how to study for anatomy?

[DendriticCell]

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hi,

i am just starting anatomy now.. and we will have a midterm in a week.. i felt like i am so lost in class and lab.. so i am wondering whether anyone can provide and tips for this class.. we just started a week only, and i've already felt that i am overwhelming..

 

[firebreather3]

Anatomy is extremely visual. From my experience I spent too much time reading and not enough looking at Netter pictures or Rohen dissection photos. Try to look at a plate/photo and internalize the image with as many details as possible. Also, every structure should induce some sort of image. I worked from a list of bold terms in the dissector and for every word I tried to mentally picture the location and surrounding structures. Working backwards in this way (from word to image) might force you to exercise the visual/imaginative part of your brain.

Sorry if that's vague but learning and retaining anatomy is an abstract process, one that differs from person to person. If you're really stuck you might want to try the above. Remember: more pictures, less reading!!

In terms of resources, the Netter flashcards are exceptional. They are a set of over 300 flashcards organized by system for about $30. That's another way of ensuring that you're balancing your reading with image viewing. I would highly recommend these.

 

[mattorama]

Go buy yourself a nice big dry-erase board. Study Netter then DRAW DRAW DRAW DRAW. I found it most helpful to first draw in a bone or two of interest. Then draw in schematically (just a line so you don't obscure the pic...from the schematics you can then easily visualize the action of the muscle) in one color all the muscles making sure to be very precise in origins/insertions. Next, in different colors, draw in blood and nerve supply, labeling everything as you go. After a time or two things will really stick and you will know all the parts + relations. After you know the idealized stuff...then move on to something like Rohen. Finally, you can skim the textbook for clinical correlations. Do NOT try and study out of the textbook initially.

Drawing overall schematics of vessel/nerve courses/branching is also very helpful (especially in the head). You can be creative and include all the pertinent relations in your schematics.

Drawing helped me...you should at least give it a shot. Good luck.

 

[rxfudd]

Originally posted by mattorama
Go buy yourself a nice big dry-erase board. Study Netter then DRAW DRAW DRAW DRAW. I found it most helpful to first draw in a bone or two of interest. Then draw in schematically (just a line so you don't obscure the pic...from the schematics you can then easily visualize the action of the muscle) in one color all the muscles making sure to be very precise in origins/insertions. Next, in different colors, draw in blood and nerve supply, labeling everything as you go. After a time or two things will really stick and you will know all the parts + relations. After you know the idealized stuff...then move on to something like Rohen. Finally, you can skim the textbook for clinical correlations. Do NOT try and study out of the textbook initially.

Drawing overall schematics of vessel/nerve courses/branching is also very helpful (especially in the head). You can be creative and include all the pertinent relations in your schematics.

Drawing helped me...you should at least give it a shot. Good luck.

I'm of the firm belief that the highest yielding study method is to spend lots of time in lab. Not only are you preparing for the practical component of the exam, you're reinforcing everything you've been reading and preparing for the written as well. I can't tell you how many times I had really tough visually-oriented questions on the written that I could answer simply because I had seen it in lab so many times.

The method that worked for me: Read over a section or two in Chung, go into lab and try to find everything they mentioned (and pay attention to the relationships, such as an artery crossing over a muscle, a nerve running along with an artery, etc). Also, make sure that you can find all of the bold words in your dissector. At most schools, these are fair game for the practical.

Looking at an atlas is a very good idea, but it will not fully prepare you. You just don't get the three dimensional relationships as you do working with a real cadaver - nor do you walk away from it being able to identify structures. Use it for late night studying and to remind yourself of what you saw in lab during the day. Remember, the map is NOT the territory.

 

[Su4n2]

my school recently scrapped most anatomy notes, save for a few concepts. they want us to learn out of textbooks. it has been v.hard learning out of MOore because there's so much. but i think they expect us to know ALL of it. i am scared 🙁 any advice?

 

[rxfudd]

Originally posted by Su4n2
my school recently scrapped most anatomy notes, save for a few concepts. they want us to learn out of textbooks. it has been v.hard learning out of MOore because there's so much. but i think they expect us to know ALL of it. i am scared 🙁 any advice?

So what exactly do they do during lecture?

 

[Su4n2]

in class, they go over key concepts, or concepts that they feel are confusing. they scrapped the notes because the felt that people were just memmorising minutia without being critical learners- i.e not using texts nd just learning how to regurgitate info.

 

[mattorama]

Originally posted by rxfudd
I'm of the firm belief that the highest yielding study method is to spend lots of time in lab. Not only are you preparing for the practical component of the exam, you're reinforcing everything you've been reading and preparing for the written as well. I can't tell you how many times I had really tough visually-oriented questions on the written that I could answer simply because I had seen it in lab so many times.

The method that worked for me: Read over a section or two in Chung, go into lab and try to find everything they mentioned (and pay attention to the relationships, such as an artery crossing over a muscle, a nerve running along with an artery, etc). Also, make sure that you can find all of the bold words in your dissector. At most schools, these are fair game for the practical.

Looking at an atlas is a very good idea, but it will not fully prepare you. You just don't get the three dimensional relationships as you do working with a real cadaver - nor do you walk away from it being able to identify structures. Use it for late night studying and to remind yourself of what you saw in lab during the day. Remember, the map is NOT the territory.

I guess it just goes to show that everyone learns differently. Lab just didn't do it for me. I never spent a minute more in lab then I needed to. Once I had the idealized representation in my mind, I could overlay the mental map on whatever I was looking at during lab practicals (I ended up with the top grade on all practical and written exams). I didn't learn well from the cadavers. In my schematics I always made sure to include/note important relationships. I remember several tough relational questions I was able to answer just by visualizing Netter and my sketches.

I guess it just goes to show the real lesson to be learned. Try different methods of studying and do what works best for you. I knew some people who only used the lab time to study, some who mainly used the textbooks, and some who, like myself, just used the atlases.

 

[doc05]

just remember that there is virtually nothing that is conceptually difficult ina anatomy. so just memorize, memorize, memorize, until it hurts. then memorize some more.

 

[rxfudd]

Originally posted by mattorama
I guess it just goes to show that everyone learns differently. Lab just didn't do it for me. I never spent a minute more in lab then I needed to. Once I had the idealized representation in my mind, I could overlay the mental map on whatever I was looking at during lab practicals (I ended up with the top grade on all practical and written exams). I didn't learn well from the cadavers. In my schematics I always made sure to include/note important relationships. I remember several tough relational questions I was able to answer just by visualizing Netter and my sketches.

I guess it just goes to show the real lesson to be learned. Try different methods of studying and do what works best for you. I knew some people who only used the lab time to study, some who mainly used the textbooks, and some who, like myself, just used the atlases.

Sorry, didn't mean to quote your post in my earlier post - I meant to quote the OP. You're absolutely right, everyone does this differently and there is no one correct way.

 

[drchris33]

For me, I like the drawing idea as well. If you can draw all the arterial branches off a particular artery, that by the time you go down to lab, you have a general idea what it should look like. I would draw the stuff out, plus use Netter CD and Adam Practice Practicals, then would go to the lab and hammer it out till I found everything I needed to see.

This method works well for me....but again, like everyone has said, people learn differently.

I also second the notion of the Netter Cards.....they rock!

Chris

 

[miscalculated]

I draw and memorise.

 

[DendriticCell]

i've talked to couple M2/M3, they all give me different tips for the pratical exam.. some say spend a lot of in lab to dissect (and according to them, they say it's fun), but some ppl told me don't even bother to go to the lab to do the dissection and they can still do well (which is what i prefer), b/c they just went like after hour to see all the pro-dissecting bodies.. so, i am totally confused now, and i am really afraid of the pratical part. b/c honestly, a lot of muscle, nerves, arteries... and etc., they all look the same to me.. any suggestion??

 

[Dr. Lector]

Originally posted by miscalculated
I draw and memorise.

This is what works best if you hate spending time in the lab. Then after being able to draw out a schematic for everthing then go to the book of the dead (rohen and some japanese guy yachoci something color photo atlas) and try to id body parts w/the labels covered.

 

[uclacrewdude]

study with Bridgette Wilson, like Billy Madison.

 

[DendriticCell]

does anyone use netter's flash card for studying anatomy??

is it helpful??

thanks..

 

[DendriticCell]

and by the way,

to all the veterans out there... which part of the body did you guys find most difficult?? any suggestion and tip for study those parts???

 

[Dr. Xavier]

Head and neck is a bitch, CN 5 and 7 suck a$$.

 

[rxfudd]

Originally posted by DendriticCell
and by the way,

to all the veterans out there... which part of the body did you guys find most difficult?? any suggestion and tip for study those parts???

I thought head and neck was most spatially challenging. They cut the head into quarters and then you study everything after the fact. You kind of have to study the anatomy in front of you and then reconstruct it in your head so that it makes sense. Tips for this section are to use the hell out of your atlas, even moreso than for the other sections. There are a lot of sinuses and canals that nerves and arteries travel through that are either too hard to see on some cadavers (i.e. pterygoid canal contents) or are best understood with good diagrams that you can stare at for long periods of time.

The forearm/hand was somewhat challenging as well in terms of memorization. LOTS of muscles, all perform more or less the same action, but they all have different innvervations and attachments. I thought that flash cards were most useful for this area of anatomy.

For guys: if you have a male cadaver, pelvis is so damn painful to even watch, let alone dissect. The profs didn't even tell us what they were going to do, they just made a few incisions and started tugging on what looked like a silver band of tissue (what we later identified as the spermatic cord) and BAM!, our cadavers balls were sitting on his thighs. Then we had to dissect...

As for least challenging, I have to go with thorax. There's really not all that much going on there and the anatomy is nice and spread out (as opposed to the hand, where there's as much anatomy as in the thorax but in 1/10 the space). Tips? Just enjoy this section, it's as easy as anatomy gets.

 

[rxfudd]

Originally posted by Dr. Xavier
Head and neck is a bitch, CN 5 and 7 suck a$$.

V and VII are cake, IX and X suck it hard...

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

Originally posted by DendriticCell
does anyone use netter's flash card for studying anatomy??

is it helpful??

thanks..

Some people in my class bought them and said they were helpful. Alot of other people just made their own with notecards. I just made charts. Everyone works different. 🙂

 

[deleted29780]

thank u very much , yall .

 

[sacrament]

Originally posted by DendriticCell
and by the way,

to all the veterans out there... which part of the body did you guys find most difficult?? any suggestion and tip for study those parts???

Perineum. This was freakin' impossible to dissect.

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

Originally posted by sacrament
Perineum. This was freakin' impossible to dissect.

Not to mention GROSS.

 

[manta]

what percentage of your class (for you MS-2s up) failed their first anatomy exam?

just wondering. 😉

for the OP, i just got the BRS anatomy book and a clemente atlas this week. i've heard really mixed things about BRS and high yield, but it definitely helped me solidify things the days before the exam. well, maybe not, but i was a lot more prepared than i would've been without it. 🙂

and clemente is great. see if a classmate or the library has it and take a look at it first. the slides are good, and it seems less cluttered and straightforward compared to netter ("bless his heart" as they say here in the south. 🙂) and i found that for the exam today, the things i remembered most were the things that i pored over in the lab. i needed to stare at the heart for hours and hours before i figured out which way was left and right. 🙂

good luck. and don't stress out too much if you can help it. at this point, i think we're just learning how to learn it. i felt pretty good about how i studied yesterday, but up to then, i was wasting a lot of time "studying." oh, and don't wait until the last minute to look at cross sections. 🙂

 

[Dr. Xavier]

Originally posted by manta


and clemente is great. see if a classmate or the library has it and take a look at it first. the slides are good, and it seems less cluttered and straightforward compared to netter ("bless his heart" as they say here in the south. 🙂)

Yeah clemente teaches at my school and his atlas is IMHO pretty good. I do think netter is over rated and way too cluttered.

 

[daisygirl]

I'm presently a second year who didn't discover Clemente till this summer when I was studying for my anatomy final. That atlas is WONDERFUL! I really liked the manner in which Clemente presented anatomy. Netter's doesn't suck, but I do prefer Clemente over Netter's.

Back to 'studying' micro.....

 

[forbin]

Anatomy tests are a little strange in that there is a written component and a practical component. IMO, you can do perfectly well on the written exam even if you never step foot in the lab and just study Netters and what ever other textbooks/review books you are using.
The practical exam requires more, and only for the last practical did I really have a good system for doing well. First, learn all the anatomy on your cadaver cold (or at least as well as you can). Once you feel good about that, take a few hours, go into the lab and spend 10 min at each cadaver and identify all the muscles/arteries/nerves etc. This sounds like a lot, but if you get a system and ID everything in the same order each time, it can certainly be done in 10 min if not much less time. Doing this really helped me on the practical because all the cadavers are different, and I was proficient at finding structures on all different types of bodies. I hope this is useful for everyone, I'm very glad I never have to take another anatomy test... 😀

 

[rxfudd]

Originally posted by sacrament
Perineum. This was freakin' impossible to dissect.

Yeah, I forgot about how tough the perineum was. What makes pelvis/perineum especially difficult to dissect/learn is that there is more variation of arteries/nerves here than probably anywhere else in the body. You really can't rely on the positions or relationship of structures here, you need to see where it's going to identify it.

 

[Goofyone]

DoctorGoofy's 5-step anatomy plan:

A few hints:

1. Osteology first. Grooves and bumps. Painstaking, but important. Everything is built around it.

2. If your school uses notes, give 'em a QUICK read, or use the text. Draw out tables, recite branches of nerves & vessels. Don't read for extreme detail. Use mnemonics for vessels/nerves/etc.
Here is a good mnemonic link: www.medicalmnemonics.com

3. Move on to Netter. Go through ALL the relavent pages there. Cover up the labels with a notecard and recite them from memory until it's easy to remember them all.

4. Now you should know your stuff pretty well, at least conceptually. Go into the lab and look for the stuff on your structure list. I like to recite everything I can remember to myself while I'm looking. The lab ties everthing together. Make sure you look at SEVERAL cadavers, not just yours.

5. Before the test, review your tables, and give the blue boxes in Moore Dalley a read, or your clinical vignette/board review book.

A quick tip for the God-awful Head and neck anatomy!

1. If the muscle name contains 'Tensor' in the name, its ALWAYS innervated by CN V.

2. If the muscle name contains 'Palato' in the name, it's innervated by CN X, (unless it also contains 'Tensor' also, then CN V trumps it).

3. If the muscle name contains 'Glossus', it's innervated by CN XII (likewise, if contains palato also, then its CN X).

 

[DendriticCell]

thanks a lot Dr. Goofy..

it's really helpful.. especially the website.. it could save me a lot of time for memorizing those terms..

 

[ready]

Does anybody know a good source of practice written and practical questions. I have access to ADAMS but I find it diffulcult to limit the scope of the practical and end up getting asked a great deal of questions on topics that I haven't yet learned. I found the questions at the end of the Board Review Book (Chung)chapters to be helpful. I learn best by testing - does anybody have any suggestions.

 

[rxfudd]

Originally posted by ready
Does anybody know a good source of practice written and practical questions. I have access to ADAMS but I find it diffulcult to limit the scope of the practical and end up getting asked a great deal of questions on topics that I haven't yet learned. I found the questions at the end of the Board Review Book (Chung)chapters to be helpful. I learn best by testing - does anybody have any suggestions.

http://rad.usuhs.mil/rad/reimann.html
http://www.neuropat.dote.hu/quiz2.htm

Look under the anatomy section of each of these. Some of the links on these pages are old and outdated, but many are still good

 

[TTSD]

the BEST way to study for anatomy?

Get your significant other naked, get a black marker and start drawing.

 

[Renovar]

Originally posted by rxfudd
Yeah, I forgot about how tough the perineum was. What makes pelvis/perineum especially difficult to dissect/learn is that there is more variation of arteries/nerves here than probably anywhere else in the body. You really can't rely on the positions or relationship of structures here, you need to see where it's going to identify it.

Pelvis and perineum is definitely the most difficult of the gross anatomy from my perspective. Many different fascial layers, many different variations of arteries that is obscure to see on cadaver dissection (ie. you have to rely on pictures), and the muscle/pelvic bone/artery/nerve relations is a b1tch. Definitely the most challenging stretch of anatomy.

 

[DendriticCell]

test is coming up in couple days

i still dont' know the parts in the pratical exams that well... i think Rohen's pictures are too idealized.. and when i went back to lab everything looks different to me..

any suggestions for how to study for the practicals?? or cramming??

 

[manta]

see if your school library has the video atlas (i don't remember what it's called exactly.) watch that and spend a lot of time in lab looking at different cadavers.

good luck!! 🙂