Friday 2 December 2016

Learning anatomy in medical school; using the right anatomy books

Anatomy is important for the understanding of normal physiology and pathology; especially so if you are thinking of becoming a surgeon. 

There are countless anatomy books out there and they come in different forms and are written for different (educational) purposes. Here are some of the different types of anatomy books and when to use them:

1. Anatomy and physiology textbooks
e.g. Elaine N Marieb Human Anatomy and physiology 

These textbooks provide a good basic understanding of anatomical structures and their related roles and physiology. It is very well suited for first year medical students esp those without a science background. This book would suffice for (probably) the first couple of months of medical school.



2. (thick chunky and detailed) Anatomy texts:
e.g. Gray’s Anatomy for students

I briefly used Gray's anatomy textbook and was very impressed with how the information was presented so succinctly and also with good amount of details to understand the important the anatomical relations of one structure to another. There are tiny blue boxes that carry supplementary clinically relevant information. 



3. Atlas of anatomy 
e.g Netter’s Atlas of Human Anatomy,
Rohen’s Color Atlas of Anatomy 

An atlas of anatomy is a definite essential for all medical students. However, using an atlas can be confusing for someone new to anatomy. Since there is no texts in the book, it can be difficult to gain something out of the book. For me, personally, I use Atlas of anatomy to trace the anatomical routes of certain vessels and nerves and to find out the anatomical locations of different muscles and organs in-situ. 

Netter's atlas contains some of the most fantastic drawings. It is something that I used to read a few days before examination to get myself re-familiarised with the different anatomical names. It is a very good complement to learning medicine in general.

Rohen's Colour Atlas and ADAM student atlas are two other atlas books that are pretty popular because they provide cadaveric photographs (which are important for exams!). Rohen's Color atlas is pretty amazing because the pictures are labelled with numbers; which give you the opportunity to test yourself instead of (passively) reading the information. 

4. Clinically oriented anatomy textbooks:
e.g. Moore’s Clinically Oriented Anatomy

As the name says, this book gives A MASSIVE AMOUNT of advanced and clinical information! It also provides clinical scenarios and will continue to perk your interest in surgery. Personally, this would be a really good book to have if you are learning something in detail the first time or if you have the extra time and the interest to learn all the detailed information. Otherwise, this could very well be overwhelming (especially for someone new to anatomy). If you are a first year and have an appetite for detailed information, try going for Moore's essential clinical anatomy first (some call this 'baby Moore').

5. Specialty-specific anatomy textbooks 
e.g. Netter's concise neuroanatomy

These are not really essentials but they are good-to-have books, especially for neuroanatomy!
This book comes in an A5 size and it is really easy to bring around and read on the bus/car/bed. It provides a compact information with plenty of nice pictures for illustration. Usually, it also comes with short snippets of clinical information. 

Other ways of learning anatomy:
Anatomy colouring book: I personally have not tried this although some of my friends have tried them and felt that they are really helpful. I personally though that coloring is such a waste of precious time in medical school. But, that is probably just me and the lack of appreciation for fine arts. Having said that, I do think that one of the best ways to learn anatomy is to try drawing (simplified) diagrams. This is especially useful when learning neurovascular routes. It really does stimulates the brain to think and allow me to recall my anatomy better. 

Learning dissecting a cadaver: I feel that there is no better way to learn anatomy than to actually dissect a cadaver. When dissecting a cadaver, always try to know what you are cutting through or what you are trying to isolate. Get your tutor to talk you through the anatomy and have an atlas by your side so that you have something to refer to.

Quick anatomy information before examinations: 
When anatomy spotter examinations are just days away, these are some of the resources that are worth using.

Concise anatomy texts for revision 
e.g. Clinical anatomy by Monkhouse. 

These provide the basic understanding of anatomy with sufficient details for pre-clinical anatomy exams/spotter. Besides, they also emphasize on several key clinical information (and these typically appear for exams)



Flashcards for revision. Personally, I have not used them before but some of my friends do. It is easy to bring around and it is a good way of testing your knowledge. 

Google! This is controversial because obviously, there may be misinformation on the internet. Nevertheless, I thought this is a really good way of searching for information quickly and efficiently (without having to take your books, flip through an endless number of pages to get the right information/picture that you want). A really good anatomy website that has been really useful to me is teachmeanatomy.info. 

In addition to these, ask your tutors for the list of recommended anatomy textbooks for your medical school. These are more suited to your syllabus (and will contain some of the questions for exams!). So, it is wise to look at them first before anything else. 


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