problems learning arteries/veins and nerves

[fizzbot]

Hello all,
I am learning the muscles quickly but having problems memorizing the nerves and veins/arteries that supply these muscles. Does anyone have any advice about how to sort of piece it all together? I hope all of you are doing well, Med School is like not like drinking from a firehose, its like chugging a waterfall.
Sincerely,
Fizz

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[docjolly]

Hi there,

When I was a first year medical student, I initially struggled with Gross Anatomy. Part of my dilemma stemmed from the fact that there were sooooooo many nerves and arteries we needed to learn (much less so veins). I can't tell you specifically what to do, but I found a few things helpful:

1. Find the origin of the artery and nerve. If you know the origins, and all of their branches, it makes learning/understanding what they supply, adn where they course, much easier.

2. Draw a picture. It sounds silly, but it works! I'm a heavily visual learner, and sometimes staring at pictures in Netter's just didn't do it for me. I find it useless to memorize information that I first do not understand. It was critical for me to understand the origins of blood vessels before I could understand what they supplied.. So, for instance, I found the aorta, and focused on the subclavian artery. I drew all of the branches of the subclavian artery in the correct (or semi-correct) direction that they traveled. At the end of each branch, I drew an arrow that pointed to the muscles supplied by that artery. I did the same for the nerves (this is expecially true for the Trigeminal Nerve and it's main branches--the Ophthalmic, Maxillary, and Mandibular Nerves, and their respective subranches . I color coded everything.

3. Pneumonics! Pneumonics are key to Gross Anatomy, and often times, it requires very little effort on your behalf because they can stand for almost anything. It's also helpful to get pneumonics from your classmates. I don't have any that come to mind (this was almost a year ago), but if you'd like, I I search for them this weekend and PM them to you.

I wish you all the best!

 

[fizzbot]

Hi there,

When I was a first year medical student, I initially struggled with Gross Anatomy. Part of my dilemma stemmed from the fact that there were sooooooo many nerves and arteries we needed to learn (much less so veins). I can't tell you specifically what to do, but I found a few things helpful:

1. Find the origin of the artery and nerve. If you know the origins, and all of their branches, it makes learning/understanding what they supply, adn where they course, much easier.

2. Draw a picture. It sounds silly, but it works! I'm a heavily visual learner, and sometimes staring at pictures in Netter's just didn't do it for me. I find it useless to memorize information that I first do not understand. It was critical for me to understand the origins of blood vessels before I could understand what they supplied.. So, for instance, I found the aorta, and focused on the subclavian artery. I drew all of the branches of the subclavian artery in the correct (or semi-correct) direction that they traveled. At the end of each branch, I drew an arrow that pointed to the muscles supplied by that artery. I did the same for the nerves (this is expecially true for the Trigeminal Nerve and it's main branches--the Ophthalmic, Maxillary, and Mandibular Nerves, and their respective subranches . I color coded everything.

3. Pneumonics! Pneumonics are key to Gross Anatomy, and often times, it requires very little effort on your behalf because they can stand for almost anything. It's also helpful to get pneumonics from your classmates. I don't have any that come to mind (this was almost a year ago), but if you'd like, I I search for them this weekend and PM them to you.

I wish you all the best!

Wow thanks!
I look on medical pneumonics and I didn't find much. Any other advice?

 

[Risa]

Wow thanks!
I look on medical pneumonics and I didn't find much. Any other advice?

If you look up medical mnemonics, you'll have more luck

 

[Miami_med]

Everyone has this problem. It is easiest to remember these things by where they come from. There is always a hard to differentiate nerve, artery, and vein in every place on the body, and you'll have to follow them back to get the answer. This is a good technique early. Once you get to Head and Neck, even some of the muscles look like arteries. Where are you dissecting now?

 

[fizzbot]

Everyone has this problem. It is easiest to remember these things by where they come from. There is always a hard to differentiate nerve, artery, and vein in every place on the body, and you'll have to follow them back to get the answer. This is a good technique early. Once you get to Head and Neck, even some of the muscles look like arteries. Where are you dissecting now?

Neck, shoulder, back

 

[fizzbot]

So maybe I should xerox a big copy of the arteries/veins and another of the nerves, then just kinda get all those down and go from there?

 

[mendel121]

I had some success using one or both of these methods -

1. Make a story - nerve x comes off y, and travels medial to muscle z, etc - giving the vessels and nerves a human character sometimes makes things easier

2. Similar to the story - lay out the paths using outline form - so you can see the progressions and the hierarchy, etc.

Just try stuff, and use the thing that you're most comfortable with - everyone is different.

 

[Miami_med]

In the neck, if it is connected to the Hyoid Bone, it is a muscle. This seemed like it would be obvious before my neck dissection. There really aren't any major nerves or vessels that are found from a back dissection. The neck/shoulder interface is a touch complicated. Watch for where the respective subclavian veins meet with the Jugular to form the Bracheocephalic Vein. If you get down to the heart, this becomes MUCH EASIER, because the arteries all come from the Aorta, while all of the head and neck veins end up in the SVC. Just follow the map. The will keep them independent. If it runs into the SCM or Trapezius, it is probably CN XI. If it doesn't, and it doesn't go to to the SCM or Trapezius, you are looking at the Vagus or the Phrenic (If still in the neck).

Hope that helped.