Tips on reading anatomy books?

[UIUCstudent]

Any tips on reading Gray's anatomy? We just had our first anatomy lecture today and I'm dreadfully lost in translation. About every other sentence in Grey's, I would have no clue what a certain structure was.

"Rhomboid minor is superior to rhomboid major, and is a small, cylindrical muscle that arises from the ligamentum nuchae of the neck and the spinous processes of vertebrae CVII and TI and attaches to the medial scapular border opposite the root of the spine of the scapula."



Would this class be better if I memorized each group separately (bone then muscle then nerve, etc) before piecing it together? I'm thinking about trying the Umichigan website, it seems a bit more newbie friendly?

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[Coffee Machine]

I actually had almost this exact problem a few weeks ago when we started anatomy. (Side note: don't read Grey's. That seems like a really inefficient way of learning anatomy.) Who knew that the scapula had such complicated anatomy?

I never took an anatomy class before med school, so it was by far the steepest learning curve of any of my courses (I was a cell bio major in college, so the biochem, devo, histo, etc. was mostly review). There's a ton of information to be learned. All you can do is start looking things up that you don't know. It'll eventually start coming together and you'll build the anatomy vocab required to understand a text like Grey's.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

 

[boshtrich]

You get used to it. A month ago I wouldn't have any clue what that all meant, but now it actually makes sense. For anatomy, pictures can generally be more helpful than text, that way you can get a better feel for where everything is, and what it is supposed to look like.

 

[DrWily]

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Is this a common saying? I never heard this until my Anatomy/Histology professor said the exact same shiet with a picture of someone hugging an elephant in one of her slides.

 

[Coffee Machine]

Is this a common saying? I never heard this until my Anatomy/Histology professor said the exact same shiet with a picture of someone hugging an elephant in one of her slides.

I think it's fairly common... I've heard it in a couple different settings prior to medical school.

 

[achamess]

http://drwillbe.blogspot.com/2011/09/if-i-were-to-do-it-all-over-again-tips.html

Some reflections on how to best study anatomy, IMHO.

Agree with what has been said here. Driving right into Gray's is really inefficient. You miss the forest for the trees.

 

[DavetheMD]

Studying anatomy should be carefully sectioned and organized. If you think of everything as being grouped, it becomes much more easy to absorb the information. For instance muscles of hypaxial vs. epaxial origin. Muscles of the rotator cuff as a group vs. scapulothoracic muscles vs. pectoral girdle muscles, etc.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Don't do it

 

[YH5]

If there was ever a class to skip the text and just look at the pictures, it would be anatomy.

 

[FSU2013]

Do NOT read Gray's - that's crazy. Get your netters and use that (+/- netters flash cards) and use the arrows as a quiz without looking at the name. Once you know the names of all the structures backwards and forwards, use the charts (basically for musculoskeletal). Once you have some idea of the different anatomy, skim BRS and do practice questions. UMichigan had an AWESOME qbank when I was going through anatomy for both practical and written q's.

Good luck. This too shall pass (like a kidney stone).

 

[kpcrew]

make a chart
name, origin, insertion, blood vessels, nerve innervations, action

maybe put a picture next to it

print it out

carry it everywhere and have a copy in lab as you dissect

 

[Barcu]

Don't do it

This.

Use Michigan charts and pictures from Gray's or an atlas/notecards.

The only part of Gray's that you should use is the green boxes.

 

[notbobtrustme]

I checked the anatomy textbook out at the library the second week of class and I was like

 

[UIUCstudent]

Thanks for the tips everyone (and the jokes along the way haha)!

So far the personal checklist:
1. Acland's - as a preview to the body parts
2.Moore's Essential Clinical Anatomy - I'm hesitant to try another textbook, but the preview on amazon looks very appealing. I'll have to try to find this at a library first.
3. Netter's flashcard and Atlas - Just have to sit down and eat the elephant!
4. BRS Anatomy and UMichigan website - to review test question

Hopefully I have enough time in the day to go through with this. Man, next 2-3 months are going to feel like MCAT hell again! If there's anymore words of wisdom keep 'em coming!

 

[FSU2013]

Thanks for the tips everyone (and the jokes along the way haha)!

So far the personal checklist:
1. Acland's - as a preview to the body parts
2.Moore's Essential Clinical Anatomy - I'm hesitant to try another textbook, but the preview on amazon looks very appealing. I'll have to try to find this at a library first.
3. Netter's flashcard and Atlas - Just have to sit down and eat the elephant!
4. BRS Anatomy and UMichigan website - to review test question

Hopefully I have enough time in the day to go through with this. Man, next 2-3 months are going to feel like MCAT hell again! If there's anymore words of wisdom keep 'em coming!

UMichigan also has charts. Also, use practice questions as a learning tool, not a self-evaluation tool.

 

[Lbgem]

Thanks for the tips everyone (and the jokes along the way haha)!

So far the personal checklist:
1. Acland's - as a preview to the body parts
2.Moore's Essential Clinical Anatomy - I'm hesitant to try another textbook, but the preview on amazon looks very appealing. I'll have to try to find this at a library first.
3. Netter's flashcard and Atlas - Just have to sit down and eat the elephant!
4. BRS Anatomy and UMichigan website - to review test question

Hopefully I have enough time in the day to go through with this. Man, next 2-3 months are going to feel like MCAT hell again! If there's anymore words of wisdom keep 'em coming!

I dislike Moore's, cause it's a huge textbook. I don't know about Grey's, but can I say no to Moore's? The clinical boxes are nice sure, but it's still huge paragraphs of info. The Aclands I love, Netter's flashcards are good (I kinda feel the atlas is a bit redundant, and would use Rohen's or something similar for a more realistic presentation when in lab), and Umichigan is good too.

One thing I do like is Primal Pictures - 3d anatomy, and you can take layers off/on, and it does give a succinct explanation. See if your school has free access to this or something similar. I know some people like Moore's, but I personally didn't. Try looking at it in the library first to make sure it's what you want.

Edit: I see achamess was the reason you're thinking Moore's. I have a lot of respect for him, so see if it works for you.

 

[kpcrew]

I like Netter's flash cards and Thieme atlas (great pictures, nice charts for attachments, vasculature, innervations and boxes for clinical stuff). I also got Moore's Clinical Anatomy but someone posted a list of everything in the blue boxes so I don't even open it.

I like U mich's website for testing. Also downstate: http://ect.downstate.edu/courseware/haonline/quiz.htm

 

[DrWily]

I like Netter's flash cards and Thieme atlas (great pictures, nice charts for attachments, vasculature, innervations and boxes for clinical stuff). I also got Moore's Clinical Anatomy but someone posted a list of everything in the blue boxes so I don't even open it.

I like U mich's website for testing. Also downstate: http://ect.downstate.edu/courseware/haonline/quiz.htm

Where can I find this elusive list of Moore's blue boxes?

 

[armybound]

It's like Playboy. The text is just there to distract you from the pictures.

 

[UIUCstudent]

Edit: I see achamess was the reason you're thinking Moore's. I have a lot of respect for him, so see if it works for you.

Yeah his tips are pretty straightforward and his logic sounds good. Hopefully what works for him will work for me
Primal pictures looks great to use, but my school doesn't carry it..bummer

Edit: I'm falling off the textbook bandwagon..finally found the chart section of Umichigan -- just awesome!

Where can I find this elusive list of Moore's blue boxes?

Heh that would be appreciated.

 

[achamess]

Hey guys,

I'm glad you like my stuff.

So I've found some new resources. I still think ECA (Moore) is a good book, especially because of the blue boxes. But it still may be too many trees and not enough forest.

I've been using Big Picture: Gross Anatomy recently. I think it really gets to the heart of anatomy. Like the title says, it gives you the big picture. That doesn't mean it skimps on important details though. It's still 500+ pages. I really like it though. I would have likely used this book as my primary text. Thieme's Atlas of Anatomy (Gilroy) has crazy good images. I'd keep that near my side while reading. And of course, Acland's videos.

I'm working on a good anatomy deck for Anki right now. I'm going to be posting it in the next week or two.

Good luck!

Yeah his tips are pretty straightforward and his logic sounds good. Hopefully what works for him will work for me
Primal pictures looks great to use, but my school doesn't carry it..bummer

Edit: I'm falling off the textbook bandwagon..finally found the chart section of Umichigan -- just awesome!



Heh that would be appreciated.

 

[yuiness]

I got through anatomy mostly on Netter's flashcards and various atlases. I find that reading about anatomy was next to useless for me, since I have a hard time picturing things based on text descriptions. If ever I actually cracked open a textbook, it was to look at the pictures.

 

[Valadi]

#1 Make a chart with all the stuff you need to know (origin, insertion, artery, nerve, function)
#2 Pick up an atlas
#3 Go to the lab and review.
#4 Draw everything over and over
#5 Go back to the lab

The best way to learn this is in the lab. The more time you spend there, the better off you will be. Moreover, it'll make your practical a cakewalk. Review those charts you made with the stuff in front of you and it'll make much more sense.

After all this, #6 is to do questions, questions, questions.