How to study for Anatomy?

bythewoods

Hi all,

I'm in my second semester of First Med, and I'm still having big problems studying for Anatomy.
With other subjects like Physiology and Biochemistry I've absolutely got to grips with things, but I just can't get my head around Anatomy at all.

I've got Gray's and Netters, but I just don't think I'm doin' it right or something.
I can never seem to remember everything and I'm constantly confused. I told one of my lecturers I was having problems with it and he simply advised me to rote learn his notes. I asked a few of the second years and they said the same thing.

So, I poured a few hours into memorising his notes, and can essentially ream them off, but when I go into the DR I still get boggled and confused. I picked up a heart last week and couldn't get the different parts of it right or anything- and this is BASIC Anatomy!

My question is- where am I going wrong? How do you approach studying the subject?
And, any tips for me? I have an Anatomy Spot exam in a week and a half and I feel like I'm just wasting time at the moment, staring at diagrams. I didn't do very well in my Spot in the first semester and I really think I need to recover.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Don Keypunch

Try association, e.g. picture a elephant around college and associate this image with a particular region of the brian to remember hippocampus, the more stupid the example the more will probably remember it, also memoronic sentances can work well.

imported_guy

Don Keypunch wrote: »

Try association, e.g. picture a elephant around college and associate this image with a particular region of the brian to remember hippocampus, the more stupid the example the more will probably remember it, also memoronic sentances can work well.

this, its called mind mapping (i think, or its another similar concept) it really works, my chemistry teacher used to be an englishman, i pictured him waving a british flag outside the school to memorize some organic chem nomenclature

HQvhs

I find rote-learning doesn't work at all; it's too easy to get mixed up when you're under the pressure in front of the examiner in the exam.
I found asking "why?" to everything helps a lot, especially if you study anatomy along with embryology. For instance, which nerves passes in posterior to the hila of the lungs? The Vagus Nerve. Why? Because it supplies Parasympathetic to the GIT so it must go with the oesophagus which is posterior. It doesn't have to be a textbook perfect answer, as long as it makes sense in you're head and you can visualise it. Anatomy isn't about learning off the names of things and parts, it's about being able to visualise the body in your head.

PhysiologyRocks

Think small!

For example, if you're studying a text, write a list of all the little nerves, vessels and general finicky bits and learn where they go. Read up on what everything does too, and it'll be a million times easier to remember.

Then, remember silly little rhymes and alliterations and you won't forget it.

Then, and only then, get out your atlas. It'll all come together very speedily.:)

bythewoods

Don Keypunch wrote: »

Try association, e.g. picture a elephant around college and associate this image with a particular region of the brian to remember hippocampus, the more stupid the example the more will probably remember it, also memoronic sentances can work well.

Can you elaborate on this method? I really don't understand what you mean by it tbh!
Thankin' ye.

HQvhs wrote: »

I find rote-learning doesn't work at all; it's too easy to get mixed up when you're under the pressure in front of the examiner in the exam.
I found asking "why?" to everything helps a lot, especially if you study anatomy along with embryology. For instance, which nerves passes in posterior to the hila of the lungs? The Vagus Nerve. Why? Because it supplies Parasympathetic to the GIT so it must go with the oesophagus which is posterior. It doesn't have to be a textbook perfect answer, as long as it makes sense in you're head and you can visualise it. Anatomy isn't about learning off the names of things and parts, it's about being able to visualise the body in your head.

I think my main issue is not being able to picture everything in my head very well, but this sounds like a good method.
Cheers!

PhysiologyRocks wrote: »

Think small!

For example, if you're studying a text, write a list of all the little nerves, vessels and general finicky bits and learn where they go. Read up on what everything does too, and it'll be a million times easier to remember.

Then, remember silly little rhymes and alliterations and you won't forget it.

Then, and only then, get out your atlas. It'll all come together very speedily.:)

Sounds good.
So you would say, start with Gray's anatomy/ lecture notes, then move to the atlas and THEN perhaps to the Dissection Room?

I already feel like I'm so behind with this semester, moves must be made.
Thanks to all of you for replying.

bigdogbarking

There's an easy method i always use

Ita a little song that goes something like this......

" The foot bone's connected to the leg bone, the leg bone's connected to the knee bone......."
You know the rest

PhysiologyRocks

bythewoods wrote: »

Sounds good.
So you would say, start with Gray's anatomy/ lecture notes, then move to the atlas and THEN perhaps to the Dissection Room?

I'd say do the atlas/dissecting room together.

I know some say get into the DR before any notes, but it can be very daunting if you don't know exactly what to look for.

Know what you're looking for, and then find it. This method has worked for me every time.

DrIndy

I always found that when studying - or indeed diagnosing a patient or interpretating a result - do it two ways - laterally and straightforward.

This is airy-fairy - but in a nutshell - I diagnose by working on the commonest thing (the hunch) and the spreading out the differential of possibilities. this all comes together as a diagnosis - does the differential match the hunch?

In anatomy - memorise by rote, but also try to memorise what the parts do and how they relate to themselves.

This lateral way of thinking ties in the physiology which you understand and can make it much easier.

Brods

I'd say spend as much time as you can in the DR. They are gonna use those cadavers in your spot so no matter how well you know Netters, our dissection skills leave a lot to be desired and the bodies never look like theyre supposed to!

When we were there, the demonstrators were a mixed bag, one or two really great ones and the other two were hit and miss. (retrospectively, the 2 good ones had decided to teach the meds and the other two thought the therapists so I'm sure they were equally good just with a different focus). Make sure you get in with a good group though, move from the assigned station if you want but not necessarily to you're friends, nor the brainiacs but people you don't mind learning from and asking questions of (maybe those struggling a little less than yourself but not way ahead, ya know?) Its all about confidence too when it comes to the viva in May so talking through in groups definitely helped me...

The notes are good for what they are, Lasts anatomy with nicer photos but I didn't find them much use for the practicals, great for written but in the lab you don't need to know the embryology etc

Stick at it and it'll start to click, good luck!

Elephants never forget= hippocampus? Or did you mean to imagine a hippo around campus= HippoCampus? ... :S I like it

Larianne

I'm the opposite to yourself Bythewoods where I get so confused with Physiology but Anatomy is very clear to me (most of the time).

Like Brods has said I think the other student(s) you are grouped with will help a lot. I go in with another girl and we learn the same way. We usually have a goal as what to come out with learning at the end of the session.

We go over the bones or cadaver with the lecture notes beside us and also have a netter's open. We ask each other a lot of questions. I find the clinical stuff ties it all in with me.

It's after the DR that I read Gray's. I only recently decided to look at the line diagrams for nerves and they are really good with helping you memorise what supplies what.

Only thing I can't get into my head are the nerve roots!!!

And I'm all for silly rhymes or memory aids. I get laughed it but it works! best of luck for Tuesday.

Kwekubo

http://medicalmnemonics.com has loads of anatomy mnemonics. It's nice to have these as islands of knowledge you can hang everything else off.

Larianne

Seriously, how does one remember the nerve roots to EVERYTHING!!!???

Breezer

I've always been hopeless at rote learning, so Anatomy was a nightmare for me as well. I'd attempt to learn from an atlas but that didn't help me visualise it properly, and then when I got to the DR I wouldn't have a clue what to do and the session was completely useless; I always came out feeling like an idiot.

In the end I got my hands on a set of videos, I think they were called Acland's Atlas of Anatomy, and they worked wonders. They point out every structure, with an accompanying properly-done dissection (as opposed to my feeble DR efforts), and the fact that I could view it in 3D helped an awful lot versus a book. Unfortunately they were expensive, you might need to buy them with a group of friends.

Failing that, I'd recommend Essential Clinical Anatomy, it's a cut-down version of Moore's Clinically Oriented Anatomy that tells you everything you need to know, with no waffle. I managed to cram for a first year exam in 2 days with this and got a B+ :P I also recently used it for a plastic surgery rotation, so several years down the line it's still worth the cash! I actually remember it being quite cheap too. Your library will probably have it either.

mardybumbum

Breezer wrote: »

In the end I got my hands on a set of videos, I think they were called Acland's Atlas of Anatomy, and they worked wonders. They point out every structure, with an accompanying properly-done dissection (as opposed to my feeble DR efforts), and the fact that I could view it in 3D helped an awful lot versus a book. Unfortunately they were expensive, you might need to buy them with a group of friends.

Acklands is pretty good for review, no clinical though.
You can get them for free if you look hard enough.

mardybumbum

Larianne wrote: »

Seriously, how does one remember the nerve roots to EVERYTHING!!!???

C3,4,5,keeps my diaphragm alive, S2,3,4 keeps my bits off the floor.
Easy peasy.

PhysiologyRocks

mardybumbum wrote: »

C3,4,5,keeps my diaphragm alive, S2,3,4 keeps my bits off the floor.
Easy peasy.

That's just beautiful.

Larianne

mardybumbum wrote: »

C3,4,5,keeps my diaphragm alive, S2,3,4 keeps my bits off the floor.
Easy peasy.

ha, imagine spouting that out in a viva.

Gimme more will ya.

Breezer

Larianne wrote: »

ha, imagine spouting that out in a viva.

Gimme more will ya.

If you're offended by somewhat dirty mnemonics, look away now.

I always liked the cranial nerve mnemonic:

Oh Oh Oh To Touch And Feel Virgin Girls' Vagina And Hymen
(Olfactory, Optic, Occulomotor, Trochlear, Trigeminal, Abducens, Facial, Vestibulocochlear, Glossopharyngeal, Vagus, Accessory, Hypoglossal)

The cranial nerve function mnemonic:

Some Say Money Matters But My Brother Says Big Boobs Matter More (S = Sensory, M=Motor, B=Both)

The carpal bones:

Scared Lovers Tried Positions That They Couldn't Handle
(Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetrum, Pisiform, Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, Hamate)

And then there's the branches of the external carotid artery:

Susie Always Lies Flat On Pillows Making Sex Terrific
(Superior thyroid, Ascending Pharyngeal, Lingual, Facial, Occipital, Posterior auricular, Maxillary, Superficial Temporal).

A cleaner version of this one is: Some Anatomists Like Freaking Out Poor Medical Students

Kwekubo

C 5, 6, 7, raise your wings up to heaven. Roots for long thoracic nerve (supplies serratus anterior), if you damage it you get winged scapula.

Sitric

I could never learn anatomy directly from an atlas, I always read Moore's first then used Sobotta, without reading first I found the pictures a bit overwhelming. Moores is great for giving you a functional picture, it's always easier to remember the what if you know the why!

Hundreds of mnemonics in the attached file, enjoy!

A really useful one from Surgical Talk is TIN CAN MED DIP or what they call the Aetiological Sieve for when your mind goes blank. This is an excellent book too btw.

-Congenital

-Aquired
--Traumatic
--Inflammatory
--Neoplastic
--Circulatory
--Autoimmune
--Nutritional
--Metabolic
--Endocrine
--Drugs
--Degenerative
--Iatrogenic
--Psychosomatic

Larianne

mardybumbum wrote: »

C3,4,5,keeps my diaphragm alive
Easy peasy.

This was spouted out today in a lecture. I was like "I know it already. mardy told me."

EducationFinder

Sitric wrote: »

I could never learn anatomy directly from an atlas, I always read Moore's first then used Sobotta, without reading first I found the pictures a bit overwhelming. Moores is great for giving you a functional picture, it's always easier to remember the what if you know the why!

Hundreds of mnemonics in the attached file, enjoy!

A really useful one from Surgical Talk is TIN CAN MED DIP or what they call the Aetiological Sieve for when your mind goes blank. This is an excellent book too btw.

-Congenital

-Aquired
--Traumatic
--Inflammatory
--Neoplastic
--Circulatory
--Autoimmune
--Nutritional
--Metabolic
--Endocrine
--Drugs
--Degenerative
--Iatrogenic
--Psychosomatic

Don't know why but i love these things lol

A Neurotic

Hi all, quick anatomy question, doesn't really warrant its own thread;

Just a tad confused about abduction and adduction at the wrist joint. My definition is abduction is "moving away from the central axis of the body". However I'm confused by the fact that I've come across radial abduction and ulnar abduction in my notes. I would have thought that movement in the ulnar direction would be called adduction, as it opposes the radial abduction.

Am I to take it that abduction in this case means moving away from the central axis of the forearm and not the trunk itself? This is what makes sense to me, but I can't find clarification or verification of it anywhere.

Thanks

mardybumbum

A Neurotic wrote: »

Am I to take it that abduction in this case means moving away from the central axis of the forearm and not the trunk itself?

Thanks

Yep, I think you have pretty much answered your own question here. Muck like the way we use the middle digit as an axis when describing abduction/adduction of the digits.
Its not a term that I have seen used in grays or moore and dalley. I prefer the simple abduction/adduction (radial deviation/ulnar deviation).

If you take a look at PT's lecture "Joints of pronation & supination; wrist joint", he does describe it in a roundabout way under the heading "function".

A Neurotic

mardybumbum wrote: »

Yep, I think you have pretty much answered your own question here. Muck like the way we use the middle digit as an axis when describing abduction/adduction of the digits.
Its not a term that I have seen used in grays or moore and dalley. I prefer the simple abduction/adduction (radial deviation/ulnar deviation).

If you take a look at PT's lecture "Joints of pronation & supination; wrist joint", he does describe it in a roundabout way under the heading "function".

Ah, as I thought then. Just needed some closure on that, these things annoy me. Thanks!

IPNA

mnemonics got me through anatomy lab. The dirtier the mnemonic the better.

The other thing that helped was spending a lot of extra time in cadaver lab on my own. I didn't like being rushed and having ample time to get my hands on the plantaris, or the articulation of the scapula.