How to study anatomy effectively

Human anatomy is the study of structures of human body.It includes muscles,nerves,arteries and many more.This subject holds a very important place for every medical student to understand the clinical subjects like medicine and surgery.As mentioned before it is an important subject ,it is also difficult to understand and remember.If anatomy is studied effectively it can be the most beautiful and fun subject to learn.It is easy to say than done.

So,to solve the problem faced by every medical student ,here are some tips to help you on how you can study anatomy effectively,

1.Build your interest in subject

Interest is the will to know about something and understand about it.Without interest nothing can be achieved,whatever efforts are put in are all in vain.

What should you do then ?

Just ask yourself  "what is the thing that stopping me from studying ?" . It can be " I am afraid that I would not understand a thing and make a fool of myself".To stop this, motivate yourself.Everyone learns from their mistakes and there is nothing wrong in that. 

2.Learn from diagrams

Diagrams are pictorial representation of a text.This helps in visualizing about what is present in our body. Anatomy is full of diagrams and it helps in better understanding and remembering things.Clean labelled diagrams can speak for itself with lesser confusion.

What should to you do then ?

Draw as much as diagrams in exams that would help you to fetch more marks. Try to draw diagrams with labels.Use contrast colours to differentiate. You can write theory explanation based on what you have drew.

3.Study regularly

This is an obvious tip that anyone would suggest. We all know what is study but the word "regularly"  is not that much appreciated. Whatever might be the work ,consistency or regular is very much important in accomplishing your goals. 

What should you do then ?

You should make habit of studying anatomy everyday atleast an hour.This helps you to know atleast something about the topic, if not in detail.You need to be consistent. Dedicate for an hour and see the results by yourself.

4. Apps can be fun

In our day to day lives, we are surrounded by apps like Instagram,Facebook etc.Everyone has knowledge about it.But little did we know studying anatomy using an app can be fun. Phones can be useful in many ways not just for wasting time.

What should you do then ?

There are many apps available in playstore and iOS. Search for anatomy apps and there will be a list of apps like 3D bones and organs. Anything can be used to help you to learn anatomy better.Use an app while studying a topic so that you can watch virtually what you are studying about.

5. Watch YouTube videos 

Youtube is big platform where it has many benefits to assess us in our work or study. Videos can be a great source to help you to understand what you were not able to while just staring at book.Sometimes it is also a life saviour before exams.

What should you do then ?

Take topic you don't understand and search for it in Youtube. Watch video and then make notes of it.Then once read the textbook and correlate with whatever you have written,this helps in building greater concepts.Save those videos in a playlist so that you can have quick revision before exams. Some good recommend channels are the noted anatomist,anatomy zone, viva voce of anatomy etc.

6. Previous year papers

Previous year's papers holds an important place. These are actually a set of questions  that are important in real scenario and commonly seen and asked in real life.This helps a student to understand what is important and on which you should focus more.This might help to fetch you more marks but ultimately you should study or atleast have knowledge of other things that might become a topic of concern.

What should you do then ?

I suggest to read everything about a topic that is mentioned in textbook and understand.Previous year's papers are only to be used during exams so that academic pressure are removed. Keep reading and studying to gain knowledge that might help a patient in future.

These were the tips that I suggest you to follow and this might help to better the relation between Anatomy and you. Hope this was helpful.Share it with your other fellow mates who are struggling with anatomy and tell them " It is not that difficult ! ".

Keep studying and keep achieving!!