Gross Anatomy Advice

[LJM]

What's the BEST advice on how to tackle Gross Anatomy? Aside from ppt slides, lecture notes, and Netter's, would anyone recommend utilizing BRS Gross Anatomy or USMLE Gross Anatomy books to study with?

 

Studying Anatomy & Physiology as an undergrad was one thing, but it seems like now we should be applying this information as a clinician (hence the questions that are available in the BRS and USLME books).

 

How did you guys survive the class tests and lab practicals?

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[GeneValgene]

i enjoyed using lange usmle roadmap as a quick read so i could get a high-level picture in my head and get the big concepts. or i would watch the relevant acland dissection video before lecture. then used BRS gross anatomy for the meat and details. if you use BRS gross anatomy exclusively + an atlas, that may be all you need.

 

in terms of lab, i guess it's just repetition. here's a good practice site i used sometimes when i was bored: http://ect.downstate.edu/courseware/haonline/quiz.htm

[OpSite]

I hate to admit this, but YouTube was a nice adjunct to Anatomy. I needed someone to walk me thru certain things and there were really nice dissection videos posted thru both a dental and medical school. I found that watching the videos a couple times, looking at Netter for clarification, and writing terms over and over again helped the most. A friend of mine used the Netter flashcards are swears by them.

[rsh2061]

I am a pre-PA, but figured I would give my thoughts, just for what it's worth... I took Gross in undergrad and my two professors were amazing. A lot of the students that went on to Med/PA school said that we went into just as much detail as they are now and felt very prepared. It was the hardest class I've taken to date, but I also enjoyed it a lot and learned the most from it. I know every lab and school are different but here are the tips we were given and what worked for me. Hope it is somewhat helpful.

 

1. I'm not a big fan of textbooks. We had three, that actually weren't that bad, but I used them as more of a resource than "sit and read". Make sure you have a good atlas, they can be incredibly helpful, so many students didn't use one when I TAed the class, and it really hurt them. At the start of the class I got a package of computer paper and good colored pencils/markers. For every/any pathway, blood supply, nerve plexus, etc. we needed to know, we were encouraged to be able to take a blank piece of paper and draw everything out. Since I am more of a visual learner, this was helpful. After we learned something in class/lab that night I would sit down and start by looking at the diagrams and draw everything out- color coding whatever needed differentiation. I would draw a couple of times with the books, take a break and come back to it and try to draw what I could remember, and just continued for several reps until I was able to draw everything. Once I could draw the entire pathway/anatomy I would start adding bubbles from each section to include physiology or any additional information I needed to know. Once I felt confident with it, I would make sure I could write and draw everything from memory onto the paper and set the final one aside to use as a review sheet closer to the exam.

 

2. As for the practicals my teacher CONSTANTLY stressed knowing ALL of the cadavers. My lab partner and I would go in on evenings and weekends and study/review whatever dissections we had completed that week with all of the other cadavers. We would spend the first half reviewing on our own, and then go through and quiz each other. When it came to the exam, our teacher suggested if we got stuck on something and had time, to go back and compare what was tagged on one of the other cadavers to the anatomy of our cadaver. Since we were more familiar with ours, it sometimes helped jog our memory and gain a better perspective so we could go back to what was actually tagged and have a better idea of what we were looking at.

 

3. As for muscles/bones etc. (too hard for my incredibly lacking artistic skills) I just used the computer paper and made tables. I would list the muscles we had learned that day along the side, and along the top have fxn, attachment, insertion, origin, nerve supply, etc. and a misc for any other information I needed to know. Again using the books I would complete the table a couple of times and then come back later and try to complete as much as I could from memory, until I could complete all or most of it and make a final sheet for review later. For IDing I would use the diagrams in the books and do my best to draw if I needed or spend time in the lab with my partner going over everything.

 

4. Mnemonic devices were also very helpful. I was telling my lab partner and classmates about using them on one of the first days of lab, and we were doing the spine. They were joking and someone said "So for example to remember dorsal roots are sensory you could use dog sh**, DS for dorsal sensory?!" we all started laughing, but for the rest of the class, we never had a problem remembering the nerve pathways for dorsal and ventral.

 

Well I think those are the main points I can think of now. I hope this is at least somewhat helpful for you! Good luck.

[NewtonsApple]

Draw, trace, and color. Do it constantly even when you are sick of it. It combines several forms of learning and is a nice break from brute force memorization and reading. Use your body to name muscles, bones. etc. Walk across the room, drink a glass of water, do a push up, etc. and name all the muscles, bones, nerves involved and their function to perform what you did.

[bellajoy]

I just finished anatomy (I am a PA-S). Agree with drawing stuff out. It definitely helped at times. I also found YouTube dissection videos helpful. Another thing that helped me as far as the lab portion...I spent ALOT of time in lab extra. Along with that, it's important to look at many different bodies due to slight differences and the fact that some are just dissected better than others but yet we were going to be tested on all bodies.

 

Good luck! Admittedly it took me a little bit to adjust to PA/grad school anatomy...but fought my way from bad to a decent grade in the end. It just takes a lot of time, effort, and hard work.

[myironlung]

personally i just did pure memorization from class powerpoints and the notes i took and did fine. also, we didn't have any labs.

[c0untingstars]

I second everything rsh2061 said

For lab practicals I used the Rohen book - photos of cadavers...helped a lot

Charts for origins/insertions/actions/innervations were our best friends!

[Just Steve]

Are you trying to study ahead of the class, or are you trying to find a way to keep up with the current material? My coursework is a titrated presentation. We don't do a whole course of anything all at once. We get more and more complex as the year progresses. This way you are always in your A&P resources, always learning things more in depth.

 

In the beginning it can seem rather abstract learning it all. I think there is a direct correlation between the less HCE you had prior to school will result in the more abstract the learning will seem to be. But as the year progresses and you start to tie it all together, it'll make sense. Come back in a year and re visit this question.

[SCPAC]

I found a book that I used in conjunction to Gray's Anatomy for Students, which was our text. It's called Gross Anatomy- The big picture. It's not extremely verbose but it does go into sufficient detail. I wish I would have had it the whole semester but it will be a good review book for the boards as well. In addition, Gray's for Students review book (with the green cover) is technically a USMLE review book but I found that I could answer 90% of the questions in it. Learning from a slideshow might help you pass the tests but the goal is to understand how things relate positionally and what would happen if there were disruptions. So anyways, the two take home points from me would be to try to get the big picture and start trying to apply what you learn as soon as possible by answering questions like those found in the 2 books I listed above.

[paporzelt]

say it out loud, and do the action for each muscle as you say it. over....and over...and over. When I took anatomy in PA school, during tests you'd see the entire class sitting there and moving our arms, and legs, etc. and with the cadavers - while they dont move so well being so cold and all, you can mentally picture it.