How To Learn Anatomy As A Medical Student?
Med is not the same as grad school
Med school students work hard to get accepted into a good school and start preparing for their class lectures, clinical rotations, and all-important USMLE exams. Getting into med school is the first step to becoming a doctor. However, unlike preparing for the MCAT by studying till the last minute or cramming your studies, med school preparation is different. It requires a person to be meticulous, regular, and organized in their studies.
Organization is important
A student needs to prepare a study plan and stick to it. It helps avoid backlog work in the future. The pace at which students need to grasp their teachings is rapid and ever-changing. Most instructions are contextual, and a student needs to relate to classroom learning with their clinical rotations. Some plan to study in groups, and few would prefer to study at home or both. Subjects like anatomy and physiology always pose extra challenges. All these cases lead students to a common question; how to learn anatomy and physiology at home?
What is anatomy? Why is it important for med school students?
Anatomy is the study of different parts of the human body. It deals with identifying different body parts or organs in a living being. A person who studies anatomy as the core subject is known as an anatomist.
The anatomy of the human body, known as the cadaver process, was taught through a donated dead body which is used for practical explanation. Nowadays, a large part of anatomy studies is conducted through 3D visuals depicting an animated version. Often dissecting animals like mice, pigs and monkeys also help in learning about different body parts. Anatomy presents a chronological and systematic approach to the study of different organs and parts of the human body.
Difference between anatomy and physiology?
Human anatomy is the study of the different organs in a living body and physiology is the study of the function of those organs and parts of a human body. For instance, the anatomy of the digestive system deals with different parts that comprise the stomach, intestine, small intestine, and food pipe. The physiological studies of the digestive system, deal with the functioning of each part, with the trivia of its importance for a healthy body.
- Choosing the right sources
Medical students have a lot of resources both offline and online. But spending time to source the right one will be cumbersome and sometimes may not yield the desired results. It is a good idea to listen to people who have trod the path in the recent past and follow their advice.
Taking some time to sort the list will also help in eliminating study resources that are not purposeful. It is good to include study methods that will incorporate spaced repetitions to avoid forgetting in the nick of the moment. Disintegrating the topic and revisiting it in periodic intervals, will help a person remember it for a long time.
- Study regularly
Without understanding anatomy and the physiology of body parts, a doctor cannot understand the impact of a health issue on the functioning of the human body. But the human body has amazing powers within its structure. Learning and retaining everything about anatomy and its functional aspect is difficult unless one studies regularly. Last-minute cramming should be avoided as it does not one anywhere.
- Organize your learnings
Some students use mind-mapping techniques and some like maintaining a glossary of all that they have learned alphabetically. Whatever your style of storing the information, do it and let it be accessible.
- Virtual resources
Many edtech courses depict the anatomy and physiology of a functioning system like cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, lymph, or nervous systems through 3D simulations that help in practical explanation without using the painful routes of a cadaver. The simulations help a student understand the practical aspect of learning anatomy in a class, without having to go through the difficult stage of actually examining a donor’s dead body.
- Be a part of study groups
Study groups are useful for any advanced stream where the perception of another person always helps out a person who may have not earlier thought of the same topic. Thus the best exchange of ideas and practices takes place in study groups which aid in a serious attempt at learning concepts that are very important in the process of becoming a doctor.
- Take practice exams and quizzes
After every topic takes the relevant quiz and revisit all topics learned in a week in a quiz with bigger stakes. Testing your knowledge as you learn helps you self-evaluate your comprehension of difficult subjects. At any stage, if your understanding of a topic is incorrect, your perspective is immediately rectified.
- Learn from dissection classes
Dissecting a mammal will let us know of all the similar organs between the animal and human body. But only an actual human body dissection will allow a person to get a first-hand feel of how it looks inside a prospective patient’s body.
If your school offers cadaver lessons, use the time appropriately and prepare the topics beforehand. In this manner when the instructor is moving around explaining the body parts, your attention is focused on the learning and not distracted from noting it down.
Conclusion:
Anatomy and physiology are important pillars of medical studies and are the basis of tests that a med school graduate will need to understand to clear internal exams and USMLE licensure exams.
Apart from the exam point of view, even to understand the ailments that trouble a human body, a doctor has to be well versed in their anatomy and physiology classes. So understanding the concepts of cause-effect relationships will help future doctors prepare to deliver their best. Understanding human body structure and how body organs function enables doctors to determine the right patient care. The right kind of tools that help a student learn their anatomy and physiology topics will become the building blocks and establish a strong foundation for the doctor’s approach to their patient’s care and delivery.
