I just started histology, as was wondering if any of you that took it, had any tips for the class, to effectively learn it. My class is 5 weeks long [6 weeks i suppose if you count the shelf exam, which we get a week off to study for]. Lecture is not that bad, but lab is just...crazy...I've looked at UIowa at it looks great [more help than lab] but i just can't seem to get the images stuck in my head.
How to study for Histology
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I've taken a few histology classes and am now taking histophysiology. In my opinion, the key is relating structure to function. For example, if you can see the ox-cart structure of a plasma cell and know WHY it looks like that, it will be easier to spot in the future. Just like anything else in a biological science structure and function are the backbone of the entire science. If you have the means, pick up any histology book that calls itself "The Color Atlas to Histology." It has several pictures of everything and highlights the important aspects of each tissue.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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keep looking at the slides this site was very useful to me http://www.lab.anhb.uwa.edu.au/mb140/addons/mcqquiz.htm
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http://www.histology-world.com/
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D7882068A01C370F
The key to histology is practice. If you want to be good at recognizing structures, you need to look at a lot of them. Your school will probably have an online image library or recommend an atlas to you. Use it. know it.
The two websites above should also be helpful. The first contains games, practice tests, practicals, and some useful charts. The second is a youtube channel where someone has taken the time to meticulously point out some important things.
As for your written portion, it all depends on your class. Some schools teach from the book, others from lectures. This is where it's nice to have a few friends who are upperclassman who can give you an idea of what sources the professor draws his/her questions from.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D7882068A01C370F
The key to histology is practice. If you want to be good at recognizing structures, you need to look at a lot of them. Your school will probably have an online image library or recommend an atlas to you. Use it. know it.
The two websites above should also be helpful. The first contains games, practice tests, practicals, and some useful charts. The second is a youtube channel where someone has taken the time to meticulously point out some important things.
As for your written portion, it all depends on your class. Some schools teach from the book, others from lectures. This is where it's nice to have a few friends who are upperclassman who can give you an idea of what sources the professor draws his/her questions from.
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How to study is heavily dependent on how your course is taught and your exams are done. At my school, we had written and lab exams. The written exams were just like any others in medical school, and tested little obscure details about cell bio. The lab exams were in the form of a series of "Point to <structure> on slide <slide number>". For some of the latter type questions, I simply had to memorize coordinates to cut down on the time I wasted on test day. For example, I found a great example of a proerythroblast and memorized the coordinates. On another slide, I found a glomerulus with both poles clearly visible and good examples of JG cells (visible granules, etc) and memorized those coordinates. Basically this saved me from hunting around for good JG cells (our instructors/TA's always had to option of telling us to "Find a better example" or just marking us wrong if we pointed to something that was not clearly the answer) come exam day.
But I also agree with what others are saying. basically what I had to add was that to do really well, just like every other medical school class, you have to suck it up and simply memorize a few useless things like slide coordinates.
But I also agree with what others are saying. basically what I had to add was that to do really well, just like every other medical school class, you have to suck it up and simply memorize a few useless things like slide coordinates.
don't get a histology book. use this website! it's awesome
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I know it ain't a popular sentiment, but I did find Wheater's helpful when I took Histo.
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I'm currently a pathology resident. I absolutely hated histology when I was in medical school. The keys to learning it as others have mentioned are:
1) relating structure to function
2) repetition.
Repetition is important (just like with other med school courses)-- grab an atlas and review the pictures over and over and over again. Quiz yourself by trying to identify the different cell types and correlate with what they do. The more interactive you make it, the better you will learn. Good luck!
1) relating structure to function
2) repetition.
Repetition is important (just like with other med school courses)-- grab an atlas and review the pictures over and over and over again. Quiz yourself by trying to identify the different cell types and correlate with what they do. The more interactive you make it, the better you will learn. Good luck!
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I used Blue Histology a lot: http://www.lab.anhb.uwa.edu.au/mb140/
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i had trouble with images too. you need to go to your professor and get some pointers. Our prof had specific things that he made sure were obvious in each image, and he had his own little catch phrases to describe them. go to office hours and make sure you are aware of what he looks for when he chooses images for the exam.
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I've always really liked UCSD medpics:
http://medpics.ucsd.edu/index.cfm?curpage=main&course=hist&mode=browse
They probably don't have everything you need to see but it's really good for quizzing yourself before exams and such.
http://medpics.ucsd.edu/index.cfm?curpage=main&course=hist&mode=browse
They probably don't have everything you need to see but it's really good for quizzing yourself before exams and such.
^ that doesn't really help since my school uses slides, but good for others though. My histology class is 5 weeks long, but so far i've been using the Uiowa and shotgun histology on youtube [which saved me from failing my first exam to doing great]. It's great overview for the info i have to know at least. I use histology and cell biology by Kierzenbaum for the class. Great book, one of the best i think. 1st textbook i've ever actually read, counting anatomy and biochem.
Well, we also had a microscopic practical part for our exam so we were forced to study all the slides regularly. The best way to do it is to first study the material and then try to recognize each component, step by step, on the slide.
Do get an atlas like Wheaters or DiFiore's (the one I used) coz that really helps you with what you should be looking for in a slide.
My main text was Junquiera and it's frankly one of the best histo. books out there.
Do get an atlas like Wheaters or DiFiore's (the one I used) coz that really helps you with what you should be looking for in a slide.
My main text was Junquiera and it's frankly one of the best histo. books out there.
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use this website for practical questions: http://www.bu.edu/histology/m/index.htm
regardless of what your course covers, study from BRS Histo. At my school, BRS went in to way more detail than what we needed to know for our tests, but for the shelf if you wanna do well you will need to konw everything in that book.
This is also helpful for studying histology. It feels as if you are watching some tissue on microscope.
http://www.path.uiowa.edu/virtualslidebox/nlm_histology/content_index_db.html
http://www.path.uiowa.edu/virtualslidebox/nlm_histology/content_index_db.html
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