Guest Hotsaw Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 I'm going to be starting school in the fall and was wondering if any veterans had some advice/tips for all of the anatomy/histology that will have to be learned....Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WesternGirl Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 Hi Hotsaw, You should check out the discussion going on in the Med Students General Forum...a lot of people have given advice on anatomy and other basic sciences. Also, what school will you be attending? I'm at Mac, so things are different here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted May 29, 2003 Report Share Posted May 29, 2003 Hey there, here's some advice that I wish I would've gotten and/or listened to: 1) Don't buy all of the textbooks. Some books you will need, like Netter or a good physiology review book (I recommend Costanzo in physiology... the profs here hate it because she simplifies things too much but all the students love it). But heavy hitters like Fundamentals of Neuroscience (a huge book that is completely useless) or even books like Moore's Before We are Born, I found completely useless. 2) Study and memorize as much as you can off handouts your profs give you. Most schools will give out handouts and you are expected to pretty much know everything on these handouts. Actively memorize! I almost failed one of my exams for not actively memorizing, mainly because i had been trained in undergrad not to do that (I was a physics and math major). 3) DO NOT DO THE ASSIGNED READINGS! It's a complete waste of time. You have enough to learn off the handouts and notes from class. You may think that at the beginning of the year you will have time to learn everything, and you probably do, if you spend 24/7 studying and memorizing. It's not worth it. 4) Give up being #1 in med school. You will be a lot happier. Remember the mantra: P=MD. Unless you are going for AOA (the American medical honor society here) it doesn't matter whether you score in the top 15% of your class or the bottom 15%. Averages here at Northwestern run from 75% to 85% on written tests... we had a high of 91% average on the neuroanatomy test here (neuroanatomy is ridiculously easy here). 5) Remember you are in med school because you want to be in med school. No one put a gun to your head and told you to be a doctor. This may sound lame, but remember to have fun, go enjoy the city, go out to bars and clubs (if that's your thing). Make it an effort to exercise once a week: you will be more productive that way. Trust me. Good luck! Med school isn't as hard as people make it seem. I found myself much more stressed in undergrad than I ever was in my first year. Then again, I am only a lowly soon-to-be M2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted May 29, 2003 Report Share Posted May 29, 2003 Sounds like good advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hotsaw Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Hey Moo, Thanks for those bits of advice. Just one follow up question: what exactly is "active" memorizing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest therealcrackers Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Do it on the fly, when it happens, when you have some context you can wrap around it. Example: learning about organisms that can cause sepsis. A big one is Vibrio vulnificus, which can actually cause necrotizing fasciitis. think you can remember that? Now put it in context; it's a salt-water organism, very invasive, and often people who get sepsis have wounds while swimming in salt water (planned or not), it's called "the Monster of the Deep" for its invasive properties. That's something you'll remember at the time you learned it, rather than something you'll need to cram at the end for Microbiology. It's a lot easier with contextual profs, but it really works. And then you can link it to other wonderful facts you've learned, and you're on your way towards differential diagnosis and pathophysiology of disease. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Megs Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Hey, isn't this called 'learning'? i've always found it much easier than memorizing! Megs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted June 17, 2003 Report Share Posted June 17, 2003 Yeah, after the description we were given I don't think I'll ever forget the "Monster of the Deep" (V. Vilnificus.) But I have to admit I sometimes wonder how necessary it is for UWO meds students to know about a bug you pretty much only pick up from the ocean, considering our med school is centred almost in the middle of the Continent, a 20 hr drive from the closest ocean. I've found the best way to get this stuff in your head is to see it first hand in the hospital, then read, read, read up on all the stuff you realize at that point in time you don't understand like you'd like to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hotsaw Posted June 17, 2003 Report Share Posted June 17, 2003 Thanks again for the advice. One thing in particular that I was wondering about was anatomy. I've seen a few textbooks and was a little overwhelmed with all of the terms that will have to be learned. I find learning difficult when there are no concepts. Does learning anatomy come down to going over various pictures again and again, or are there better ways to achieve success? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted June 17, 2003 Report Share Posted June 17, 2003 Nah, anatomy is pretty much drudge work (memorization). . . though mnemonics can help a bit. It's also (somewhat, in a remoteway) true that anatomy is related to physiology, so if you can figure that out you'll find you're on your way. Actually, one of the worst things about anatomy is the number of exceptions. You're often a taught an idealized body with anatomical findings each only present in 70% of patients. You'll be amazed at the number of times a cadaver doesn't fit the anatomy - the shoulders on our guy were one big anatomical anomaly. Does that cadaver in Netter's truly exist? Probably, but it's very rare. More often you're going to find one set of veins or arteries or muscle that just doesn't fit. Oh, and as Moo said - forget your dreams of walking into first year and having it a rare day when you get an answer wrong on a test, as you might have had happen to you before. If you mistake an artery for a nerve on a lab exam in first year because it's in the wrong location, you won't kill anyone. . . well, at least not at this stage in your training! :eek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MDCY Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 Netter's your friend. That and two zebras bit my clavicle. :lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 Floating to the top... Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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