medical school = overwhelming *1000

[thecalccobra]

I haven't started yet but I picked up my sister's Netter's anatomy atlas and illustrated clinical anatomy and tried reading through it, starting with the upper limb.

Let me tell you, i was overwhelmed with all the minute details about every single thing. There is no way I can memorize all those bold terms and know the function and relation of each to the whole. The atlas has hundreds of illustrations with thousands of locations you have to know. How is this all doable??

And this is just one subject. Combine it with histology, embryology, physiology, pathology and you're screwd.

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[stooges287]

I'm taking anatomy right now and you're absolutely right... there's tons of terms and it's very tough to memorize it all. At the same time though, know that you won't be memorizing all the terms on every single page of Netter's.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Also know that you won't be memorizing all those terms in one day. I had an 7 week anatomy/embryology block, and while I learned over 1500 structures and how to identify them on the body, it came step at a time and wasn't that bad. You'll be fine. About the illustrated clinical anatomy book, well, keep in mind that you don't learn everything in the textbooks in med school, you learn the big concepts with select examples that the profs want you to know.

Is it a lot to learn? Yes. Is it as bad as some might want you to think it is? NO!

 

[coldweatherblue]

it's really not that bad.

We're nearing the end our first exam week. Biochem was this morning; honestly I thought it was easier than an undergrad biochem exam. Cell is tomorrow and it's gonna be pretty intense; we're responsible for knowing everything in ~75 pages of notes + several chapters/illustrations in Ross. So my schedule today was: 7-9:30 wake up and take biochem exam, 9:30-12:30 study cell, lunch, now it's like 2 and I still have a lot more studying to do before the days over. but it's straight you know.. you learn what you can and then stop worrying about it.

Once you really know the material you get that feeling like "I freaking dare the test maker's to ask me something I don't know, cause I ROCKED the notes and I WILL DESTROY YOUR EXAM RUTHLESSLY!!!!" once you feel like that you can slack, do whatever you want and will be fine. Keep in mind that it totally varies how much effort each student needs to put forth to get comfortable.

Anyway I'm ranting and am completely procrastinating studying... basically just keep in mind that tons of people before you have made it through fine. that said hopefully all us MS1's this year will be in that group, haha.

 

[BlondeCookie]

Don't worry. Most med students that I know even forget all but the most basic anatomy after they finish their anatomy course anyway.

 

[dienekes88]

There's no reason to believe that you won't be able to do what tens of thousands of people before you have already done every year for centuries.

If you have been admitted to medical school, you can probably handle it.

 

[thecalccobra]

well, it helps to know that you don't have to remember a lot of the small details after your first year.

So for all those who have taken anatomy, how many hours per day did you spend reading and memorizing?

 

[bcat85]

well, it helps to know that you don't have to remember a lot of the small details after your first year.

So for all those who have taken anatomy, how many hours per day did you spend reading and memorizing?

In anatomy right now. 2 hours of lecture, 2-4 hours dissecting every third day, 5-6 hours studying a night. Yeah.

 

[Mr Cookie Pants]

well, it helps to know that you don't have to remember a lot of the small details after your first year.

So for all those who have taken anatomy, how many hours per day did you spend reading and memorizing?

You've got to learn to play your own game. Everybody learns anatomy differently. Some people will very loudly argue the smallest of details "no, it only attaches to these 6 ribs, no these". Some will act like they have no idea what anything is. Point is that everybody studies differently and for different amounts of time. But just bc you hear some people say they study for 8-10 hours a day, they're not. It's cool to study now.

I spend a few hours a day and I'm fine. Its not how long you spend but how you spend your time. Reading over lists and regurgitating charts? Shoot me in the face. Try and pick through the info that is pertinent. Chances are they wont be asking much about the iliocostalis cervicis, so dont waste time on it. Know its there and be able to think through it in the off chance there's a question on it. Obviously this wont work for the big topics (brachial plexus, celiac trunk, etc) but half the battle is being able to tell bullsh*t from apple butter.

It's like golf. If you're playing and a buddy chips in, that doesn't mean you're going to. There are 18 holes to make par on, dont sweat it if it seems like other people know more or this or that. What/how long they study has no effect on you.

 

[stooges287]

On sort of a related note, I'm in anatomy right now, and was wondering how you guys go about figuring out which topics are "high yield"?

 

[Dr Roboto]

What bothers me about anatomy is not the huge list of structures. It's wasting hours digging through layers of stuff to find those structures.

 

[bcat85]

On sort of a related note, I'm in anatomy right now, and was wondering how you guys go about figuring out which topics are "high yield"?

I haven't figured that out yet. I'm just doing it with brute force. There's not really a good shortcut. I would say that the stuff that is really high yield are:
Muscles (w/ innervations and blood supplies)
Nerves (and fibers in those nerves/where they go)
Major/minor arteries
Relationships of structures to each other (i.e. what artery runs under the submandibular gland, etc.)

What bothers me about anatomy is not the huge list of structures. It's wasting hours digging through layers of stuff to find those structures.

I always find that I don't have to study nearly as hard if I do the dissection.

 

[indo]

you do need to know that stuff for 3rd and 4th years. You'll just have to be able to recognize it on a TV screen during a laproscopic or orthoscopic surgery.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Nerve lesions are very high yield in anatomy. Depending on how your units are structured, when you do head and neck and also upper limb that is just about every question on a written exam. All the others are predictable with muscles and nerve ID and insertions and all that jazz. Thorax/abdomen was my favorite unit of all. You actually get into the real parts of medicine where you are looking at organs and what makes the body work. You have to know blood supplies there, clinical correlations, and relationships. Last is pelvis/perineum/lower limb which is the most confusing area of the body as everything is tiny and jumbled up. Plus you have to remember everything from unit I as a lot of the muscles are very similar.

 

[thecalccobra]

I'm using Clinically Oriented Anatomy by Moore along with Netter's Atlas.

Currently on the upper limb. Eh. It seems overwhelming. Any ideas on how I should proceed? The terminology is very confusing and there is just too much to memorize, get yourself familiar with.

 

[assila]

hello
it reminds me my situaion ..... me too ive olmost forgetten about all what ive taken on anatomy we did the lower and upper limbs but i dont worry that much as u do cus i know when im gonna be on the 4 year we gonna do anatomy once again
i just want to tell the its naturel situation if it happens to u so there's no reason whatever you worry

 

[assila]

i forget we do two kinda terms the moderne one and the greek one too

 

[Caboose]

If you have been admitted to medical school, you can probably handle it.

Ditto.
I had the fear of Christ chasing me on a white snarling saber-tooth in me, had a little breakdown in a corner halfway through the term and <pop!> I'm in the top of the class for the last year. I wouldn't suggest losing all the fear though.

You don't think you have time, but you do. It's there holding hands with your focus.

That is all.

Caboose.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

People at my med school freak out about anatomy. They read Essentials of Gross Anatomy, Netters, Grant's, put in extra hours at the lab, spend all nighters memorizing names.

About halfway through the course everyone pretty much figures out that all the exams and quizzes are recycled, and that the professor gives every quiz, midterm, and final on his website dating back to like 1993.

My point here is that yes, med school throws an enormous volume of information at you. Half of the game is time management. But the other half is figuring out what's important and going to be on the test, and not wasting time on other stuff. Ask your upperclassmen what was on the exam and what they did to prepare and what to avoid.

 

[coldweatherblue]

About halfway through the course everyone pretty much figures out that all the exams and quizzes are recycled, and that the professor gives every quiz, midterm, and final on his website dating back to like 1993.

this is the great thing about anatomy.. there's really a finite number of concepts that can be tested on and lots of questions are recycled.

every med student has seen like 15 variations of "A 29 year old circus clown with webbed feet is stabbed with a pencil in the posterior triangle of the neck by 14-year old coulrophobic adolescent who likes ice-cream and afterwards is unable to raise his arm high enough to play beach volleyball. What nerve has been damaged?".

study the structures, know what does what, where it goes, where it's located, etc. Then do as many problems that you can in that area (UMich website, BRS Gross Anatomy, clinical correlates) and you'll be fine.

 

[astrocreep96]

I had anatomy as an undergrad, and I don't think it's been too bad. There is a lot more information, but if you pre-read, then see it in lecture, then dissect it out in lab, then review at home, it usually ends up sticking at some point.

The only tricky thing has been on the practical where the prof. pulls out some little structure buried in another structure - i.e. pulling out a tiny little sliver of medial umbilical ligament from the medial umbilical fold. MF'er!

 

[njbmd]

On sort of a related note, I'm in anatomy right now, and was wondering how you guys go about figuring out which topics are "high yield"?

Try to speak with some of the second-year students as they are fresh from where you are right now and know the things that are germaine for you particular anatomy class at your school. Think in terms of function and how that function can be compromised.

I'm using Clinically Oriented Anatomy by Moore along with Netter's Atlas.

Currently on the upper limb. Eh. It seems overwhelming. Any ideas on how I should proceed? The terminology is very confusing and there is just too much to memorize, get yourself familiar with.

The whole key to Gross Anatomy is organize the information and learn it in organized chunks not brute memorization of unrelated terms and structures. Study the muscles, innervation and blood supply by compartment. Use a skeleton to visualize origin and insertion (can often be done by compartment too) which helps in visualizing action too. Often reviewing the embryology before studying an area can help especially with areas such as the back, thorax and abdomen. Remember that the erector spinae are the true back muscles. Everything else crawled out there and brought nerve supply along for the ride.

Walk and lecture yourself as you study. When you hear and read the terms, they become more familiar to you and tend to stick in your brain.

When I was in Gross Anatomy, I did loads of prep work before entering the lab. When I was in the lab, I knew where to expect to find things and took full advantage of the instructor and his/her experience during that time. I checked things off as I uncovered them. Later that evening, I took my check-off lists and went back through my lab dissection (and completed the dissection/cleaning and exposure if necessary). At the end of the week, I reviewed all of the structures (on every body in the lab) on a Saturday or a Sunday. I usually had plenty of folks reviewing right along with me.

When you are taking the lab practical, remember that every tagged structure has some landmark (or hint) that will give away its identity. As you uncover structures during your dissection, keep landmarks in mind (jot them down on your notes).

Organize/Prepare
Identify and check off as you go along.
Review what you have identified

If you do some prep ahead of time, you can greatly maximize your efficiency once you get into the lab.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I haven't started yet but I picked up my sister's Netter's anatomy atlas and illustrated clinical anatomy and tried reading through it, starting with the upper limb.

Let me tell you, i was overwhelmed with all the minute details about every single thing. There is no way I can memorize all those bold terms and know the function and relation of each to the whole. The atlas has hundreds of illustrations with thousands of locations you have to know. How is this all doable??

And this is just one subject. Combine it with histology, embryology, physiology, pathology and you're screwd.

Yes, it's very challenging and Gross Anatomy is the shock course of your first semester to introduce you to your new world, where a lot of rote memorization will be part of your life.

The first night of new student orientation, my gross professor (a famous old gentleman who wrote a very widely-used review book) said, you will learn every nerve, every muscle, every blood vessel, every bone of the human body in your anatomy course. You will learn 15,000 new terms. We chuckled, very uncomfortably. He said in his distinctive far East accent, "you laugh now - cry later." (Actually, he was a wonderful guy and a very humane teacher.)

The thing is - when you don't have a medical school mindset, of course it looks overwhelming. You will learn a completely new set of skills of medical school - you'll learn to digest huge amounts of material, and you'll learn to have an instinct for what's important and what isn't. You'll pick up what you need along the way - we all did.

When I was a new first year, looking at a 200-page syllabus for one six-week block could literally put me into tears. Late in second year, that same 200 page stack would make me think, "only 200 pages for this block. Woo-hoo!" Bottom Line: you'll learn to cope. The transition hurts, but it's doable.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

every med student has seen like 15 variations of "A 29 year old circus clown with webbed feet is stabbed with a pencil in the posterior triangle of the neck by 14-year old coulrophobic adolescent who likes ice-cream and afterwards is unable to raise his arm high enough to play beach volleyball. What nerve has been damaged?".

OMG, that's good. I almost hurt myself laughing. I sorta remember the posterior triangle, but damned if I can remember which nerve. I'll probably be a terrible doctor.

 

[thecalccobra]

bump.

 

[IHeartNerds]

When you get to MS3 and have to wake up before 5am every day, are lucky to eat something not out of a wrapper once a day, and have grades determined by the whims of residents and attendings that don't really have a clue what you do or don't know, you will look back to gross anatomy with utter fondness.

edit to say that my gut reaction for any "cannot lift arm above head" lesion is long thoracic nerve, but since that's not really in the posterior triangle, I'll have to go with cranial nerve XI.

 

[midn]

I haven't started yet

Wait, then why are you reading up on anatomy? I don't think it will really help you at all trying to self-study anatomy without even stepping foot into an anatomy class. They might not even start with the upper limb.

And posterior triangle sucks. We just did it and our triangle is a mess. To the poster above: isn't the brachial plexus in the posterior triangle? It is feasible that the person was stabbed in a way such that they hit one of the roots of the long thoracic nerve, but you would have a hell of a lot more problems if that happened.

I hate anatomy with every fiber in my body. If I ever sign up for a willed-body program, I will put it with the condition that they pump me full of fat before I die.

 

[astrocreep96]

^^Virtually every clinical question regarding the the long thoracic nerve (from an anatomy professor's pov) inevitably leads to winged scapula.

 

[eforest]

I haven't started yet but I picked up my sister's Netter's anatomy atlas and illustrated clinical anatomy and tried reading through it, starting with the upper limb.

Let me tell you, i was overwhelmed with all the minute details about every single thing. There is no way I can memorize all those bold terms and know the function and relation of each to the whole. The atlas has hundreds of illustrations with thousands of locations you have to know. How is this all doable??

And this is just one subject. Combine it with histology, embryology, physiology, pathology and you're screwd.

You just picked up the anatomy book. During first year, you spend the entire YEAR going over anatomy, physiology, etc. It IS overwhelming, but in anatomy lab, when you actually see things in 3-D, you'll probably remember better than you thought you would.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Med school is chill. Most of anatomy questions you can anticipate because it'll be a clinical scenario. No one's going to ask you what's the third muscle in the 2nd anterior compartment blah blah layer of the forearm.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I hate anatomy with every fiber in my body. If I ever sign up for a willed-body program, I will put it with the condition that they pump me full of fat before I die.

Oh, that's truly mean. With the ultra-low or no formaldehyde solutions they use nowadays, in my lab the one or two cadavers that were pushing the weight limit were knock-you-over rancid by the end of the semester. I felt genuinely sorry for the people who had to work on them. That's when I realized how lucky I had been - my poor cadaver, rest her soul, had died of a recurrent cancer and every ounce (oops - I mean, gram) of fat on her body was totally gone - even the renal capsule was empty.

 

[NRAI2001]

Med school hasnt been as nearly as difficult and time consuming as I thought it was going to be...it is busy and you do need to put in a few hours of studying a day (3 or 4) but its not the staying up till midnight, no-breaks studying to pull Bs and Cs studying some people make it out to be.

Now I laugh whenever I hear the "med school is like drinking water out of a firehydrant.." line, which I ve only really heard premeds say.

How second year will be I dont know though....first year has been totally doable with having almost as much freetime as undergrad.

 

[bkpa2med]

Don't worry. Most med students that I know even forget all but the most basic anatomy after they finish their anatomy course anyway.

Not DO students. We get it thrown at us during OMM non stop. I guess that's a plus for fields like Orthopaedics and PM&R.

 

[lildave2586]

Dr. Robert Acland, of "Acland's video Anatomy" is a professor at my school. During a fresh tissue lab he said in his beautiful British accent "You must learn anatomy many times in your career. The second time you learn it, it will be much easier. The first time you learn it, it's a bitch."

Anyway if you are struggling, check out Dr. Acland's videos. They are pretty sweet!

 

[braluk]

Ahhh medical school, the perfect application of "When in Rome..."

In college, we all had luxuries of working at a job, spending time out and partying, exploring the cities around you, taking bunch of random classes that were fun, doing basically, well anything else a normal college kid does. In medical school, while the workload is indeed a lot more, you also learn to adapt quickly because your only sole job is to study. No one else is really out to party, no one else is really out working another job or doing too many crazy extracurriculuars. You do what everyone else does, so in essence, the material, sure its much more voluminious, but your only job is to study. When in Rome, do as the other medical students do (with a few other hobbies to keep your sanity of course).