The important topics
in gross anatomy (the topics that get tested) are almost always clinically
relevant. When you finally get to your 3rd year surgery rotation the
bizarre question selection on your anatomy final will make perfect
sense. A lot of help it will be then.
Students that do well in anatomy often use many learning modalities.
What the heck is a learning modality? Glad you asked. A "learning
modality" is the route by which you learn something. For example,
reading is a visual modality and what you read gets stored in a
different way than what you hear. Things you learn through more
than one sense (more than modality) stick better than things you
learn just one way.
The four resources listed here emphasize the clinical aspects
of gross anatomy, and each provides a different mode of learning.
These resources complement the two learning modes you get in school
- auditory (in lecture) and tactile/visual (in the dissection lab).
Graphic/visual mode. The atlas is a key source of information
for the anatomy student. The single best atlas is without a doubt
Netter's Human Anatomy. Not only is it one of the most beautiful
books you'll ever own, it's also one of the best. Because Netter
sets the style for almost all the modern medical arts, the way he
represents anatomy is the standard and often shows up on tests.
If you don't have Netter, get it (Click here for Netter
Anatomy)!
Textual/linguistic mode. Moore's textbook: Clinical Oriented Anatomy
has a good balance of anatomical detail and clinical vignette. The
clinical emphasis helps you remember the anatomy by associating
it with real-world problems. It also let's you know where you'll
see the anatomy next: rib vasculature will be an issue when you
place a chest tube, the inguinal canal defines the type of hernia,
and so on.
Multimodal/computer based. There are many on-line anatomy learning
tools. Take a look at the anatomy
study guide and on-line
crossword puzzles for a start.
Mnemonic/associative mode. Some of the best medical mnemonics
are for anatomy. Since this is a G-rated newsletter, I won't quote
any - but it's a well known fact that the more raunchy or offensive
the mnemonic, the more memorable. The Medical
Mnemonics site is great for this.
Preparing for the USMLE Step 1: Gross anatomy is a big part
of USMLE step 1. See the USMLE
page and usmle
study guides for other resources on gross anatomy and preparing
for the USMLE.
