written to a visual image ? That'sa the thing, I can't picture it in my head.

 

[DrJonesenberg]

If you have an ipad get the visible body app. It made a world of difference for me. In musculoskeletal I would click a muscle and try and know what it is, innervation, origin/insertion and blood supply and then hide that muscle and move onto the next one until there was only a skeleton left

 

[Promethean]

I know you said that isn't one of the exact questions, but it seems entirely reasonable to me. You aren't trying to pass anatomy just to pass anatomy. You are trying to pass it so that you possess enough knowledge to help people rather than hurting them. If you aren't acquiring a knowledge base that allows you to easily answer the question you posed then you SHOULDN'T pass a medical school anatomy course.

Eat, sleep, breathe anatomy. You don't get free time until you pass this course. Use several learning tools. An app on your phone, anatomy atlases. Don't just try to memorize structures, think about what they do, and why. Listen to lectures on the internet. Use every resource you can find and really put in the hours of study. When you get sick of one system, look at another. Don't go out. Don't play games. If you give this a solid 3 weeks of really intense study, you can get to where you need to be and go back to a more normal study schedule.

I personally think that anatomy and physiology (taught together here) was the most important course I took in nursing school. Mastering it made everything that followed much easier. I could understand abnormal, pathological states because I thoroughly understood the normal A&P. Consider the study of this subject and investment. It will keep paying you back throughout your entire career.

 

[GoPelicans]

Try to obtain a 'personal cadaver' so you can study in your free time away from lab.

 

[Stagg737]

What I would do to try and help you visualize things is to find a friend/study partner and physically spend as much time in your anatomy lab as possible. Go from body part to body part (shoulder, then upper arm, then lower arm, then hand, then thorax, etc.) and identify each structure, say the part out loud and say what parts are next to it and their relationship. When it's a nerve, say what it becomes and what muscles it innervates. Do the same thing for arteries. If you know what they are, what they supply, and what is near them, you should be able to answer those questions. The other person is there to help make sure you aren't identifying things wrong and to quiz you. Have them ask you questions that you might see on a test. Studying with a partner has always helped me and my partner understand everything better, as we can teach each other the things we understand better.

 

[Whats up Doc!]

First off I used Netters cause the pictures were awesome, but I would get the list from our professor of all muscles/nerves/vessels/bones we needed to know for that section then I would spend one whole day finding and highlighting the names of the structures in netters and on my list of all the names and structures the professor gave I would write next to the name what page from netters I can find the structure (sometimes multiple pages for multiple views)

Next I would attend the regular labs where we performed the actual dissections (Still not really able to identify any of the parts) Then go back to the book and study the hell out of it until I knew most of the muscles, make sure you know the muscles before you try understanding the nerves and vessels that perfuse it, I always did bones last cause there really easy.

Once I was able to picture the muscle just from reading the name off my list I would go to open labs like 3 times a week for anywhere from 2-4 hours and I would drill the hell out of my list (Dont use the book go from the list thats how u can be sure you know them) I did the same muscle about 3 times on different cadavers to be sure I knew it and I always scored really high on exams

So basically I didnt bother even trying to learn anything until I was able to memorize the name (with semi-proper spelling) and was able to locate it on my body (Literally touch your arm and say out loud Bicep), only then I would attend open labs and really nail it down.

 

[Whats up Doc!]

What I would do to try and help you visualize things is to find a friend/study partner and physically spend as much time in your anatomy lab as possible. Go from body part to body part (shoulder, then upper arm, then lower arm, then hand, then thorax, etc.) and identify each structure, say the part out loud and say what parts are next to it and their relationship. When it's a nerve, say what it becomes and what muscles it innervates. Do the same thing for arteries. If you know what they are, what they supply, and what is near them, you should be able to answer those questions. The other person is there to help make sure you aren't identifying things wrong and to quiz you. Have them ask you questions that you might see on a test. Studying with a partner has always helped me and my partner understand everything better, as we can teach each other the things we understand better.

Thats another great point, have two or three friends with you and quiz eachother, thats the number one way to know you have it!

 

[Anicetus]

If you can't sit down and draw out all the anatomy you are responsible for from sheer memory, you aren't ready for your anatomy test.

 

[FistLength]

Anatomy is less about understanding and more about rote memorization. Understanding is for biochem/pathology. Anatomy just requires a lot of time to memorize. I would get netters flashcards + maybe netters coloring book.

 

[GoPelicans]

The only outside resources I used for anatomy were my Netter's atlas and BRS. BRS was VERY helpful for me, and the the practice questions were perfect preparation for the written exam.

 

[inurfase]

You said you're preparing for surgery but your anatomy is not through... You need to focus and prioritize... You CANNOT learn surgery without knowing your anatomy... And its not something to be rote learnt and forgotten, you need to know it for life... Use the flashcards, online resources as mentioned by others here, but just remember you need to first be done with this before your other subjects...

 

[MedWonk]

If you can't sit down and draw out all the anatomy you are responsible for from sheer memory, you aren't ready for your anatomy test.

I don't think I could ever do this (partly because my drawings look like dog****), but I never had that much difficulty with the exams (except the pelvis). If you can do this, though, I would expect your score to be damn near perfect on the practical. Also, pretty cool if you can do it.

 

[Anicetus]

I don't think I could ever do this (partly because my drawings look like dog****), but I never had that much difficulty with the exams (except the pelvis). If you can do this, though, I would expect your score to be damn near perfect on the practical. Also, pretty cool if you can do it.

My drawings suck too. What I usually mean by drawings, for example would be rough sketches of arteries/nerves and their branches. Ultimately, anatomy is just about how much time you put into it. The more time people put into it, the better they tend to do. It basically is the same amount of brain power as memorizing the order of a deck of cards.

 

[Some dude 99]

Sorry if this is considered bumping, but I did it. I f**** passed. Thanks everyone.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Well if there's anything positive that cna come out of this situation there's the fact that anatomy is hardly represented on the boards and when it is, they're often questions that you'd basically have to try to get wrong.