WORDS OF WISDOM (Classes 2025 and before!)
from R. Reichenbach
"Sketching out nerve pathways and blood supplies is a huge part of learning anatomy. And, some of us tend to spend a little too much time making these pictures neat, realistic, and/or all encompassing. Some advice: this is one area where quantity is more helpful than quality! Repetitively sketching simple line drawings (i.e. for the branches of the internal iliac artery) will help your test-day recall much more than one perfectly drawn out image of the branching pattern. Try making simple line drawings that include relationships to major landmarks (i.e. piriformis, the greater sciatic foramen, etc.) and pay attention to where branches originate from, and lead to. This will be very helpful for future anatomy units as well!"
"A side note for those who need the rationale for why this all matters... this is absolutely relevant beyond your anatomy course! Clinical anatomy will emphasize the classic branching patterns (and common, clinically relevant variants -- we're looking at you, obturator artery). But in reality, there is so much natural variation in the branching patterns of vessels and nerves, that knowing just one picture of a "classic" branching pattern will sometimes lead you astray in the OR!"
from Gillian Reynoso
"Advocate for the importance of using the JubrAnki deck for anatomy studying. I would use these anki cards to supplement the material from the ILMs, and it really helped solidify a lot of the material that was reliant on rote memorization."
"Another source I used were the previous class's anatomy muscle charts! Both the JubrAnki deck and these charts are available in our shared google drive, so I would heavily emphasize the incorporation of these materials for students"
from Jaime Viera
I wish I didn't underestimate the importance of the very first ILM (Intro to the Nervous System). Nervous system questions make up a sizable percentage of every exam, and the ILM provides fundamental information that is critical to understanding concepts for the duration of your anatomy block
I wish I had used the Rohen Atlas earlier. The Rohen Atlas uses real donor images compared to the drawings seen in the Netter Atlas. While the Netter Atlas is a beautiful resource, Rohen will more closely approximate what you see on exam day.