How to retain anatomy?

 Anatomy tbh was the nightmare of my medical life. The worst you could do to haunt a medical student is to tell them tomorrow is his stage of anatomy and he would die a pre mature death. Most of the time of the first 2 years of medical life was consumed in cramming anatomy. To be able to retain all the muscles and bones and vessels was quite a gruesome task for me. But slowly as I started exploring how it works, things got simplified for me. Then when I entered my practical life did I realize why its so important to know each and everything that was once taught in medical school. I learned several ways to sail through it easily which I wish I would have known earlier and that have made my pain better.

Now when I look back, things become clearer to me that no matter the destination is most important but the journey also matters as it helps us understand our destination better and become better equipped and appreciate it more than if we reach the destination directly.

No matter how many obstacles come in your way, they make you more resilient and also appreciative. My favorite quotation since childhood was 

                         

                  "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you keep your eyes off your goal"

Some of the techniques I learned with time were that instead of cramming everything and increasing the strain on your brain which ultimately decreases efficiency is to break things in chunks and try to learn the linked things together. This way its easier to retain. 

The next technique is uses of mnemonics like 

"Some say marry money but my brother says big brains matter more" 

is a famous mnemonic to learn about the sensory, motor or mixed nature of cranial nerves. I still recall it whenever I need to know the nature of a cranial nerve. 

Some mnemonics, however are a bit nasty but they are even better for retaining the stuff.

Our biochemistry teacher made us learn all the essential amino acids with this word

                                                            "PVT TIM HALL"

Other famous ones are 

"She Looks Too Pretty

Try To Catch Her"

for learning the carpel bones in the hand.

Another technique is using tables to sort out information. This helps remember things which otherwise would be too lengthy. This technique is especially helpful to learn muscle origins, insertions and functions as well as vessels.

Similar to previous one is using flow charts to remember a process like Gluconeogenesis.

The method I found extremely helpful was making diagrams and enlisting keywords of everything on one page only. Though there is a flood of information but our brains process pictures more than words.

Another most popular technique or so that I have heard but proved useless for me was to use atlas but I never understood how to keep that in mind. I always made my own notes after reading what I studied and enumerating it in my own words.

The mind game here is to revise. Just learned something, write it down in your own words, take a break and then revise it again within 24 hours. Tally your notes with original text is also a way to revise it.  Even if its on your fingertips, take time out to revise it again in a week and you will never forget it. 

If you need any help, feel free to contact me.

Happy Learning!!!