Tips for Memorizing Skull bones in six days?

[gioia]

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We have a skull quiz covering numerous details of the Viscerocranium and Neurocranium bones. The quiz is six days away (our unit just began) and I can't invent mneumonics for everything. I have the basic landmarks down but that is the eeaassyy stuff.

What is the best way to group the info??

Many thanks.....................

 

[Idiopathic]

Surely you are not talking about temporal, parietal, frontal, stapes, mandible, etc? More detail, perhaps?

 

[Sage880]

I think it looks harder than it is. I didn't use any tricks. I just got an atlas, read it, and then covered up all the labels and tried to remember what was called what. Then I did that again, and again, and again. Then I got a different atlas and tried to do the same thing.

I got it down in just a couple days. The tricks are overrated.

 

[gioia]

Surely you are not talking about temporal, parietal, frontal, stapes, mandible, etc? More detail, perhaps?

Not quite so simplistic as that. More like: Sulcus for superior sagittal sinus, Nasalocrimal canal, Parietal Emissary foramen, and Groove for the greater petrosal nerve. Things like that. More than 100 things like that, but I found it needless to count them all. I grouped them by sections and bone and put them on index cards for easy reference.

Got my atlas' right here along w/ my pencils, coffee and laptop. 🙂

 

[freesolo]

do the pictures ever look like the real things, or is it damn sketches in medical school like my vert morph class ;D.

 

[citygirl]

Get a hold of a skull and keep a Netter's of something close by. Practice, practice, practice. No way to get around it. Try working with someone else so you can quiz eachother.

 

[fpr85]

Make photocopies of the diagram (with no answers displayed) and practice "filling in the blank".

 

[jashanley]

To be honest, after being a resident for 2+ yrs. I could barely tell you the bones of the skull. What you don't use, you lose. I knew all of that. Learn it to pass then forget it unless you are going to be a neurosurgeon or radiologist
The important thing is you learn where and how to look it up later.

 

[paranitroxide]

good luck

 

[automaton]

6 days is a TON of time for a hundred items. repetition is the key. just stare at it, hide the labels and try to name it, stare at it some more, find a classmate to quiz you, look at some different atlases and name it from those, etc. i don't recommend drawing skull anatomy though, as i find drawing generally low yield and not worth the effort. the real key is repetition and recall.

 

[Adcadet]

6 days? I'm guessing your anatomy class is 14-18 weeks long, and you have it with other classes. We do all of gross anatomy and embryo in 8 weeks, so you have about 2 days to learn skull bones, bony landmarks, etc (unless you're like me, and you end up slacking during the last 1/3 of the class).

 

[pikachu]

all you have to memorize in 6 days is the bones of the skull? consider yourself lucky.

 

[stinkycheese]

Get the anatomy coloring book!

 

[gioia]

all you have to memorize in 6 days is the bones of the skull? consider yourself lucky.

We are on a new system: Our classes are spread out a bit more in terms of time but our exams are back-to-back. We do Histo, Gross, Embryology, and other classes together. So, while I memorize my 130 or so structures, I'm committing lots of other things to mem. as well.

If you have any retention tips, pass'm on....


Thanks for all of the tips. I found that drawing them out is really more a waste of my time than I thought and the Anatomy coloring book doesn't get into enough detail..

 

[TTSD]

Just stare at it until your eyes bleed.. then tell me which vessel probably popped.

 

[carrigallen]

Get a real skull, get your netters, and get some pipecleaner. Stick your pipecleaner in every possible hole and groove, and think of which structure(s)travel through it (if anything!). Start with the cavernous sinus and work your way to the back.

 

[me.]

We have a skull quiz covering numerous details of the Viscerocranium and Neurocranium bones. The quiz is six days away (our unit just began) and I can't invent mneumonics for everything. I have the basic landmarks down but that is the eeaassyy stuff.

What is the best way to group the info??

Many thanks.....................

i'm going to start trying this soon: subliminal learning in addition to whatever it is you usually do. record material and listen to it as you sleep (and of course, whenever else you want to). this way, although you may not be able to directly recall details, perhaps you will at least have a stronger and more accurate than usual intuitive feeling of the right answer. 🙂

 

[gioia]

Just stare at it until your eyes bleed.. then tell me which vessel probably popped.

I think this will be my quote of the year!!!

 

[ddmo]

Put time in studying it, instead of posting on SDN.

 

[gioia]

Put time in studying it, instead of posting on SDN.

Fortunately, being an interactive learner, I can do both.

 

[doc05]

memorizing the skull is like anything else in anatomy -- pure idiot's work. there's no need to kill yourself over this, because you'll never need to know more than the basics anyway. there's no trick, just repetition.

 

[ddmo]

Wayne State Radiology Skull Demo

This page is good for learning the skull base anatomy through CT films.