Struggling with Anatomy...

[TexasSurgeon]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey guys,

I'm pretty worried I might end up failing anatomy, in which case I would have to remediate over the summer. Anyone have any thoughts on this and what it would mean for my future in residency? For what it's worth, I want to go into surgery although this is definitely making me question by ability to be a surgeon.

I'm an MS1 about to finish up the semester.

 

[Shirafune]

Hey guys,

I'm pretty worried I might end up failing anatomy, in which case I would have to remediate over the summer. Anyone have any thoughts on this and what it would mean for my future in residency? For what it's worth, I want to go into surgery although this is definitely making me question by ability to be a surgeon.

I'm an MS1 about to finish up the semester.

From my limited understanding...

Failing any class is not great, but just because you're bad at anatomy does not mean you'll be a terrible surgeon. This does mean that you need to rock your surgery rotation and get great letters. Great letters and clinical grades are obviously more important than pre-clinical grades.

Why not shadow GS/subspecialty when you're done with this semester and see if you like it in practice?

 

[TexasSurgeon]

From my limited understanding...

Failing any class is not great, but just because you're bad at anatomy does not mean you'll be a terrible surgeon. This does mean that you need to rock your surgery rotation and get great letters. Great letters and clinical grades are obviously more important than pre-clinical grades.

Why not shadow GS/subspecialty when you're done with this semester and see if you like it in practice?

yeah you're right and i agree i will.

i think i'm just so frustrated with this semester. i've reached my breakpoint in every sense of the word. im also not proud to have my level of performance set to a "passing level"

 

[theonlytycrane]

Anatomy was hell (finished a few weeks ago). Grind hard until the end- just get that P.

 

[libertyyne]

One phrase.
ANKI with image occlusion

Rinse and repeat until most of netters is in your head.


That being said, failing anatomy will not preclude you from a gen surg spot in all liklihood if everything else in your application is in line. Figure out what isnt working, and why and fix it.

 

[Nucleophile1]

How have you been studying so far? Also, are your tests professor written or NBME?

 

[TexasSurgeon]

One phrase.
ANKI with image occlusion

Rinse and repeat until most of netters is in your head.


That being said, failing anatomy will not preclude you from a gen surg spot in all liklihood if everything else in your application is in line. Figure out what isnt working, and why and fix it.

How have you been studying so far? Also, are your tests professor written or NBME?

For the studying, we have like professor-prepared handouts that we look over and do practice questions on. They basically take these handouts and use the highest yield concepts and test us on it but there's small details throughout and idk I'm just not a memorizer. I really realized that this semester. Our tests aren't written by NBME, but our school has writers who write for STEP that write our anatomy exams, so I'm not sure how similar/different they are.

I used Anki image occlusion a ton for this last exam and I did a lot better on the practical than I did for our midterm. My weakness is in the written. No matter how many questions I practice on for some reason I can never get the full picture in and miss small details or concepts.

I've also had a rough personal life this semester but I dont want that to be an excuse, so I didn't mention it in the original post...honestly I can point out so many things I myself am to be blamed for. I was not organized this semester, didn't schedule my time so I never balanced anatomy with other modules, etc. I was a straight A student in college and I know I can do this...I just need the UME to have some faith in me.

 

[libertyyne]

For the studying, we have like professor-prepared handouts that we look over and do practice questions on. They basically take these handouts and use the highest yield concepts and test us on it but there's small details throughout and idk I'm just not a memorizer. I really realized that this semester. Our tests aren't written by NBME, but our school has writers who write for STEP that write our anatomy exams, so I'm not sure how similar/different they are.

I used Anki image occlusion a ton for this last exam and I did a lot better on the practical than I did for our midterm. My weakness is in the written. No matter how many questions I practice on for some reason I can never get the full picture in and miss small details or concepts.

I've also had a rough personal life this semester but I dont want that to be an excuse, so I didn't mention it in the original post...honestly I can point out so many things I myself am to be blamed for. I was not organized this semester, didn't schedule my time so I never balanced anatomy with other modules, etc. I was a straight A student in college and I know I can do this...I just need the UME to have some faith in me.

We have instructor written questions as well, Honestly once you memorize the structures and anatomy , then you understand the relationships and functions, and only after that can you answer third order questions. I would keep on with the image occlusion. There is no such thing as high yeild at our school since anything taught is fair game . Use anki to memorize the course handouts. After you have done all of that https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gr...h-2Z5k8ZI0MDMVuPJHE_TdsL9KMmyJV4aAvspEALw_wcB
Use this and BRS.

 

[Nucleophile1]

For the studying, we have like professor-prepared handouts that we look over and do practice questions on. They basically take these handouts and use the highest yield concepts and test us on it but there's small details throughout and idk I'm just not a memorizer. I really realized that this semester. Our tests aren't written by NBME, but our school has writers who write for STEP that write our anatomy exams, so I'm not sure how similar/different they are.

I used Anki image occlusion a ton for this last exam and I did a lot better on the practical than I did for our midterm. My weakness is in the written. No matter how many questions I practice on for some reason I can never get the full picture in and miss small details or concepts.

I've also had a rough personal life this semester but I dont want that to be an excuse, so I didn't mention it in the original post...honestly I can point out so many things I myself am to be blamed for. I was not organized this semester, didn't schedule my time so I never balanced anatomy with other modules, etc. I was a straight A student in college and I know I can do this...I just need the UME to have some faith in me.

I use a combination of things to study for the written exam in anatomy. Anything that is strict rote memorization i.e. muscle innervated by X nerve, I use Anki. It will keep you showing you the card until you know it. Next, I do Gray's Anatomy Questions (the book linked by @libertyyne), BRS questions, and UMich questions. If I still feel like I need to do more questions, I will do PreTest Anatomy questions.

When you review your practice questions, figure out what you missed and make Anki cards about those topics and then run through those cards until you know them.

I know it's tough to be a straight A student in college and then struggle when you get to medical school. I would recommend seeking the counseling and/or learning services at your medical school if you continue to struggle. Don't let this one class define you. Plenty of people struggle in Anatomy and then go on to do very well in subsequent classes, become a surgeon, etc.

On to organizing your time, I would recommend using something like Notability or OneNote. That way, you can organize all of your lectures, notes, etc. into one place. When you sit down to study, you should always have a plan and a to-do list to keep you on track.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

We have instructor written questions as well, Honestly once you memorize the structures and anatomy , then you understand the relationships and functions, and only after that can you answer third order questions. I would keep on with the image occlusion. There is no such thing as high yeild at our school since anything taught is fair game . Use anki to memorize the course handouts. After you have done all of that Gray's Anatomy Review: with STUDENT CONSULT Online Access / Edition 2
Use this and BRS.

I use a combination of things to study for the written exam in anatomy. Anything that is strict rote memorization i.e. muscle innervated by X nerve, I use Anki. It will keep you showing you the card until you know it. Next, I do Gray's Anatomy Questions (the book linked by @libertyyne), BRS questions, and UMich questions. If I still feel like I need to do more questions, I will do PreTest Anatomy questions.

When you review your practice questions, figure out what you missed and make Anki cards about those topics and then run through those cards until you know them.

I know it's tough to be a straight A student in college and then struggle when you get to medical school. I would recommend seeking the counseling and/or learning services at your medical school if you continue to struggle. Don't let this one class define you. Plenty of people struggle in Anatomy and then go on to do very well in subsequent classes, become a surgeon, etc.

On to organizing your time, I would recommend using something like Notability or OneNote. That way, you can organize all of your lectures, notes, etc. into one place. When you sit down to study, you should always have a plan and a to-do list to keep you on track.

I should have adopted Anki a lot earlier on...I only used anki this last week of anatomy. I definitely regret this decision. I would have understood it much better if I used Anki to memorize the course handouts. I'm hoping I don't fail the course and have to remediate. It I do, i'll use the methods you guys are describing above. I have a copy of BRS but I never got to using it as our handouts were always emphasized as most important, so I mainly stuck to those. THey're not very great IMO, so I wish I had used BRS as a second resource

Honestly, I should have used Anki for everything so far. Biggest regret.

 

[ChrisMack390]

FWIW, I was convinced I was going to fail anatomy until I didn't

 

[TexasSurgeon]

FWIW, I was convinced I was going to fail anatomy until I didn't

thats exactly how i feel right now

 

[ChrisMack390]

thats exactly how i feel right now

Keep on grinding and don't fall into a cycle of negative thoughts. You can do this if you put the work in.