How is anatomy tested?

[NearnstPotentia]

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Hi all,

I have never taken an anatomy course before and I am wondering how anatomy is tested at your medical school. Is simple identification enough? Do I need to be able to start at one point on a vein/artery and tell you on an exam where it branches and what it turns into?

Thanks

 

[tortuga87]

At my school, the later. If you want honors, know every word on the syllabus

 

[NearnstPotentia]

At my school, the later. If you want honors, know every word on the syllabus

We don't get syllabi in our medical school.... just sparse powerpoint slides 🙁

Also, how is it tested? Word problems or identify the flagged structure on a cadaver type problems

Followup question: Why do people find the Moore's blue boxes to be useful.

 

[Rocher]

Hi all,

I have never taken an anatomy course before and I am wondering how anatomy is tested at your medical school. Is simple identification enough? Do I need to be able to start at one point on a vein/artery and tell you on an exam where it branches and what it turns into?

Thanks

Not only do you have to be able to identify everything, but you have to know the structure's function, innervation, blood supply, it's relationship to other structures, and anything clinically relevant to the structure. You will have to know all of the branches of most of the arteries/veins, but it's not as bad as it may sound.

Most likely you are going to have a lab practical and a written test. Nearly all of the questions on our written exams are clinical vignettes, and most of the questions on the practical are identification/innervation/blood supply/function etc.

 

[NearnstPotentia]

Not only do you have to be able to identify everything, but you have to know the structure's function, innervation, blood supply, it's relationship to other structures, and anything clinically relevant to the structure. You will have to know all of the branches of most of the arteries/veins, but it's not as bad as it may sound.

Most likely you are going to have a lab practical and a written test. Nearly all of the questions on our written exams are clinical vignettes, and most of the questions on the practical are identification/innervation/blood supply/function etc.

Can you give me an example or two using any anatomical structures you want of:
1. Structure's function, innervation, blood supply, relationship to other structures (I'm trying to gauge level of detail required)
2. Clinical vignette (again trying to gauge level of detail required)

Thanks

We're only doing bones right now so I'm not really sure what I need to know. Our anatomy course is such a garbled disorganized mess.... hopefully it will get better.

Sorry if this is a lot to ask, I am clueless when it comes to anatomy. Hopefully there are some Anatomy buffs out there.

 

[BlueElmo]

Hi all,

I have never taken an anatomy course before and I am wondering how anatomy is tested at your medical school. Is simple identification enough? Do I need to be able to start at one point on a vein/artery and tell you on an exam where it branches and what it turns into?

Thanks

Unfortunately nothing in medical school anatomy is simple.

 

[Jack is Back]

Hi all,

I have never taken an anatomy course before and I am wondering how anatomy is tested at your medical school. Is simple identification enough? Do I need to be able to start at one point on a vein/artery and tell you on an exam where it branches and what it turns into?

Thanks

lol.

No.

Relationships. It is tested by relationships.

 

[D elegans]

Can you give me an example or two using any anatomical structures you want of:
1. Structure's function, innervation, blood supply, relationship to other structures (I'm trying to gauge level of detail required)
2. Clinical vignette (again trying to gauge level of detail required)

Thanks

We're only doing bones right now so I'm not really sure what I need to know. Our anatomy course is such a garbled disorganized mess.... hopefully it will get better.

Sorry if this is a lot to ask, I am clueless when it comes to anatomy. Hopefully there are some Anatomy buffs out there.

You might see teres minor tagged, with a question like "Examination of the patient revealed weakness to this muscle indicating a lesion on its innervating nerve. What other clinical symptom might you see?"

Then there will be a list of possible answers, one of which will have some function of the deltoid, which you should know since the axillary nerve innervates both the deltoid and teres minor. That's a relatively straightforward one.

 

[QueenTut]

Not only do you have to be able to identify everything, but you have to know the structure's function, innervation, blood supply, it's relationship to other structures, and anything clinically relevant to the structure. You will have to know all of the branches of most of the arteries/veins, but it's not as bad as it may sound.

Most likely you are going to have a lab practical and a written test. Nearly all of the questions on our written exams are clinical vignettes, and most of the questions on the practical are identification/innervation/blood supply/function etc.

This is how it is at my school. I wouldn't say that anatomy is impossible, but it also isn't exactly easy. It's just a huge volume of stuff to memorize. Everyday studying for hours, dissecting for hours, blah blah. I've found that my performance has really been dependent on my developing a method of memorization that works for ME. That really took some time but it is worth it.

Don't worry too much about anatomy. Once you get in it, you will do what needs to be done to pass because you will have no other choice.

 

[NickNaylor]

lol.

No.

Relationships. It is tested by relationships.

A thousand times this.

At my school, we have both a practical and a written portion which are taken separately and must be passed independently. Simply knowing the structures definitely won't be enough to pass the written portion and probably wouldn't be enough to pass the practical. A lot of our questions are things like, "what is _____ to this structure (where the blank is inferior, superior, etc.)," "what structures run through this foramen," "which structure on the accompanying CT is flagged in the cadaver," etc..

In short, simply memorizing structures isn't going to get it done. That's the foundation - there's more knowledge that you have to layer on top of that.

EDIT: Here are a few questions from last year's written exam for our head and neck unit to give you an idea of what's expected (at least for us).

Infections can spread into the cranial cavity from the loose areolar tissue of the scalp via what pathway?

Why does a cut to the scalp result in profuse bleeding?

Which of the following nerves contribute sensory branches to the nasal epithelium?

a. olfactory, CN I
b. opthalmic, CN V1
c. maxillary, CN V2
d. mandibular, CN V3
e. facial, CN VII

The best part is that our "multiple choice" questions use a "circle all that are correct" format. 🙁 The other questions are obviously free response.

Practical questions are more like the things I mentioned before.

 

[Rocher]

Can you give me an example or two using any anatomical structures you want of:
1. Structure's function, innervation, blood supply, relationship to other structures (I'm trying to gauge level of detail required)
2. Clinical vignette (again trying to gauge level of detail required)

Thanks

We're only doing bones right now so I'm not really sure what I need to know. Our anatomy course is such a garbled disorganized mess.... hopefully it will get better.

Sorry if this is a lot to ask, I am clueless when it comes to anatomy. Hopefully there are some Anatomy buffs out there.

Muscle: Opponens pollicis brevis

Origin: Flexor retinaculum and tubercles of scaphoid and trapezium
Insertion: Lateral side of 1st metacarpal
Action: Draws 1st metacarpal laterally to oppose thumb toward center of palm and rotates it medially
Innervation: Recurrent branch of median nerve (C8 and T1) (C8, T1)
Arterial Supply: Superficial palmar branch of the radial artery


A relationship question might be, "What is the relationship of opponens pollicis to flexor pollicis brevis?" It's deep to flexor pollicis brevis.

An example of a clinical vignette would be, "A patient presents with a laterally rotated right thumb, weakened flexion and abduction, and an inability to oppose his thumb. The patient has no other symptoms. What nerve might be injured and what is the condition called?"

A. Recurrent branch of right median nerve, ape hand deformity.

 

[giantswing]

Yup, and on our practical, at least, you have a minute to get to your station, figure out what it is, and what would happen if it were lesioned/missing/whatever. I like anatomy except for the fear of failing.

 

[Valadi]

Agree with above posts. We also had a couple like, "A dude got tackled on his right side at the level of the knee. Which nerve was most likely injured?" and similar clinical-type questions.

 

[NearnstPotentia]

Thanks a lot everyone. Using your suggestions, I feel like I have now come up with a method for how to study anatomy given the course materials and resources I have at my disposal.

 

[Dr Love]

At my school, the tests are a combination of true/false questions (half of which are trick questions), multiple choice questions that go from A to H in some cases, identification questions from medical images, and essay questions. I agree with others that knowing structures is the beginning, relationships are important, and how the anatomy might relate to clinical problems is also important. You need to know everything.

I literally stopped asking "Is it important to know..." because the answer was always yes.

 

[Morsetlis]

At my school, everything is done by multiple choice. The answers are obviously all pretty near each other, which is useful if you initially had no idea what you're looking at, but annoying if you have a slight recollection and then are faced with 4 answers that share commonalities.

And, obviously you have to know everything like what other people said. Having condensed, relevant notes is clutch. Reading Gray's will solidify concepts and understanding. Reading Netter's / another Atlas will help with spatial relationship, but nothing beats actually going into the lab, duh.

And don't forget the fun embryo (obviously no pictures or lab for), x-rays, CT, MRI, and ultrasound questions!

 

[tiedyeddog]

Followup question: Why do people find the Moore's blue boxes to be useful.

Our anatomy department uses those on the written portion quite often. Usually in a clinical vignette form. They give easy correlations to the stuff we are learning. So basically I memorize those cold, expecting at least some bit of them to be tested.

 

[NearnstPotentia]

So from what I gather my studying should consist of the following:

1. The ability to identify structures: "simple identification" (identify the flagged structure type questions)
2. An understanding of the spatial relationships of these structures: "big picture"
3. Relationship (innervations, insertions, blood supplies, etc) to other structures: "big picture"
4. Function of structures:
5. Clinical importance of structures

Wow big task ahead of me

 

[normtheniner]

At our school the syllabus is referred by our upperclassmen as our "bible".

I really like this format because (unlike text books) its basically the source for everything you need to know. Which, if you're in head and neck like I am now, is a massive amount of information....

 

[Masticate3Xaday]

-Weekly team based learning through which we have to answer questions related to case studies. A quiz before the session is in order.

-3 exams: multiple choice+essay

-dissections: you must give a 12 minute presentation on a specific region of the body and cover a TON of material in those 12 minutes. All nerves, muscles bones, organs, arteries/veins and their branches, etc.



I can't stand Gray's anatomy. It has way too much superfluous info. All I read is the lab dissector+class notes+gilroy's atlas. Gilroy's is awesome.

 

[tehdude]

At my school, everything is done by multiple choice.

Wow. Must be nice.

 

[BeastInfection]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but does everyone here spend time outside of lab within the lab? I seem to recall reading that spending time with the cadaver outside of class is pretty much essential. True? Does everybody do this?

 

[Jack is Back]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but does everyone here spend time outside of lab within the lab? I seem to recall reading that spending time with the cadaver outside of class is pretty much essential. True? Does everybody do this?

helps, but you need to know your stuff before going in. Sometimes there is abnormal branching or anomalies you run into, so knowing textbook presentation is best IMO. Lab just familiarizes you. Color atlas is pretty awesome.

 

[CarlATHF]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but does everyone here spend time outside of lab within the lab? I seem to recall reading that spending time with the cadaver outside of class is pretty much essential. True? Does everybody do this?

Yes. More time in lab = higher practical score. Same goes for histology (assuming you have a traditional curriculum).

 

[smltwnDr]

http://www.med.umich.edu/lrc/coursepages/m1/anatomy2010/html/courseinfo/labs_systemic.html

I would go on there and take their practice exams if you are wondering what exams will be like. They have vignettes under clinical cases, they show tagged structures as well as written questions. I believe that this will give you a fairly good idea of what to expect in your medical school career.

 

[BeastInfection]

Yes. More time in lab = higher practical score. Same goes for histology (assuming you have a traditional curriculum).

Histology, really? I've found histo lab to be nearly worthless. I get more out of looking at labeled slide images/atlas online than anything I do in lab.

 

[Morsetlis]

Histology, really? I've found histo lab to be nearly worthless. I get more out of looking at labeled slide images/atlas online than anything I do in lab.

That's because histo images are 2D while cadavers are in 3D, so cadavers aren't as easily represented in a book...