A&P 1 help!!

I made flashcards for myself that listed all the landmarks on the bones that we had to memorize. I also bought a set of flashcards with pictures of all the bones on them. The process of writing out the landmark cards really helped me learn the information and then flipping through all the cards helped dedicate it all to memory. Good luck!

Memorize the NAMES. Forget about what they look like at first. Memorize the names, and in the order they appear. Especially all of the holes in the cranium.

I took my first practical last week. It covered anatomical terms, epithelium, connective tissue, integumentary system, axial skeleton and appendicular skeleton. Unfortunately, I only got a 39/50 on it and the class average was 36. Our practical was mostly bones and then slides, with a few questions about anatomical terms (like what's the back of the knee called? a: popliteal) and skin. We had 1 minute 30 seconds per station, each station consisted of 2 questions, and then at the end we got 15 minutes to go back to any station we needed help on. I'll know this Tuesday what questions I got wrong. Though I know a few I got wrong: I called the Iliac crest the Ischiac crest and I spaced on Pacinian corpuscle and just wrote "Pac corpuscle." The professor said he'd mark everything wrong unless you had it correct (spelling counts!) so I'm sure he marked me wrong on that one.

To prepare, I tried to memorize EVERY.single.name. And I like hands on experience, so I'd touch where the bone was located on my person while learning them. I also was fortunate enough to get extra time with a skeleton, and spent hours just staring at it going through my word lists.

Good luck!

I do a chunk every day (my skeletal lab practical is on October 15). For example, this weekend I memorized the bones in the frontal region, parietal region, and the sutures. Tomorrow I am going to tackle the sphenoid and ethmoid bones.This way I am not overwhelmed. Good luck!!!

For the skeletal system specifically, study the diagrams of the body as a whole, in addition to various types of note cards. For bone markings and such, write the name on one side and what part of the body on the other. If you can remember which bone markings are on which section of the body, it makes it easier, to me at least. Also make flash cards with the pictures of the bones, so you can recognize a femur on it's own from a humerus. You can have multiple cards of the same pictures with arrows pointing to different markings and such.

I'm an anatomy lab TA at a community college. Here's what I can recommend in general:

1) google 'whack a bone.' It's a fun little anatomy game that will help you with the larger bones.

2) google 'purpose games' and then within the site's own search feature, search for 'bones of the skull,' 'bones of the arm,' etc. The games there may not cover exactly the bones / features you need to know, but they helped me out a TON when I was taking anatomy.

3) get comfortable with the vocabulary and say the names OUT LOUD until you're comfortable with them. Use them in sentences, out loud. AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. So many of my students can barely pronounce the bones and features (and not always because of ESL considerations, which I fully understand). You will have a really hard time coming up with the correct spelling, etc if you're not comfortable saying it.

4) get in the habit of learning and thinking in terms of WHY bones (and other parts) are shaped the way they are, based on their functions, articulations, etc. This will help you retain the information, rather than learning and forgetting later.

5) try to come up with little mnemonic devices to help you along, especially in the beginning of a new module/system. For example, the radius RADIATES out of your thumb. The CORONAL suture sits across your skull like a CROWN. The FIBIA is the small leg bone, like a FIB is a small lie. The LAMBDOID suture is where you would whack a sacrificial LAMB in the back of the head.

Focus on certain areas for one day and another area for the next. Flashcards! Try to come up with some creative accronyms or funny phrases that'll help jog your memory, worked wonders for me.

I bought an anatomy and physiology coloring book. Took the time to color code everything. The hands on, act of doing help and the colors helped me visualize for the test.

Lots of good advise above. I would also try to get into the lab as much as possible. My lab was open on weekends and I went every week. Then I was practicing with real bones, the same real bones used on the lab tests. I also just did a little at a time. ½ hr in the morning and an hour or so in the evening every day. Cramming just doesn’t work for these lab tests. I think I studied every day that semester with the exception of my B-day.

There really isn’t some secret. You just have to put in the time.