Best way to memorize anatomy and physiology terms

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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so, it's been quite a while since I've been back in school and I am most definitely happy and thrilled to do Nursing, BUT....I am having a hard time with the memorization part of anatomy and physiology terms.

There's a ton of smart intelligent people on this site so what I want to know is , how do you all study? What do you do to memorize and keep it lodged in your brains? how often do you study?

Any links or videos that helped? Flashcards? Apps?

I know im not in this alone and there are others that are dying in class. I dont want to mess up my G.P.A whatsoever so please share.

Thanks in advance

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Make it meaningful.

Annotate, ask questions, paraphrase the text, draw pictures, synthesize the information that you can, etc.

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Specializes in Mental Health.

BRAINSCAPE. I know flashcards are a bit cliche, but brainscape let's you rate 1-5 how well you know each card and shows you the ones you need help with more frequently. I use that app for everything.

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I would very often makes naughty associations. I've got a dark and dirty sense of humor, so I often made jokes about whatever we were learning based on the shape, or name or position and it would stick with me. I'd make up naughty mnemonics, too.

I also drew things, and labeled them on my own, made concept maps for physiology related things. I'd take notes during lecture, in my own words to make sure I understood what was being taught. I made flashcards - both physical and virtual via Quizlet.

I didn't spend more than an hour a week studying, but I'm generally a good student, so that was true of all of my classes.

Good luck.

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I agree with Jen - make your mnemonics dirty and it works wonders haha

Quizlet was my go-to since I could have it on both my phone and ipad, plus access it any time on any computer if I needed to (made studying at work a breeze!)

I am a straight A student and even I feel overwhelmed sometimes with a heavy workload -last semester was a bit draining since I was taking 4 classes, 2 of which being major sciences. I would always think "Maaaaan that's so much to learn in a short amount of time!" But I knew that if I stuck with it, and sank my free time into it, I'd do okay.

Day 1 with the material was always kinda hit and miss - I'd go through stuff right after lectures, while it was still fresh.

Day 2 was a bit smoother - I'd start to be able to answer questions on the material and be able to start critically thinking about what I'd learned instead of just regurgitating it.

Day 3 and onwards are generally spent cementing what I know and picking out minutiae that I might have missed - it's generally wise to make sure you're not just 'skimming' to keep it fresh at this point, but making sure that you're really grasping the big picture.

Be prepared to sink a lot of time into this - I could have sank a lot less time than I did and still walked out with a high A - but I didn't want to just walk out. I wanted to really understand and retain what I was learning.

A&P is all about immersion and repetition - keep at it!

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I post this every time I see a question about how to study for AP... I learned the most from doing practice sheets over and over. You know those pictures with the blanks that you have to fill in the terms on? Put it in a page protector, get yourself a dry erase marker, and do that over and over again. I would do mine at least 10 times, usually 15 or more if I was really struggling with the terms. You can find some of these blank diagrams online too if you don't get them from your classes!

Also I study whenever I get the chance to. Even if it's just 5 minutes of review it's still something. It helps to make yourself some small study packets that you can put in your backpack, purse, pocket, whatever. Usually notes from class filled in with extra notes from reading. I would keep them under ten pages though or you'll get overwhelmed. I think I had on average three study packets per chapter or section of class. Pull that out whenever you get a chance to study it. You can also make yourself quizzes and tests with these study packets. Super helpful for midterms and finals when you want to review a lot of information. Just review one or two study packets a day (don't cram!).

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Specializes in Mental Health.

Ok I really need to know why everyone loves Quizlet so much lol... it's one of the least-functional flashcard apps available. Do they just have the best marketing or something? :p

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Ok I really need to know why everyone loves Quizlet so much lol... it's one of the least-functional flashcard apps available. Do they just have the best marketing or something? :p

Honestly, it's just one of the first ones I used; I don't need bells and whistles, just flashcards (coming from someone who was still using paper flashcards last year...). It's simple, works on a wide range of devices and does exactly what I need it to.

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Ok I really need to know why everyone loves Quizlet so much lol... it's one of the least-functional flashcard apps available. Do they just have the best marketing or something? :p

I googled a question and that's what popped up. I really enjoy the app, and even pay for the full version (which allows you to upload your own photos). What app do you use?

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Acycorms are very useful (there's a couple for the cranial nerves). For me, I have to see it to understand it. So if I am studying the GI system I need pictures (google is great). If it's memorizing microscope slides of let's say the types cells or whatever I use to make screen savers of the cells with labels on my laptop XD. Hope this helps!

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