I need help reviewing anatomy! :(

[azzarah]

---

Members don't see this ad.

So I started reading HY Anatomy today (anatomy and embryology are my weakest subjects) before 2nd year starts, and I am having a hard time...I don't remember half of this stuff! What is the best way to study anatomy for Step 1?

 

[Idiopathic]

Memorize the 20 most important things about 1 week before the test and wing the really difficult stuff. Honestly, my anatomy consisted of three or four painfully easy questions (1 carpal tunnel, 1 proximal fibular head/common peroneal nerve relationship, 1 radial nerve) and maybe a CT or two. It was very low yield. Others have said that their anatomy was killer, but there is no way to know. I would certainly not worry about it now, because you will forget it all. You will be doing exactly the same thing 11.5 months from now.

 

[Su4n2]

i liked clinical anatomy made rid simple, others weren't crazu about it but i enjoyed it , it was kind of fun to read especially when ev else was so boring.

 

[azzarah]

Memorize the 20 most important things about 1 week before the test and wing the really difficult stuff. Honestly, my anatomy consisted of three or four painfully easy questions (1 carpal tunnel, 1 proximal fibular head/common peroneal nerve relationship, 1 radial nerve) and maybe a CT or two. It was very low yield. Others have said that their anatomy was killer, but there is no way to know. I would certainly not worry about it now, because you will forget it all. You will be doing exactly the same thing 11.5 months from now.

Thanks so much for your input...🙂 The reason I started with anatomy is that this was my worst subject this past year...I had a lot of things going on and I didn't study nearly as much as I should have. So basically I am learning a lot of this stuff for the first time. 🙁
Well, I know head and neck really well. I am pretty comfortable with abdomen, but the rest I absolutely do not remember/know. I just want to make sure I read this once and reference it to my atlas so it is ready to go next year.

 

[azzarah]

i liked clinical anatomy made rid simple, others weren't crazu about it but i enjoyed it , it was kind of fun to read especially when ev else was so boring.

Thanks for your suggestion. I am definitely going to check this book out. HY is so boring for me now...I think I am just scared of learning anatomy and that makes it hard. 😱

 

[bigfrank]

My advice for Anatomy:

Type notes in Word as you read HY Gross Anatomy (or whatever) -- if you don't know it -- TYPE it. It will strongly reinforce the material by making learning active. Then you won't have to review it as comprehensively in "11.5 months," as Idiopathic suggests 😉

I did this, came up with 22 pages of Word documents over about 12 hours total and had a wonderful review source without the other B.S. that's in HY/BRS Gross Anatomy.

I utilized this studying concept frequently throughout the 1st and 2nd years (lectures, etc.) -- it takes discipline but dramatically slashes the time you'll have to review in the end. Really.

I ended up with most of my "*"s off the chart on Gross Anatomy on my score report, and our school had, literally, about 10 hours of anatomy lecturing (so my knowledge base was p!ss poor).

 

[azzarah]

Thanks for your advice bigfrank....That's how I usually study for classes...I know you have mentioned this before, but what book did you use for Anatomy? HY or BRS?

 

[bigfrank]

Thanks for your advice bigfrank....That's how I usually study for classes...I know you have mentioned this before, but what book did you use for Anatomy? HY or BRS?

Didn't touch BRS -- used only HY.

 

[lotanna]

My advice for Anatomy:

Type notes in Word as you read HY Gross Anatomy (or whatever) -- if you don't know it -- TYPE it. It will strongly reinforce the material by making learning active. Then you won't have to review it as comprehensively in "11.5 months," as Idiopathic suggests 😉

I did this, came up with 22 pages of Word documents over about 12 hours total and had a wonderful review source without the other B.S. that's in HY/BRS Gross Anatomy.

I utilized this studying concept frequently throughout the 1st and 2nd years (lectures, etc.) -- it takes discipline but dramatically slashes the time you'll have to review in the end. Really.

I ended up with most of my "*"s off the chart on Gross Anatomy on my score report, and our school had, literally, about 10 hours of anatomy lecturing (so my knowledge base was p!ss poor).

sounds useful. did u do this for every class??

 

[Ramoray]

hi there, I am and have been currently trying to get through HY anatomy and HY neuro as those two subjects I do not think I learned a thing on as I just did not put the time in. It is like im learning everything new and HY may seem thin but there is a TON of info crammed in there. Like for upper limb, it is short, mostly the 12 most common injuries and the signs but in order to understand why those signs occur you pretty much have to know the course, function and inervation of all muscles nerves and arteries. On top of that the location of important bones etc, So after all was said and done i pretty much had read the entire moore chapter and used netter just to get through because it was meaningless to me just using HY. But when all was done Hy is a good concise list of stuff if you have it annotated and you know why things happen. So all in all i think HY is a tough book to use unless your grasp is firm. I am struggling big time with anatomy. I think it just takes the time and good annotation for future recall> i find i spend most time looking stuff up that i dont remember, not much time is spent understanding anatomy ya know. So i would spend time just making sure you organize the stuff. but who knows i am still searchign for the best method!

 

[bigfrank]

sounds useful. did u do this for every class??

I did it for most classes/lectures. Saved me bunches of time and really solidified my memory on most things.

 

[lotanna]

I did it for most classes/lectures. Saved me bunches of time and really solidified my memory on most things.

pretty cool! I've a phone-pda that i carry everywhere and it has word on it, so I'll try this and see how it works for me in low yield classes like anatomy.

 

[DendriticCell]

and on top of that.. you can go to libary and check out Moore's clinical anatomy.. and read its blue boxes .. and that should be good enough..

 

[azzarah]

Thanks for the advice guys...I already have Moore--big moore and lil moore!
HY is taking a long time to read, so I decided to do a chapter every 2 days or so while I am chilling at my summer research job. 😀 Instead of the Netter Atlas, I am using the flashcards...I find it very helpful. I am not too worried about other classes, but I've got to get anatomy off my back this summer before 2nd year starts.

 

[Rom]

Coming onto the exam, but I was told
- know the extremities - brachial plexus and all nerves in the arm (the hand innervation, plus get an idea of general compartments), as well as the general compartments and innervation of lower limbs
- head and neck is good, as comes with neuro
- abdomen - just be able to visualize and navigate, not really technicalities, uterus and ureter, sup. mesenteric under duodenum, over distal 4th... mid-gut, foregut
- haven't seen a back question yet (well - long thoracic n. & seratus, SITS with subscapularis only internal rotator, main flexor of hip (psoas - remember pancreas is touching it...), anybody seen anything else)
- heart - visualize your coronaries and positioning, R. Bronchus, APTM and MTAP

I hope that's enough for me on the exam. I tried to really visualize the anatomy (the cadaver helped). The rest don't really bother, if you do enough questions, it seems they ask over and over the same stuff (that is all the practice questions - will tell you after the real one next week), what they also asked us during the year exams... Embryo too - know the HY (and if that's too much)... The questions you are not gonna know you will neither find them in the books. Big Frank is right - it's thinking them out (that is with what you already know)

 

[bigfrank]

I would also have a good idea of the blood supply to the intestines (including stomach) and brain (including venous flow).

Also, be sure to know that chapter in HY Neuroanatomy about "brainstem lesions." Very high yield stuff.

 

[scootad.]

ramoray, dude you are wasting your time trying to master HY gross anatomy. really the only things you need to know for anatomy step 1 are the limbs and brachial plexus injuries. definitely know those chapters/charts cold. dont bother with anything else.

 

[azzarah]

Thanks for all the additional advice and support you guys! Now I am really motivated to learn anatomy. Maybe I should become a surgeon or a radiologist! 😉

 

[bigfrank]

ramoray, dude you are wasting your time trying to master HY gross anatomy. really the only things you need to know for anatomy step 1 are the limbs and brachial plexus injuries. definitely know those chapters/charts cold. dont bother with anything else.

BAD advice. please listen to the many other people who have given advice that contradicts this.

Brachial plexus/limb injuries? I had ZERO questions over it, most of my friends got 0-2 max.

Believe me, mastering HY Gross Anatomy is certainly doable and will add several crucial points to your score. It is one of those key topics that truly separates testtakers.

 

[Rom]

...and will add several crucial points to your score. It is one of those key topics that truly separates testtakers.

He's right, the difference between a good score and a star score is probably just a couple extra questions...

 

[Ramoray]

I know anatomy is not the best spent time but honestly I think people put too little importance on anatomy in the practice of medicine. I mean i think it is the responsibility of a good doc to know his **** and honestly anatomy is huge even if your not in a surgery field. I felt i did not learn anatomy well enough the first go round and i really did want to learn some stuff even if i wont remember the fine details later. I still believe that once you learn something well its engrained and will always be there for recall. Ya def. a crapshoot as far as how many points its worth on step but i remmeber stinger saying he got a ton so you just never know. thanks guys

 

[bigfrank]

Exactly. If you haven't figured it out yet, scootad. is trolling around only replying to threads to which I have replied and magically going out of his way to disagree with or attempt to contradict every one of my points.

OF COURSE you have to know more anatomy than the limbs for a great score. Best of luck Ramoray & Rom, I know you both will do very well.

 

[scootad.]

oh shut it already. get over your pathetic self, i was just trying to give helpful advice having gone through all of this already. i didnt even see your post in this thread. you are without a doubt the most narcissistic poster i have encountered on this website.

 

[bigfrank]

Relax, ol' buddy! 😉

 

[azzarah]

Hey guys, I really appreciate all the advice everyone has given me and other 007ers. 😀 From your scores it seems that your class has really DESTROYED step 1.
I am glad that I found this board...I can never get honest advice from med students at my school! Ya'll rock! 🙂

 

[azzarah]

ramoray, dude you are wasting your time trying to master HY gross anatomy. really the only things you need to know for anatomy step 1 are the limbs and brachial plexus injuries. definitely know those chapters/charts cold. dont bother with anything else.

Scootad, that's very interesting. Several others that I really trust have told me the exact same thing. It might be that there is a lot of variation in terms of how many anatomy questions you get depending on which test format you end up with. 🙂

 

[bigfrank]

It might be that there is a lot of variation in terms of how many anatomy questions you get depending on which test format you end up with. 🙂

Exactly. You're taking a HUGE gamble if you only study the brachial plexus and "limbs" for the Step I. Many people, myself and Stinger included, got many anatomy questions that of course did not relate to those topics.

 

[sherpagyrl]

There are things that you'll never get questions on especially details about anatomy. BUT you do need to know some of the basics and the anomalies. Each HY chapter has stuff about dysfunction. It also helps dysfunction in path make sense. You can always memorize the brachial plexus the day before the exam.

 

[azzarah]

thanks for the additional advice you guys. Right now I am just taking notes off HY and referencing to various Netter flashcards in the margins. Hopefully next summer I can go back and study my notes really quickly. 🙂

 

[MedicinePowder]

as usual, bigfrank offers genuine and great advice. apparently someone is underestimating the presence of gross anatomy questions on step 1, or some versions of step 1 have much more gross anatomy than others. i was hoping to get the reported "minimal" gross anatomy on my test, but I was backhanded by a significant number of GA questions, and i'm not talking about the overrated brachial plexus. i got some straight identification questions on x-ray with no clinical presentation. definitely, much more gross anatomy than what i expected. i still wouldn't spend too much time on reviewing for it, but i would definetly not ignore the subject and review much more than the brachial plexus.