Question

i want to understand anatomy...anyone have any good tips?

Answer 1

No easy way, I'm afraid. When I was studying it, it was many late nights with the textbook open. It helped me a bit to go over a bit of Latin.

@exuras is our expert on anatomy and physiology. Perhaps he'll have some better tips.

Answer 2

thank you:)

i'm just very confused with the circulation chapter.

the questions ask to list possible pathways from one part to some part of the heart

for example

a question asks for me to list a pathway from the dorsal venous arch to the right atrium..the dorsal venous arch is in the foot right? ..so i just don't know where to go from there.

Answer 3

It's like planning a road trip. You can start with your finger on the picture of the dorsal venous arch in the book and trace the blood vessels to wherever you want to go. A little trickier when you're tracing a long pathway through multiple pictures, but possible!

Answer 4

If you have genuine interest for the subject im sure you'll have no problem learning Anatomy i do however recommend strongly that you incoperate Physiology into your study, it should ease the process of learning both subjects. Most lectures and video lectures covers both by default, but many books don't therefore make sure the book you'd choose would cover both.

As blues mentioned it is indeed important to understand the different latin words but i would not spend to much time on it initially, most of the words will get repeated so many times in your books for diffrent organs and tissues, you'll eventually memorize most of the words and their meaning. If you wish start of by learning these latin words, i would recommend intensive repeatition but not by simply reading & re-writing but rather pick a few arteries (perferbly not proximal to eachother for diversity) and whenever you will think of it you attempt to remember it's correct latin location. (this can be confusing but keep in mind *inferior - below of, Superior - Above of. So the Head is superior of the heart, but the heart is still superior of the stomach. It's important to remember that the point of origin/refrence is not allways a predesignated place).

The most common way to master it would be as Blues described it sleepless night with the textbook and looking through your notes. I personally used a different strategy for various reasons, I read the chapter on what would be on tomorrows lecture the day before, so once i was attending the lecture it was repetition (it's usually easier to motivate yourself to read beforehand for repetition purposes than afterwards) I also gradually started to form my own questions of matters i considered important in each subject and answered them aswell. I started to repeat the questions and answers i had myself written. My course lasted for 2 months, by the end of the first month i had about 20 pages of questions the week before the exam about 35 pages. But most importantly since i began to study from the very beginning creating my own material i could answer any of these questions systematically in my sleep, (to preserve this knowlegde just repeat the question once every 3-4 months once you've mastered it completely for a period of perhaps 2 weeks and you'll keep the knowlegde forever).

It also would help if you can somehow relate your studies to real life, apply it to real life problems. For me it was easy, All of my family & relatives started to ask me for medical advice which at first i though was overwhelming since im not even studying to become a doctor untill i realized what a splendid application this could be of my knowlegde aswell as motivator to learn more.

There is a torrent with 32 anatomy lectures by Dr. Goodman (they're not up to date but still might be easier to process than a book.)
here is a taste of his lectures. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTKbCREpMJM
Also most importantly of all don't procrastinate this might be educational for you how to avoid it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD440CY2Vs0

A book i would recommend for this would be Human anatomy & Physiology Eight Edition by Elaine N. Marieb & Katja Hoehn,
It also comes with a CD with a lot of quizes for selftesting, aswell as visual aid in understanding some of the more complex chapters.

Answer 5

*Don't substitute the lectures instead of reading a good book on Anatomy & Physiology. They might be something you might want to watch instead of "Grey's anatomy" or what ever your TV-show preferance is. That would be a good substitute but don't underestimate a good book. I personally liked that book, but ultimately pick one which is easy to understand for you. Go a libary and browse diffrent books untill you find one you like.