Is there an easy way to learn Anatomy?

[Jasminegab]

My brain is turning to mush.....Is there any easy way to learn anatomy? I have the BRS Gross Anatomy, NMS Clinical Anatomy, Moore's, Netter's, Gray's and Clinical surface Anatomy. With all these resources, I'm still loaded with information that has my brain turning to mush at the end of the day.

My senior med student help me out please. What's the secrete? How did you do it.....how did you survive?

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[leorl]

There's no real quick and fast way, but it's faster if you find out the best way you study. What I did for anatomy was found a good partner to verbally run through things. Some of our assessment is oral (we have to do viva's) where you're given say...a bone and asked to tell everything about it, and which muscles attach where, etc. Saying it over and over again, quizzing each other, really helps to solidify it. Also, if you're a visual person, drawing mental maps can help - a good book for this is Instant Anatomy - take say..the vasculature of a particular region, and draw it out yourself in different colors - that really helps you remember and helps break things down so they don't seem so complicated. Drawing also helps in neuroanatomy. Some of our written exam questions are drawing-based as well. The trick is visualization. Plop yourself in the middle of a system and make sure you can see what's where, even if you rotate yourself. That makes you learn things a lot quicker. So I guess my advice would be verbal repetition (as fast as you can), and visualization.

Don't read Gray's. Too laborious. Moore's is ok, but just focus on the blue boxes - if you have a clinical understanding behind the anatomy, that helps you remember too.

 

[southerndoc]

I liked one poster's suggestion (in another thread) of studying anatomy at a strip club.

Just kidding. Seriously, it's all just rote memorization with occasional patterns of things (like vessels and nerves).

 

[orthoman5000]

First of all you have WAY too many sources of information, narrow it down to what is effective. I understand completely because I'm a bit of a book nut myself, but I had to learn to only use a few sources.

Moore is a good book, but only read it if you are having trouble grasping something and need it spelled out and elaborated for you. Looking back I think I should have read Moore more (no pun intended) because the region I read the book the most I made a 100 on both the written and the practical.

BRS is a great source to use almost like a set of class notes, just be careful when the terminology used by your instructors is different than that used by Chung. Annotate as needed and memorize this book.

For practicals the Rohan Atlas is awesome. I almost used it like a substitute for the lab because I never got much out of lab. I didn't like to dissect and I spent too much time talking to the people at other tables. The pictures are labeled in such a way that they make it easy to quiz yourself.

I wasn't a big fan of Netter's and much preferred Rohan. I used Netter's only occasionally to get an uncluttered view of the region before looking at Rohan.

Finally get yourself some question books such as PreTest or my personal favorite Review Questions for Human Anatomy by Patrick Tank. Now it helped that Dr. Tank was our Gross course director so the qeustions were very similar to what showed up on our exams. Go through the questions and tell yourself why the correct answer is correct and why each of the incorrect answers are incorrect, and what words you would change to make them correct.

This worked for me to get an A in the class and some variation of this should probably work for you. I'd keep your resources limited to Moore's, BRS, Rohan Atlas, and some question books, along with whatever dissector your school uses.

 

[IlianaSedai]

1. Don't buy any more books! You have enough.
   
2. Are lecture notes passed out to the class, put online or otherwise distributed to students at your school? If so, I suggest using these as your MAIN STUDY MATERIAL and spending the most time on these.
   
3. Keep an atlas open while you study your notes. Don't spend too much time memorizing EVERYTHING -- just pick out what's in your lectures and skip the rest. The only exception is if your lecturer is really bad and doesn't cover the material on his exams.
   
4. Use BRS or another textbook to clarify any points you didn't understand from your lecture notes.

Because lecture notes were passed out in advance of lecture at my school, I read the notes several times:

1. Once in the morning BEFORE lecture (1 hour).
   
2. Read them DURING lecture (1 hour).
   
3. Read them in the afternoon or evening, AFTER lecture (1 hour).
   
4. Read them one more time during the weekend (30 min).

By the time actually preparing for the test comes around, you'll be reading them for the 5th time and it will go much faster by then.

 

[Jaded Soul]

I agree with the posts above. Looks like too many resources and information overload right now.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned to look at the cadaver as much as possible. Yes, you can study idealized cartoon or photographic atlases and memorize everything in every book you have and still do well. However, if you do the majority of your studying while seeing and touching the actual dissection, it'll come that much easier. Gross labs should be available to students at any time--take advantage of it.

 

[DrBravesgirl]

seriously, that's way too much to study with, especially if you have a 3" binder full o' class notes like i did last semester. stick with rohen for practicals, and netter/snell (or moore. but not both)/BRS for written material.

 

[Jasminegab]

Thanks for the replies.

My school does not do dissections, we are to do dissection online. Notes are posted online. I do read the notes and I read the corresponding chapter.

As I posted on another thread, my test are case based. So, I use alot of the books I have to learn about clinical implications for the region that we are covering for that week.

I'll try to limit my study down to just two or three sources. However, I use the NMS more than any other book. Since I just brought the BRS, I'll try to look that over more so than the NMS because the NMS is so detailed. Although I do like the NMS because it give clinical implications for each section and I can skim past the non-essential information.

 

[Jaded Soul]

My school does not do dissections, we are to do dissection online. Notes are posted online. I do read the notes and I read the corresponding chapter.

No dissections?

 

[IlianaSedai]

There are a few schools that don't... The most publicized school that doesn't dissect is I think the Hull-York school in England.

If you don't do any dissections, and if you're not that much of a visual learner (I'm not) then maybe I would skip the online images and stuff and just read either the class notes or BRS over and over again. You should look at past exams if they're available however -- sometimes you can see what images will appear on it (if any) and focus on those.

 

[mpp]

Hate to add another source of information when you seem to have so many, but if you are having difficulty with remembering a list of say the innervation of the hand, for example, good menomics can help...try www.medicalmnemonics.com to see if they have something that can help you keep something straight. Don't use it at first, but when you find that you always mess up which is radial, ulnar, median...head there and see if they have something that helps you keep it straight.

 

[Funshine0123]

I agree; don't buy ANY more books. I studied mostly from our notes & then would look over Moore when I was confused and/or knew I should be studying and just didn't want to (kind of like a review; so I was doing something related). My block director also recommended the clinical cases that are at the ends of the chapters in Moore; I only looked over those briefly though (maybe 1 or 2 nights before the test).

I would love to tell you there's an easy answer, but you have to figure out what works for you. My roommate used BRS - gross anatomy & embryology & she LOVED them both. Personally, I wasn't a big fan; but I liked Moore - I guess that's why she likes chocolate & I go for vanilla LOL.
I know that I do best on tests when I do a lot of practice tests, so I found some med schools that had online tests (I googled for them - I'll post some links that I found - but I'm sure that everyone else here, knows of many others ) & then the day before our test, I just did online practice tests. I also would do those periodically throughout if I knew that I should be studying & couldn't keep my focus. (I used some for neuro too).

Here's some anatomy links for practice quizzes I used:
(Like they said at the al-anon meetings we had to attend - take what you like; leave the rest )
http://www.med.umich.edu/lrc/coursepages/M1/anatomy/html/courseinfo/mich_quiz_index.html
http://www.neuropat.dote.hu/quiz2.htm
http://www.studystack.com/java-studysta/frames.jsp?reloading=1 (click the dark green medicine book for topics & then there are online flashcards)

 

[prettypea]

Two words: flash cards. I made up my own because ordering it online (I live in Europe) would have taken too long. Took a long time, but it really helped.

 

[Doc Ivy]

Funshine,
Thanks for that flash card link... I think that'll be really helpful for pharm next year

~doc

 

[docslytherin]

there are Netter flash cards that you can buy as well that are good for learning this stuff... i am definitely a fan of flashcards for just about everything!!

john

 

[Wo1verine7DO]

If you have a live cadaver lab with real dissections, I'd go in and study off of that sometimes its easier to learn if you see it and if they offer optional review sessions attend those since the professors usually go over everything that it important. I did that and it turned out really well. There is a website at www.gsm.com that is called Human Anatomy online that uses real cadavers and simulates anatomy practicals.