Genuinely afraid of failing my first anatomy exam

[mwsapphire]

Hi everyone,

I'm studying for my first real exam in anatomy. We had our " pre comp" exams last week and basically it was 1 for anatomy and one for " OMK" which basically means the whole curriculum besides anatomy. I passed the OMK but failed the anatomy so hard that I'm super afraid of failing this exam.

I'm studying as well as I can, made anki cards to force active recall, but it's still hard, man. Our last lab was Friday and it was hand and forearm ( much harder than arm and back), and now I feel like I'm cramming that.

We need a 70 overall grade to pass anatomy , but at least a 50 on every ( real) test ( so the failed practice doesn't count), or we have to retake the exam at the end of the semester. I scored hardly a 50 on the pre comp.

I'm scared.

Okay that's all thanks for reading.

edit: exam is tomorrow. So that's why the Fri lab felt so recent.

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[operaman]

You are right where you need to be. People who are scared and working extra hard tend to do well. People who are overconfident and procrastinate get crushed. Keep at it and you should do just fine. Anatomy is hard, there’s no way around it.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Hand and forearm anatomy is hard. Anki for anatomy is good but make sure you are finding a way to relate things to each other, that helps a lot when you're looking at the entire body. The fact that you recognize this challenge is good because it'll give you the motivation to put in the extra work. This is your mission: you may have to study non-stop until your test, but you can do it.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

I agree with the above; you might have to step back and look at the overall picture/concept as you memorize details. I made Anki cards from lecture ppts, used Rohen's atlas/flashcards for the lab, and did BRS/UMich questions, drawing also helped.

You can do it!

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

We had a similar "practice practical" two weeks before our first major exam (anatomy had all of MSK that block), and I got a 52% on it. I grabbed a couple of classmates who were also concerned about passing, and we spent the next week going over the cadavers an hour or two every day and quizzing each other as long as we could bear it. We did a little bit of review the last week before the exam, but not nearly as much. We all passed, and I ended up scoring around a 90.

Don't let yourself get frozen by the anxiety, but get in and work hard (and smart!). For me, physically working with the cadavers was always the best way to learn it. You're smart enough that you'll be able to master the material if you keep putting in the effort. As others have said above, it's good that you recognize your weaknesses and are trying to address them. Good luck!

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Also, just going to bring this back since it's that time of year when I keep seeing threads popping up with people freaking out about anatomy....I was you 2 years ago: Freaking out

Guess what? I passed the class. And more than likely, you will too! The time I made that post was arguably one of the most difficult periods for me, so I get how you feel. But I also know you can use this fear to motivate you.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

I always passed the anatomy by the skin of my teeth (Note that tooth skin was not covered in class); it’s a really hard case made worse by the fact that it’s not altogether information you need at the forefront of your thoughts when caring for patients. We had these practicals too and i mostly focused on the stuff I bombed during the practice to prepare for the actual exam, if you get that info ahead of time use it to your advantage. Also take heart than nearly everyone struggles with anatomy

 

[mwsapphire]

You are right where you need to be. People who are scared and working extra hard tend to do well. People who are overconfident and procrastinate get crushed. Keep at it and you should do just fine. Anatomy is hard, there’s no way around it.

My issue is I feel like I didn't study enough the first few weeks. I was barely doing a 3-4 hours a day that v first week because I'd been out of school for a while , and was slowly building stamina. I feel like for the last week I've actually been studying like a full time job, and now with this latest section I'm FLOUNDERING.

 

[mwsapphire]

Hand and forearm anatomy is hard. Anki for anatomy is good but make sure you are finding a way to relate things to each other, that helps a lot when you're looking at the entire body. The fact that you recognize this challenge is good because it'll give you the motivation to put in the extra work. This is your mission: you may have to study non-stop until your test, but you can do it.

Yes, so I just bought the Grant's atlas and have been synthesizing info together ( drawing out those diagrams/tables that summarize actions/innervations). And I've done anki. I basically didn't make anki cards for the forearm because I didn't have time so for that, just the atlas and the pre made " anatomy to go" flashcards I bought. So I have been synthesizing.

I agree with the above; you might have to step back and look at the overall picture/concept as you memorize details. I made Anki cards from lecture ppts, used Rohen's atlas/flashcards for the lab, and did BRS/UMich questions, drawing also helped.

You can do it!

I have been doing that! I just got the Grant's atlas yesterday- and have been drawing out the tables/ diagrams summarizing innervations/actions.

Yayy. We also had three rads lectures that I never got around to covering before the test, and so I'm cramming those now bc I was so focused on the actual muscles. Nyyuuuuuhhh

We had a similar "practice practical" two weeks before our first major exam (anatomy had all of MSK that block), and I got a 52% on it. I grabbed a couple of classmates who were also concerned about passing, and we spent the next week going over the cadavers an hour or two every day and quizzing each other as long as we could bear it. We did a little bit of review the last week before the exam, but not nearly as much. We all passed, and I ended up scoring around a 90.

Don't let yourself get frozen by the anxiety, but get in and work hard (and smart!). For me, physically working with the cadavers was always the best way to learn it. You're smart enough that you'll be able to master the material if you keep putting in the effort. As others have said above, it's good that you recognize your weaknesses and are trying to address them. Good luck!

So we don't have practicals this semester, just comp exams that are half Multiple Choice and half fill in the blank- this is bc of the pandemic. So no extra access to the anatomy lab either. So just the atlas, the app, videos, and anki for me.

 

[mwsapphire]

Also, just going to bring this back since it's that time of year when I keep seeing threads popping up with people freaking out about anatomy....I was you 2 years ago: Freaking out

Guess what? I passed the class. And more than likely, you will too! The time I made that post was arguably one of the most difficult periods for me, so I get how you feel. But I also know you can use this fear to motivate you.

So I just checked out that thread and found out about something called Gray's review- should I be using that alone w the Grant's atlas or can i tonly be used w the Gray's atlas.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

So I just checked out that thread and found out about something called Gray's review- should I be using that alone w the Grant's atlas or can i tonly be used w the Gray's atlas.

Gray's are questions for anatomy, but they'll be more helpful for your actual exam, not a practical.

 

[mwsapphire]

Gray's are questions for anatomy, but they'll be more helpful for your actual exam, not a practical.

yes so they are worth it! I said we have exams, no practicals bc we have bare minimum lab time and no access to the lab outside of our lab hours. I guess I'll go head and order it.

 

[ArteryStudyPainting]

Human Anatomy Quiz

 

[ArteryStudyPainting]

Best site, very hard. But you'll go, oh wow, check that out more than, "dang I feel bad".

And it'll prepare you every which way, literally.

 

[musman9853]

you will know arm anatomy virtually perfectly after watching these 2 videos.

 

[TwoHighways]

Human Anatomy Quiz

Awesome!

 

[Cornfed101]

you will know arm anatomy virtually perfectly after watching these 2 videos.

I hate when another professor explains something better in 20 min than my anatomy professors did in like 9 hours. It makes me feel like my tuition is for nothing

 

[diamondkings]

I hate when another professor explains something better in 20 min than my anatomy professors did in like 9 hours. It makes me feel like my tuition is for nothing

Wow. We literally had 2 extremely long lectures, super boring voiceover PowerPoint at that, that probably took 2 and a half hours to get through and he covered it in 8 minutes...

 

[TwoHighways]

Lulz at the previous two comments. It feels like I’m literally putting myself through school largely utilizing outside resources and just paying to have some clerkship spots lined up and a piece of paper at the end of the journey that says I’m a doctor or something.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I hate when another professor explains something better in 20 min than my anatomy professors did in like 9 hours. It makes me feel like my tuition is for nothing

Wow. We literally had 2 extremely long lectures, super boring voiceover PowerPoint at that, that probably took 2 and a half hours to get through and he covered it in 8 minutes...

And that right there is why the vast majority of us say that class is a complete waste of time