How much time/day spent studying Anatomy?

[unsung]

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This is mostly a Q for my fellow newly minted M1s who recently started Anatomy. But please feel free to give your perspective if you are a more senior med student... and can still recall the good old days of Gross Anatomy. 🙄

So... how much time do you M1s spend per day studying Gross Anatomy? I'm not talking about class here.

We get < 1 hr of anatomy lecture each day and a several hour lab each day. There's usually some non-anatomy activity too (1-2 hrs). And for some reason these activities always run over time, so I don't even get a chance to grab lunch. It's like a straight 9 to 5 shift type deal with nonstop work. Not even time for lunch.

Then, by the time I get home, it's like 5:30PM. After showering and eating, I am basically studying till 12 am or whenever bedtime is.

I feel totally .

I don't see any of my classmates having to work this hard just to get a handle of each day's material. They all seem to be getting the material. It's getting so bad that lately I do not even have time to preview the next day's material (which makes that next day's lecture/lab SO much fun...)

So basically, even with studying EVERY single minute of free time I have, I STILL don't have enough time to handle each day's material.

Is this typical? WTH?

I DON'T HAVE TIME.

 

[bassfishindoc]

Welcome to medical school. This isn't undergrad, you won't be able to understand it ALL. The best you can do is study all you can, get what you can, take the test, and move on. If you are truly putting in as much study time as you are saying and are having trouble, you might want to modify your study techniques. Studying techniques from undergrad don't always work here and you might need to do something new, I know I did. Remember, this is what you wanted, you brought it upon yourself, YOU created this reality, and it is what you have to do to get through to be a doctor. You can do it, thousands have done it before and thousands will do it afterward. Good luck! 😀👍

Oh, and to answer your question, I put about 8 hours of studytime in a day for anatomy. Its what I have to do to realize my dream and it will be worth it in the end.

 

[lildave2586]

Remember that time in lecture and lab IS study time. This was my philosophy on anatomy: If you are not ahead, you are behind. I came to class everyday already having the notes and material pre-read. Hearing the lecturer talking about it solidified it in my mind. Then going to the lab just added even more. I already knew where all the structures were, so it made the dissection much faster. My advice is to take a weekend and catch up. Once you are caught up, be sure to make yourself stay AHEAD of the material. If you are not ahead, you are behind. You said your lectures start at 9:00? Get to school at 7:00 and pre-read for two hours. That's what I did and it helped a lot. The amount of time you spend studying is irrelevant, because different people can master the material with different amounts of studying. Just study enough to stay AHEAD.

 

[njbmd]

Remember that time in lecture and lab IS study time. This was my philosophy on anatomy: If you are not ahead, you are behind. I came to class everyday already having the notes and material pre-read. Hearing the lecturer talking about it solidified it in my mind. Then going to the lab just added even more. I already knew where all the structures were, so it made the dissection much faster. My advice is to take a weekend and catch up. Once you are caught up, be sure to make yourself stay AHEAD of the material. If you are not ahead, you are behind. You said your lectures start at 9:00? Get to school at 7:00 and pre-read for two hours. That's what I did and it helped a lot. The amount of time you spend studying is irrelevant, because different people can master the material with different amounts of studying. Just study enough to stay AHEAD.

I agree with the above. You are responsible for you learning and mastery of this important subject. What others do (or don't do) is meaningless because you are the one that will take your exams. It doesn't matter if everyone in your class gets 100 on a test if you are the one who fails that test. In the end, it's your performance that counts.

I never went to lecture unprepared. In another thread, I outlined my prep system. Gross Anatomy is going to take a fair amount of time to master unless you came into medical school with a Ph.D in anatomy. I will also warn you that Gross Anatomy is not a class to "play around" with. You essentially get one shot at not screwing up here so make sure you are getting what you need (even if it means that you set up camp in your instructors' offices).

If you are behind right now, go to where the class is and catch up on the weekend. You can use the weekend to get ahead of the class too as there are no lectures on weekends at most schools. Use your course syllabus/lecture schedule to get the topic list for the current lectures and go to that material.

There is no one "magic book" that will contain everything that you need to know or learn. You need to focus on what is covered (and will be covered) in your individual course. You should be previewing, listening to lecture, reviewing and filling in gaps and then memorizing/honing the material. You have to contantly review and recheck your knowledge. Again, don't expect to quick memorize Gross Anatomy and do well.

 

[engineeredout]

Your schedule sounds like mine, although we'll usually have 2-3 hours of gross lecture, and then our 1.5hrs of lab, in addition to an occasional histo/OPP/embryo lecture thrown in.

I'm studying till 12-100 too. Not sure if its good or not, just letting you know you're not alone.

 

[ImBrianFellows]

You're totally not alone! I feel the same way. I just feel like I'm spending SO much time on this stuff and not retaining enough. At least not enough of it to justify the time spent studying! Today was pretty discouraging because it seems like so many people are just getting the material easier than I am. I know I shouldn't compare myself to others but it's frustrating to know how much I'm studying and how much I still feel unprepared.

Well, my break is over, so back to it!

 

[whoisthedrizzle]

on average,

2 hrs. lecture + 3 hrs. solo + ~2 hrs. lab time = 7

 

[unsung]

Your schedule sounds like mine, although we'll usually have 2-3 hours of gross lecture, and then our 1.5hrs of lab, in addition to an occasional histo/OPP/embryo lecture thrown in.

I'm studying till 12-100 too. Not sure if its good or not, just letting you know you're not alone.

Well, that's good to know.

I'm really not complaining about the work load as some previous posts seem to hint at. It's more the terror that I'm some outlier remedial student who is studying 24-7. I guess honestly I don't know how much my classmates study, so they could be doing the same thing I am.

Yeah, I really need to focus less on what anyone else is doing than what I need to do to do well in the class. Thanks for that reminder, guys.

Well, I'm just going to have to accept that for me, I DO need to study all the time to try to keep up with anatomy. Everyone comes from a different place, right?

Maybe some have taken anatomy before. Some may even have taken med school level anatomy, if they did post-bacc. So... don't just assume things are easy fr everyone else. Okay... just needed to give myself a little pep talk. Off to study!!

 

[lildave2586]

Well, I'm just going to have to accept that for me, I DO need to study all the time to try to keep up with anatomy. Everyone comes from a different place, right?

I think you've got it.

I used to give myself about three hours a day away from studying anatomy. All the other hours = studying. Remember, if you're not ahead, you're behind!

 

[MossPoh]

I found anatomy lectures a total waste of time. Everything there was stuff I knew I just had to study from Netter's, Rohen's or my BRS anatomy. Dissection was usually a waste of my time too, but mainly because I can't handle so many people and distractions at once. It is overwhelming at first, but you eventually learn how to triage the material, understand what is need to know versus extraneous stuff, and study. I wound up going to our counselor out of frustration. I was frustrated and depressed because I invested SO much time into it but some reason stuff wouldn't stick. I tried every learning technique and then started listening to what my friends have highlighted about me forever, which is my very very very short attention span. I struggled a bit in undergrad but was able to coast through being unproductive and innattentive. Long story made short, I went through a gauntlet of testing and met the criteria for ADD. I'm not saying thats what it is with you, because it probably isn't but if you truly (and I mean truly) try everything and still seem to do miserable, then go talk to a counselor.

My body now thanks me for not drinking 14+ cups of coffee a day and studying 6 hours instead of 12.

Oh, and weekends are the greatest time ever. I love them just because it lets me catch up.

I also found Acland videos very helpful for certain things. He was a little more dynamic than my prof.

 

[bleeker10]

Engineered and I go to the same school. Lectures can be hit and miss and they only cover so much material. I've resorted to slowly going through Gray's Anatomy for Students (our lecture book) and annotating all the pictures. I put in anywhere from 4-6 hours a nite during the week and 8-9 on saturday and sunday. I had anatomy in undergrad but this is so much more in depth. I have to study that much just to keep up with the material. I have PBL friends here who put in 8-10 hours a day during the week, but they don't go to lecture with us so they have to learn it on their own.

 

[lildave2586]

I also found Acland videos very helpful for certain things. He was a little more dynamic than my prof.

Acland teaches anatomy at my school. His videos are a great resource.

 

[olemissbabydoc]

I agree with the above that weekends are amazing. this is my first one and i'm in heaven. 64 hours with no new material. I've stayed ahead, but I still am not ready for next week's test.. sothe weekend will be golden 🙂

 

[HPSPpayissues]

I say spend less time in the lab dissecting and more looking at Rohen's or proto sections!