If you improved your anatomy grade significantly, how did you do it?

[The_Sunny_Doc]

Anyone who changed their grade from a B or C to an A, how did you do it? Anatomy is the only class that kicked my butt first semester, both blocks. Not looking for tips from people who have been acing it all along. I'd like advice from those who changed how they studied this subject and thus improved their grade.

I devote as much study time to anatomy as I do other subjects, except that I don't talk through anatomy lectures with other people, unlike physio. Perhaps it would help to "group study" anatomy as well?

Some tips I gathered from other threads: Watch Acland anatomy videos, get the RapidReview Anatomy book, look at each powerpoint 5 times and don't look at outside resources unless its absolutely necessary. Going to get an early start watching the DVDs after Christmas...

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[solitarius]

I wouldn't recommend resource overload.

Pick one concise resource and stick to it. I used a USMLE review book + my school's lab manuals.

Anyway, you have to know how the core structures inter-relate. Amd the clinical context of the aforementioned structures. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition

 

[f4reignbeauty]

Although I haven't had a difficult time, this is my first time taking a course like this. What I personally found helpful was having an accountability partner. We would go into the anatomy lab three times a week before lecture in order to go through the ID list and quiz each other on secondary questions etc. (e.g., nerve fibers, clinical correlates etc.)

 

[threesparrows]

Make Anki cards from the power points (using image occlusion) as the material is presented and review daily. Quick and effective!

 

[futuremdforme]

Make Anki cards from the power points (using image occlusion) as the material is presented and review daily. Quick and effective!

This is what I do too. I have image occlusion for recognition and bell ringer practice, and general Q&A for other things I need to know.

 

[DryHopped]

Acland anatomy videos + studying the cadavers for lab practicals. Studying lecture material using Netters as a visual resource and doing the BRS questions and U of M questions for the lecture tests worked out really well for me.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[NYCdude]

Make Anki cards from the power points (using image occlusion) as the material is presented and review daily. Quick and effective!

What does this mean, like copying and pasting powerpoint slides into Anki cards?

 

[Dr Granger]

I went from making one SD below average to one SD above average. Anatomy just wasn't my thing

I'd watch acland to prep for lab/review structures too

I whiteboarded every PowerPoint 3x. A pass of a lecture normally takes between 1.5-2hr

Went into anatomy lab and reviewed all the labs on the exam working through it and quizzing my friend.

I started studying with one other person midway through the semester. After we each had a good grasp of the lecture we would talk it out and quiz each other.

A few days closer to the exam I would not knockout all umichigan and BRS anatomy questions

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

You guys rock.

Just ordered BRS Anatomy. Going to get an anatomy study partner for this upcoming semester.

Kicking myself for not using Anki for anatomy sooner. I was trying to use it for subjects that didn't work well with it (physio), and got overwhelmed with the amount of cards. The format is ideal for anatomy, though.

How many Anki cards per lecture, @threesparrows ? Or did you not have an upper limit?

 

[scoKraz4]

I would redraw vessels and nerves over and over again. Along the path of them i would name muscles they would supply. Would draw bones out too with all the fossa/tubercles/plateues/etc. with the names. I'm a terrible drawer but it worked to hammer it into my head by remembering my own drawings.

 

[AM508]

I did not have any trouble in anatomy. What I found that worked really well, at least for me and some of my lab mates, was going into the anatomy lab in the evening outside of class time and finding structures on numerous cadavers. I found during exams that I had a much better recall of the relationships of items that I had actually found myself. I learned things better this way than staring at an atlas for hours. I use the BRS Anatomy book and questions to supplement the lectures and occasionally Rohens and Netters atlas. For me, the extra time in the lab and BRS in addition to the lecture materials was a winning combination.

 

[michiganpsych08]

I will add to this as well. First semester anatomy was all bad for me, but 2nd semester I stepped it into high gear.

1. more time in lab

2. study partner - teach each other the lectures, draw out everything over and over, and do questions from Umich and the grays book

3. I actually took the time to read grey. I know its time consuming, but it helped me immensely.

4. My school does dissection via rotations so everyone is not in there at the same time. So with that being said, I would prepare for each dissection even though I wasn't the one doing it and that helped me be more familiar with the material. First semester I would just blow it off if it wasn't my dissection and thus I didn't know that material well at all.

Anyway, I said this long thing to say its possible to improve your grade!

 

[it'sabeautifullife]

Agree with previous posters--more time in the lab finding things yourself is high yield. Doubled up on the time spent in the cadaver lab, studying prosections and bodies other than my own team's. (There's remarkable variability.) Engaged the professor. He came in on weekends and gave a personal cadaver tour of whatever we happened to be studying. This is the great benefit of a small school. If not an option for you, work with someone knowledgeable in your class who can confirm when you are uncertain. (If a one-on-one with the prof is an option, strongly recommend. He can even direct you toward what will be on the practical.)

Also benefited from @f4reignbeauty's plan of having an accountability partner. I have three: one to keep me honest about working out while in med school, and one each for lecture and lab.

Another high yield move for me, I started to look at all material before we actually covered it in lab or lecture. This made an enormous difference. A very successful MS2 told me about this strategy. Like night and day how much you get out of what is being taught if you've already gone over it/at least skimmed it.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

For practicals: Study the Rohen's book (quiz yourself with it). Hopefully your school provides a list of structures you are responsible for in lab, then make sure you can identify each on three different cadavers, look it up in an Atlas, and in Rohen's (obviously don't do this for the really easy structures like the large muscles because you would be wasting your time). Do the UMich practical quizzes.

For written: there's only a certain number of questions they can realistically ask, so figure out what those are and then drill them from every angle. Read clinical correlations. Do practice questions from BRS anatomy. Do UMich written questions. Read the explanations, and if there's something you didn't know then spend some time reading about it. Know important relationships - clinically relevant ones. What are the boundaries of important regions? What are the contents of important spaces? Which nerves/arteries pierce which structures? For anything that is memorization, pound it into your head with anki. Shouldn't take long to figure out what is really high yield for your anatomy course.

Anatomy is one of those things that isn't hard to understand, it's just a lot of small things to learn. To improve your grade, study more and study more efficiently. Don't obsess over the tiny details at first, make sure you have a good conceptual understanding of the really clinically relevant stuff at first then add those smaller details in later.

 

[Cinclus]

As far as improving on anatomy practicals, I found Rohen's very useful.

 

[Lord Humongus]

I haven't started med school yet, but one of my old high school friends just finished her Nurse Practicioner training and she told me the following mnemonic/song helped her ace the anatomy course at her NP school:

Ezekiel connected dem dry bones,
Ezekiel connected dem dry bones,
Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones,
Now hear the word of the Lord.

Toe bone connected to the foot bone
Foot bone connected to the heel bone
Heel bone connected to the ankle bone
Ankle bone connected to the shin bone
Shin bone connected to the knee bone
Knee bone connected to the thigh bone
Thigh bone connected to the hip bone
Hip bone connected to the back bone
Back bone connected to the shoulder bone
Shoulder bone connected to the neck bone
Neck bone connected to the head bone
Now hear the word of the Lord.

Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around.
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around.
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around.
Now hear the word of the Lord.

Ezekiel disconnected dem dry bones,
Ezekiel disconnected dem dry bones,
Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones,
Now hear the word of the Lord.

Head bone (dis)connected from the neck bone
Neck bone connected from the shoulder bone
Shoulder bone connected from the back bone
Back bone connected from the hip bone
Hip bone connected from the thigh bone
Thigh bone connected from the knee bone
Knee bone connected from the shin bone
Shin bone connected from the ankle bone
Ankle bone connected from the heel bone
Heel bone connected from the foot bone
Foot bone connected from the toe bone
Now hear the word of the Lord.

Dem bones, dem bones gonna rise again.
Dem bones, dem bones gonna rise again.
Dem bones, dem bones gonna rise again.
Now hear the word of the Lord.

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
Now hear the word of the Lord.

 

[UltimateforFun]

Spend tons of time in the lab with your cadaver and others!! That is what really boosted my grade in the end.

 

[CharmanderMD]

I have three suggestions that really work for me:
1) Go to lab with your best friends and try to quiz each other with as many bodies as you can find. It's great to go with friends because everything is more salient: you remember all the jokes, what your friends knew that you didn't, little tricks they have that you never thought of. Sometimes they'll also have learned stuff that you didnt even know existed and would have never focused on yourself no matter how long you studied.
2) The Essential Anatomy 5.0 app. It's $25 but I'd happily spend it again. It's especially amazing for musculoskeletal but is good for everything. It's awesome to be able to move around a real three dimensional body and to be able to "dissect" without actually being in the lab. It also has thorough information in regards to innervation, blood supply, function, clinical anecdotes, etc.
3) If you have an access code for Netter's atlas the multiple choice questions are awesome. There's 40-60 per part of the body basically and they are all based off of vignettes or clinical situations. I can't tell you the number of tests questions that have essentially mirrored those in Netter's.

Also with all the anatomy resources available and all the different views of the same muscles and organs in anatomy atlases I truly think Anki is a waste of time. I know some people swear by it but it really just slows me down.

That's all I have, good luck!

 

[Trousseau]

I used Pre-Test and did tons of practice questions. I went from a "C" to a "B" range. Not sure about getting any higher.

 

[Rekt]

You guys have more than one semester of anatomy (excluding neuroanatomy)? Yuck.

I hated lab... but I also +1 its usefulness by identifying structures and relationships for the exam. My recall increased a huge amount by spending more time in lab. Picturing each relationship from the donor in my head.

 

[Surgeon's Cuffs]

Basically what Charmander said. I got absolutely dominated on my first anatomy exam but mostly because I treated it like just another class I could study on paper and not go in and see. Thank god for pass/fail. Turns out the body's all look different.

After that I went in twice a week and made sure I reviewed the relevant parts before dissection. Then review the handout and confer with Netter's for order of anatomically important parts. You don't have to drop a boat load of money on resources, which is the natural inclination if you're lot doing well, just find what works for you with what you have. Also quiz with a friend, doesn't even have to be your best friend, just someone. Make sure you also look at other bodies, since the way we do it at my school the dissected bodies are the tested bodies. Everybody looks different (literally) so it helps to see variant anatomical features. For the clinical questions I used the book Clinically Oriented Anatomy, which is dope. It pretty clearly spells out what can and will happen with anatomical areas that are clinically relevant. Finally Michigan questions are good for review, though I don't like them that much.

Went from a 20/50 on the first to a 70/70 on the second and have been getting straight A's in anatomy ever since. Good luck my dude

 

[Psai]

Basically what Charmander said. I got absolutely dominated on my first anatomy exam but mostly because I treated it like just another class I could study on paper and not go in and see. Thank god for pass/fail. Turns out the body's all look different.

After that I went in twice a week and made sure I reviewed the relevant parts before dissection. Then review the handout and confer with Netter's for order of anatomically important parts. You don't have to drop a boat load of money on resources, which is the natural inclination if you're lot doing well, just find what works for you with what you have. Also quiz with a friend, doesn't even have to be your best friend, just someone. Make sure you also look at other bodies, since the way we do it at my school the dissected bodies are the tested bodies. Everybody looks different (literally) so it helps to see variant anatomical features. For the clinical questions I used the book Clinically Oriented Anatomy, which is dope. It pretty clearly spells out what can and will happen with anatomical areas that are clinically relevant. Finally Michigan questions are good for review, though I don't like them that much.

Went from a 20/50 on the first to a 70/70 on the second and have been getting straight A's in anatomy ever since. Good luck my dude

The body's what?

 

[Surgeon's Cuffs]

The body's what?

-_____-

 

[deleted480308]

FSD, is it our practicals or the written stuff that's hurting you?

 

[threesparrows]

You guys rock.

Just ordered BRS Anatomy. Going to get an anatomy study partner for this upcoming semester.

Kicking myself for not using Anki for anatomy sooner. I was trying to use it for subjects that didn't work well with it (physio), and got overwhelmed with the amount of cards. The format is ideal for anatomy, though.

How many Anki cards per lecture, @threesparrows ? Or did you not have an upper limit?

I don't have a limit in mind when I'm making cards--I screen grab every image from the power point and occlude every blank. If I keep getting stuck on a low yield item during my reviews, I suspend that card. On the other hand, if I keep missing a card with an important structure on it, I find an additional image via Google and make more cards on it to reinforce.

I heard advice from other students to spend a lot of time in the lab, but I generally only go in one extra time per week with a second yr student tutor who quizzes me on the structures.

 

[Barrel Proof]

Rohen's Color Atlas of Anatomy

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

FSD, is it our practicals or the written stuff that's hurting you?

It's the written stuff on the integrated exams. There's one professor in particular whose questions I miss who you probably know about. He picks out the least consequential (in my mind... clearly they must be important) details!

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

Basically what Charmander said. I got absolutely dominated on my first anatomy exam but mostly because I treated it like just another class I could study on paper and not go in and see. Thank god for pass/fail. Turns out the body's all look different.

After that I went in twice a week and made sure I reviewed the relevant parts before dissection. Then review the handout and confer with Netter's for order of anatomically important parts. You don't have to drop a boat load of money on resources, which is the natural inclination if you're lot doing well, just find what works for you with what you have. Also quiz with a friend, doesn't even have to be your best friend, just someone. Make sure you also look at other bodies, since the way we do it at my school the dissected bodies are the tested bodies. Everybody looks different (literally) so it helps to see variant anatomical features. For the clinical questions I used the book Clinically Oriented Anatomy, which is dope. It pretty clearly spells out what can and will happen with anatomical areas that are clinically relevant. Finally Michigan questions are good for review, though I don't like them that much.

Went from a 20/50 on the first to a 70/70 on the second and have been getting straight A's in anatomy ever since. Good luck my dude

You have pass/fail? Lucky!

I'll try to look at more bodies this semester. It's key for our practical exam. The only trouble comes when we have to identify structures on other bodies and they're obscured or look very different due to pathology. I guess I need to be more social during anatomy lab to get to know the other groups!

Thank you for the textbook recommendation. We use Essentials of Clinical Anatomy, which is good, but I usually don't get to it since the lecture slides are so time consuming. Do you just speed read a few passages for the main idea?

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

I have three suggestions that really work for me:
1) Go to lab with your best friends and try to quiz each other with as many bodies as you can find. It's great to go with friends because everything is more salient: you remember all the jokes, what your friends knew that you didn't, little tricks they have that you never thought of. Sometimes they'll also have learned stuff that you didnt even know existed and would have never focused on yourself no matter how long you studied.
2) The Essential Anatomy 5.0 app. It's $25 but I'd happily spend it again. It's especially amazing for musculoskeletal but is good for everything. It's awesome to be able to move around a real three dimensional body and to be able to "dissect" without actually being in the lab. It also has thorough information in regards to innervation, blood supply, function, clinical anecdotes, etc.
3) If you have an access code for Netter's atlas the multiple choice questions are awesome. There's 40-60 per part of the body basically and they are all based off of vignettes or clinical situations. I can't tell you the number of tests questions that have essentially mirrored those in Netter's.

Also with all the anatomy resources available and all the different views of the same muscles and organs in anatomy atlases I truly think Anki is a waste of time. I know some people swear by it but it really just slows me down.

That's all I have, good luck!

I'm loving this app. We're doing MSK next, so it should come in handy!

Anki hasn't been fruitful for me so far, but clearly it's effective if you're comprehensive with the material. I'm going to try Anki-ing the lectures before anything else. Seems like the most straightforward attack method.

 

[deleted480308]

It's the written stuff on the integrated exams. There's one professor in particular whose questions I miss who you probably know about. He picks out the least consequential (in my mind... clearly they must be important) details!

yeah he's into obscure trivia

 

[KJfromCali]

I would have died without Quizlet cards.

 

[Dipraman]

I found Noted Anatomist on youtube really helpful. He has super concise videos that do a great job of giving you an over of the material. Of course it is not everything you need to know but it gives you a good place to start. Most of the videos are organized in playlists but there are some videos which are not. So just go though both playlists and the list of the videos