Should I take human anatomy over summer?

[poopsmcgeethe3rd]

I am debating whether to take human anatomy over the summer, not take it at all, or take it during the fall. Has anyone taken it during the summer? Schedule is alot basically 4 times a week 4 or 5 hours long including lab and a month and a half to learn it. I don't wanna take it and do bad, if it doesnt improve my dental application with or without taking human anatomy I don't see the point. I am not doing anything this summer so alot of free time so can focus on this class or take it during fall with more time available, spread over a longer period. weighing my options....

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[tons_of_fart]

If you can't handle human anatomy over the summer with "a lot of free time", then why bother pursue dentistry. (assuming you're taking at a 4-year uni)

 

[poopsmcgeethe3rd]

one thing I am worried about is how fast it is and I need to get a real good grade. Alot of memorization and that takes time

 

[ILLchief]

Go for it! If it's just anatomy without physio included then it's really not that bad

 

[Glimmer1991]

Yeah, sure, I'd take it over the summer. If it's the only class you're taking, it will be doable in that time period. Intense, sure, but doable.

 

[Bottle]

Take it, but don't forget that you have to study for it. It may sound like a useless advice, but a lot of people take summer courses less serious, resulting in them having C or B.

 

[poopsmcgeethe3rd]

Oh I am gonna study, pretty scared of this class. Any study advice for anatomy? I need to get a good grade in this class

 

[techyguy]

There are two parts to memorizing anatomical features:
1) simply getting the name in your head
2) knowing where it is on the body

The first one is actually the hard part, IMHO. You can know "the little vein in the elbow," but you're going to have to write down "median cubital vein."

So the best advice I was given to memorize the names is to write them over and over and over again on some piece of paper. I had an old, partially used notebook that I used to write the words over and over again (and biochem molecules, incidentally). The anatomical pieces have to be broken down into areas for proper chunking, but your instructor will hopefully do that for you, so just write the words down from each list over and over again. Revisit lists so often you get bored and start rolling your eyes at your silly scribbles. I did this and missed like 8 things the entire semester (quizzes and practicals).

Obviously don't neglect pouring over models or cadavers, or pictures to know where they are, obviously. Some of them are tricky.

 

[stomatology]

Learn bones then muscles then blood supply/nerves. Your professor and lab TA should go in that order anyway.

For me, visualization was one of the keys to memorization. I used Visible Body's Human Anatomy app on my laptop, but you can also use http://zygotebody.com/ which is free. The reason I didn't like Zygote Body is because I found it harder to use. There was also this Real Anatomy thing my lab professor recommended but I tried it and thought it was useless. The other thing I did was to visualize where on the body things were with my eyes closed (I'm not a visual person) and that helped me. Also, I'm definitely not an artist but I would the structures from memory (even if they were rough approximations of what things looked like) just to make sure I got things down.

So there are a lot of memory things you can do such as writing down names like @techyguy suggests or using flash cards to memorize origin, insertion, innervation of muscles, but I think that it's really useful to think of why something is named the way it is because IMO that helps stick it in your head better. Also, functions of muscles usually just make sense if you think about the origin moving toward the insertion and how the rest of the body behaves in relation to that.

For the lab are you using models? Models are really easy to identify stuff on IMO and you can look up similar labeled models online to help you at home. I've heard some anatomy labs use other animals such as cats, and that seems not very useful to me but I guess it's an experience. For my lab we had the privilege of using human cadavers, so that made the whole thing more challenging but also more useful overall. If you're in the same boat, my best advice is to use any and all time that you're able to to be in the lab and figuring stuff out on your own--go through feeling things and figuring out what goes where until you can visualize it on your own. I found this to be the most useful time for learning. Most of my study time was spent that way, and I had less things to learn or cold memorize at home because of it.

I loved anatomy and did really well in the class. I know I spent a lot less time studying than my classmates, but I think that's because I figured out early on what worked for me and just stuck to it. Oh, the other thing I wanted to say is to take advantage of all the resources you have available (TAs, tutors, professors, etc). There's no shame in needing help to get a concept down.

 

[stomatology]

@poopsmcgeethe3rd One thing that I forgot to mention in the post is that an anatomy atlas with real photographs might be useful for you. I started using the Color Atlas of Anatomy (mine was 4th edition so quite old, but I found it at my parents' house and free is always great) toward the end of my semester when I found I had less time to spend with the bodies and I did fine for the material I used it for. I had also racked up quite a big buffer in terms of my grade so I wanted to see if using the atlas could work just as well. But most of my time studying was spent coming in extra a couple of times a week for several hours and looking at the different bodies and finding all the structures on my own. And comparing the two, I think the in-person method works much better.

I also used my lab book because we were required to (it's Grine's but it sucks) and the text I purchased for class I mainly used to look at the colored pictures. I'm not a big textbook reader, so I didn't read it, but I made sure I took good lecture notes to study from.

I don't think my advice fully applies if you're, let's say, dissecting a cat and responsible for cat info for the lab practicals but are learning human anatomy during lecture and will be tested on human stuff during the lecture exams (which is the experience a friend of mine had).

Oh, and the other thing I will say is don't take anatomy lightly and think you can cram it the night before. That usually doesn't end well. It's more of a process of acquiring and understanding the information over time. I imagine you'll have to cram during the summer because the session will be shorter, but you should still be putting in time every day. Make sure to start off with the right mindset.