Anatomy review needed prior to starting first year meds?

[Guest Nitay]

I've never taken a course that looked at human anatomy (or any other anatomy for that matter) and I was wondering if this would be a big disadvantage for me this coming year (I'll be going into my first year). Should I brush up on this over this summer? If yes...does anyone have any ideas of where to start/what to cover? Thanks!

[Guest scrubbed]

Hello,

 

I think that some anatomy definitely does help, but it is not an insurmountable obstacle by any means. Classmates who had taken anatomy before found that they needed to study hard as well, for they forgot some things they once knew or had to learn new stuff not covered by their previous course.

 

As a result, it's not required to do any in depth study of the topic before class. You will have a reasonable, but not excessive, amount of time to study during the year, and the fact that you will be specifically guided in what you need to know in a classroom environment would probably allow you to make better use of your time than using your precious summer days would.

 

That said, if you want to get a general feel for anatomy, you can read the recommendations,

and look at some of the textbooks, but by no means start memorizing stuff. The atlases may be the best for doing this.

 

Another source are the videos from the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin. Watching these may give you a general feel for what you'll be looking at and what you need to know without having to learn specifically stuff that you'll probably forget by the beginning of school anyway.

 

All the best.

[Guest peachy]

I don't think there's any point in going over anatomy in general, like scrubbed said. Still, I'd suggest reading the first (introductory) chapter of any anatomy textbook. That's the chapter that explains things like directional terms. The anatomy course starts from the second chapter in the textbooks--delving into the actual anatomy right away.

 

A novel like Body of Knowledge, about the experience of anatomy lab, is perhaps an interesting read prior to studying anatomy, as well.

[Guest scrubbed]

Hey there,

 

I think that peachy's suggestion of going over the first chapter of an anatomy textbook is a good idea. Additionally, in response to comments from the 0T9 class and presumably previous classes as well, a package containing general anatomy terms will be supplied at the start of classes next year, which will ease the introduction into the language of anatomy.

 

Personally, having not had an anatomy course, I found the videos that I did see useful as a general visual and verbal introduction to what I'd be see in the lab. At the same time, I'm also a learner who prefers going from general to specific, appreciating the opportunity to see things multiple times at increasing levels of complexity, so it may not be for everyone. I just wanted to provide a resource for those interested.

[Guest studentz]

If you're going to start with something, start with the chest, it's what you'll do first. You'll be told this a million times over, but get a Rohen text (with the actual cadaver pics). Most people get another atlas with Netter's (a new edition is out) and Grant's (the diagrams of which correspond to the specimens in the anatomy museum) being the most popular but in my view Grey's for Students being the perhaps the best atlas/text combination (though I like my Netter's).

 

Grant's had diagrams of one of the dissections we do in Brain and Behaviour that Netter's didn't. And pray you're assigned to Fitz as that academy has the two best anatomy demonstrators, though the school won't admit it.