Surgeons out there... how did you learn your anatomy?

[LoveandHate]

How is anatomy studied for surgery? Have you guys/gals basically committed netters to memory or did you take a more clinical approach?

ie: "incision here must worry about x, y, z" or "for this procedure should be familiar with a, b, and c and know that d, e, and f often cause problems and should be identified before...."

I ask because I can't imagine committing the entire body's vasculature to memory. The big important vessels sure but there are so many god damn branches lol

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[Valadi]

How is anatomy studied for surgery? Have you guys/gals basically committed netters to memory or did you take a more clinical approach?

ie: "incision here must worry about x, y, z" or "for this procedure should be familiar with a, b, and c and know that d, e, and f often cause problems and should be identified before...."

I ask because I can't imagine committing the entire body's vasculature to memory. The big important vessels sure but there are so many god damn branches lol

It's both. You learn the important anatomy before going into cases and by doing dissections. Atlases will likely continue to play a role in your knowledge in the very early stages of your surgical training, with primary literature describing the anatomy of an area becoming increasingly important over time.

If you're asking if someone going to pick up Grey's Anatomy and read it cover to cover to prep for surgery, then probably not.

 

[MedicalBeast]

studying a lot helps

as does having a photographic memory

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

as does having a photographic memory

The prevalence of the so-called "photographic" memory is either extremely low or (depending on what sources you read) nonexistent. Certainly among the gunners out there who claim to have one the prevalence approaches 0%.

So it's a non-starter when it comes to discussing how surgeons typically learn anatomy. Surgeons learn anatomy by first going through the fundamentals the same as any med student, then by taking a disciplined approach to studying and learning through repetition and exposure. You encounter the same structures over and over again...your knowledge of them becomes second-nature through that repetitive exposure.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Study it in waves. You aren't expected to be able to have a surgeon's level knowledge of anatomy by the end of the class.

In terms of how one should learn it for medical school, I found that avoiding the anatomy lab as much as possible until I had everything down theoretically did wonders for my ability to learn structures. I'd go to a coffee shop with a handful of netter's flash cards and proceed to read one, attempt to repeat it from memory, then read another, and attempt to repeat both from memory, and continue to go up on the number of cards each time I successfully remembered everything. Once I had gotten through all of the cards for a given block and was confident, I would go into the lab by myself and find everything on the cards.

 

[ucsfstudents]

Draw the anatomical structure from scratch using Netters as a guide.

 

[liptak]

Draw the anatomical structure from scratch using Netters as a guide.

Wow, great idea! Thanks!

 

[LoveandHate]

studying a lot helps

as does having a photographic memory

Actually this wasn't a bad suggestion. For the last exam I've been "practicing" anatomy by spending my time doing visualization exercises. After several passes I can honestly "see" the netters or rohen slide in my brain. It isn't a HD photo but it's good enough to answer questions. Totally killed the exam

 

[rologist]

As far as atlases go in Med School, you just have to find the 2-3 that work best for you. Netter's drawings were a bit idealistic for me, but I did use them some. After surgical internship started, I just used a pocket anatomy atlas, because hopefully by then, you know it well enough to just refer to it. Then when I started training in my sub-specialty, Urology, I bought a fantastic textbook called Atlas of Urologic Surgery, by Hinman, and I rarely needed anything else, even into private practice, and then only for procedures you havent done in a year or two. If you truly have a passion for being a surgeon, you will continue studying anatomy beyond the first year of med school...

 

[LoveandHate]

As far as atlases go in Med School, you just have to find the 2-3 that work best for you. Netter's drawings were a bit idealistic for me, but I did use them some. After surgical internship started, I just used a pocket anatomy atlas, because hopefully by then, you know it well enough to just refer to it. Then when I started training in my sub-specialty, Urology, I bought a fantastic textbook called Atlas of Urologic Surgery, by Hinman, and I rarely needed anything else, even into private practice, and then only for procedures you havent done in a year or two. If you truly have a passion for being a surgeon, you will continue studying anatomy beyond the first year of med school...

Whaa????? 😱 Surgeons still need atlases?!?! This is madness. Just kidding.

 

[startswithb]

Actually this wasn't a bad suggestion. For the last exam I've been "practicing" anatomy by spending my time doing visualization exercises. After several passes I can honestly "see" the netters or rohen slide in my brain. It isn't a HD photo but it's good enough to answer questions. Totally killed the exam

This is how I do it, too. Aced it.

Some people in my class say that they just have to "write down the names of the structures a bunch of times" but that does NOT work for me.