Don`t Memorize Anatomy, Imagine It !

I’ve encountered a fair amount of students who try to memorize the structures, their names, and their relations only to end up forgetting half of the content by the time of their final exams and all of the content by the time they graduate. Unfortunately, they’re all putting in the required effort and time but its never going to pay off if the technique is false.

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Here are some valuable tips when studying anatomy:

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1. ; ; ; ; GET A GOOD ATLAS ! I cannot stress this point enough. Graphics are retained longer and more elaborately than words. Don’t depend on textbooks and slides/notes as your only source. Read the textbook to understand relations, origins and insertions of muscles, which muscles a nerve innervates, you get the point.. But never depend on a textbook to memorize the route of a nerve/vessel and their branches. Get an accurate printed or electronic atlas that will tell you precisely that using pictures and graphics.

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2. ; ; ; ; Never visit the cadaver lab unprepared ! Dissection labs exist so that you can see, feel, and imagine the structures you have already introduced your brain to and tried to imagine with an atlas. Always take an hour or two (if possible) to read about the region you are studying in the lab on that particular day. Consider the lab session as a revision and a fun time to get WOWed by the beauty of the human body. Trust me this step is grade-changing !

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3. ; ; ; ; DRAW ! Even if you’re a horrendous artist like myself, try to draw a simple, full diagram of how you imagine the region to be after you have completed studying it without looking at your atlas or text (eg. The route and branches of the axillary nerve, the brachial plexus, etc). No one is going to see it but you, and you don’t need to keep it after you are done. The process of drawing allows you to revise the region step by step and force your brain to form a more vivid picture of it in your imagination.

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4. ; ; ; ; Find a study buddy. Ideally, find someone who is with you in the same class and dissection sessions, is as serious about learning the subject as you are, and who is FUN ! Discussion is another way to solidify the images in your brain and surely makes studying more fun. However, be sure to revise the theoretical parts (that need memorization) again on your own before or after the group session as these will require a more focused solo effort.

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 ;I have always been an “expert” study buddy for my students. We discuss the structures together, we share different perspectives about easier ways to remember different types of info, and we draw the structures together at the end of the sessions to lock in all we have learnt. But most importantly, WE ALWAYS HAVE FUN!

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Finally, I would like to wish all my readers good luck in all their endeavors and a really fun time studying anatomy. It’ll treat you like you treat it !