hey! i would second all of the advice given above....for me, anatomy was the hardest subject...i had no clue how to study for it....honestly speaking, i do not think getting an early start would helped me any....you do get more than enough time to study anatomy during the semester, but you have to know how to study efficiently....
i bought every single resource on the market for anatomy, and pretty much used all of them to some extent....i just took my last practical today for anatomy, and think that i improved my performance substantially...if i were to go back and redo it, this how it would be:
1) invest in Netter's and Rohen - my school also placed heavy emphasis on the Grant's dissector for the lab portion, so i had to but that as well (though i found it to be a very poor resource)...
2) go through the structures after each week's dissection (or after finishing a particular region, say upper limbs) in netter's and rohen's, and go and identify them in lab - so as to establish landmarks, etc.
3) ATTEND TA SESSIONS RELIGIOUSLY (not sure if all other schools have TA sessions, but i'm sure they do)....this was a big mistake i made int he beginnning....i am generally "a non lecture, self study" type student and figured i wouldnt' pay attnetion during TA sessions and find them useless....this was a mistake....though anatomy is about memorization, there is simply too much information to be memorized, and very easy to get caught up in memroizing minute details/structures that are hardly ever tagged, or clinically significant....reading a book/charts by rote memorization is not an effective tool for anatomy....by going to TA's (I found it best to find a TA who is interactive and quizzes you along the way), you are able to distinguish the important structures (after all the y have been through the course before), establish land marks (as they TELL you all of them - again they have gone through the course successfullly), and learn good PNEUMONICS, and know how to apply them immediately (rather than wasting time memorizing htem) - therefore, going through the lab with an older, experienced, student is key!
4) finally, for lecture/written part of anatomy, i would focus solely on class notes, with special attnetion to all clinical correlations (esp. those related to osteology)....I would also invest in a small, concise, review book, like High Yield Gross Anatomy, to make sure that you've hit all the important points for the shelf, etc, and also for a quick tool for review.
5) i personally thought that reading a book was the worst possible way to study for anatomy even though "it may help tie things together." It simply takes too long to read a text like Moore and Dally (or Moore and Agur for that matter), and often times i found myself getting caught up with "the easy stuff" by simply sitting their and memorizing useless details, and ignoring the important concepts.......(do bare in mind, that if reading has always worked for you in the past....then don't change it now for anaotmy either....but for the vast majority of students, i think that textbooks simply don't cut it for anatomy)....
6)i also found myself spending time on TOO MANY DIFFERENT RESOURCES....remember that EFFICIENCY and REPETITION is key - its more efficient to learn the important structures/key points from one resource and going over them several times rather than buying 10 different books, and reading all of them once and confusing yourself...
make friends with your lab group and have pleasant dissections....don't rely on other people to form "study groups" if you are having a hard time....go to the lab yourself, attend TA sessions, and kick butt!
