Fun and Interesting Ways to Study for Anatomy & Physiology

If you have not already taken an Anatomy & Physiology class, then allow me to enlighten you. This class is different from probably any class you will ever take. At first, it can be daunting, but it has become my all time favorite subject. The anatomy portion of this class is similar to a foreign language class. The majority of it is just learning the lingo and matching it up with the part of the body. Physiology, on the other hand, is more like a biology and chemistry love-child. You will learn everything from the major processes to the tiny molecules that make them happen. This part of the subject is the one that requires the most work to master. Due to the variation of the class, anatomy & physiology requires a few different study methods. Here are a few great resources and methods that I have used to study for this class! As with any study method, some will work better than others, depending on your learning style.

Notecards!

Some of my Anatomy notecards for the skeletal and endocrine systems!

Out of all of the study methods I have used, this is the biggest help. These are especially good for anatomy and some physiology terms too. Since I was blessed with decent art skills, I decided to hand-draw all of my notecards. I know some of my classmates who studied with this method by printing out the different parts and gluing them to the card. If you feel like you would get more out of a professional diagram, or you are just strapped for time, this is a good way to go! Otherwise, I strongly suggest hand-drawing them! Not only is it more fun, but it also helps you get more familiar with the structure of all of the parts you are drawing. It never has to be perfect! As long as you understand what it is and it is mostly anatomically correct, then you are fine! Never put the names of structures on the side of the card with the picture/keyword. I put all of the information about the part on the back of the card, that way I could test myself. To make my notecards more organized, I chose to write the system and a subcategory for each part.  Make it your own! Make the cards as simple or complex as you want. This could be a great study method for A&P, as well as other classes.

I use cards for every subject, not just A&P.

3D Diagram Programs!

Photo retrieved from anatomyzone.com

There are plenty of free 3D diagram apps and webpages out there to help you get a deeper understanding of anatomy. These programs are great at giving you hands-on experience that textbooks and notecards cannot. You can touch, spin, and zoom into the different parts of the body that you may not even be able to do with cadavers. I used AnatomyZone the most in my studies. They have great videos and other resources that go with their 3D atlas of the human body, absolutely free! 

YOUTUBE!

Photo Retrieved from Youtube channel: CrashCourse

The biggest textbook you will ever have is staring you right in the face: Youtube! While some of the videos on here can be questionable, Youtube serves as a great way to learn more about the subject you are learning. One of my favorite resources for a general overview of the different systems is CrashCourse. These helpful little videos are narrated by the popular author, John Green. If you want a good chuckle as you study, or just need a break from the intense information in your textbook, check out his videos! Another way YouTube has helped me with this class is pronunciation! One of my biggest fears with Anatomy lab was that I would pronounce a bone or projection completely wrong. Channels like EmmaSaying will help you with any words that you are not sure on. Khan Academy has plenty of detailed videos that are especially helpful with physiology. They have their own website, but they also post many of their medical-related videos, like the physiology of the heart, here! 

Acronyms and Mnemonics!

When learning both anatomy and physiology, acronyms and mnemonics are extremely helpful. For example, there are so many cranial nerves that it is extremely hard to remember them all without a mnemonic. On a side-note, in college, G-rated mnemonics created by students are rare. So I will probably not post many of them (I would love to share some if you ask, though!). One of the more PG-rated ones that I made up was to determine if the cranial nerve was sensory, motor, or both. It goes: Some Say Money Matters, But My Baby Says Big Butts Matter Most. This goes from cranial nerve 1 to 12, and obviously S is for sensory, M is for motor, and B is for both. I tweaked an existing mnemonic so that it would stick in my brain a bit better. Simply look up a mnemonic or acronym for the subject you are learning, and apply your own words to it. This will help you remember it a bit better.

Coloring Books!

Anatomy coloring book from Amazon.com

I did not necessarily use this in college, but I did use these in high school when I was first learning anatomy and physiology. If you have never taken an anatomy and physiology class, then I highly recommended using these resources! They make learning fun and less stressful, but also help you learn a lot along the way. The coloring books by Wynn Kapit are reportedly the best out of all, and these are the ones I used. There is an anatomy book and a physiology book. The publisher also makes other subjects, like microbiology! So if this resource helps you, definitely look into the other subjects. If you are looking for one or two pages to color, look up "(Your Subject) Coloring Pages" on google, and print some of the free ones offered. I will warn that some of the free ones have been found to be inaccurate and outdated.

I hope that some of these non-traditional and fun approaches to studying will help you better understand anatomy and physiology. I got A's and B's in all of my anatomy and physiology classes using mainly these study methods.

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Have any other great study methods? Any questions or requests for additional resources? Let me know in the comments! Have a wonderful day, and happy studying! 💜

That Time I *Almost* Missed My A&P Final!

Winter finals are just around the corner. If you are anything like me, these next few weeks will be filled with sleep deprivation, a billion cups of coffee, and notes scattered around your desk. I decided that instead of overloading brains with more information, I would tell you a funny experience about one of my finals last semester.

It was the Spring 2016 semester when I had Anatomy and Physiology II. Finals week was in full swing and my brain was running only on three cups of coffee. Right before the class, I got together with one of my good friends for lunch. We put in some last minute study time for about an hour before heading to our class. Normally, I went in through the east side of the building, but I followed my friend through the west side this time. She went off to the bathroom and told me that she would meet me in class, so I went on.... I had my review guide written on my phone, so I was studying as I walked down the hall to the class. I let muscle memory kick in and I went in to the first class on the right as I usually do. I went to my seat, memorizing the types of hormones released by the anterior pituitary gland. After a while, I looked up to see two students putting a makeshift straw-candle in a cookie they got from the student union. A guy walked up and they whisper-shouted "Happy Birthday!! We can't light it, obviously, but make a wish!" They all laughed. That is about the time that I realized that there were three more minute left until the exam and my friend was still nowhere to be found. I just ignored it and went back to my studies. 

When I looked back up, it was five minute in to the class. That was weird. I took a deep breath and slipped my phone into my backpack. My professor was still not there. In fact, neither my professor or my Teacher's Assistant was there. The new professor started passing out the tests and I shrugged. Maybe my professor was sick and my Teacher's Assistant was out too? I took a second to close my eyes and take three deep breaths. When I opened them, I looked down at the test that was put in front of me. What the heck was this?! I did not recognize a single thing on this test! I looked around at the others in a panic.

That is when it hit me.

I did not recognize a single person in this class. The Teacher's Assistant was not the same. My professor was not the same. I turned to the girl next to me to ask which class this was.

"Uhh. Biochemistry?"

Without saying a word, I grabbed my bag and ran down the steps and out the door, in front of two hundred or more students staring at me. I had gone to the first door on the right like I usually do, yes, but I went in on the other side of the building! At this point, twenty minutes of my class had passed already. I burst into the room and all of my classmates stared at me at once. But I did not care. I ran to my professor and dropped my bag on the floor. I started to explain, but he just held his hand up. "It's fine. Just be more quiet." I snatched the test from his hands and ran to my seat.

I had twenty more minutes left to take this forty question final. Yet, by some miracle of God, I finished with two minutes to spare. It took everything in me to hold back the laughter until I handed in the test. After the TA walked away from me with my exam, I just started busting up laughing. Now, we get a zero if we look anywhere but down at your test or up at the ceiling. So I just started looking straight up at the ceiling, laughing and crying to myself like a frickin' maniac, because I just walked into the wrong class and did not realize it for a whole twenty minutes on finals day...

Luckily, and I am not sure how, I got a 92% on that exam. The moral of the story is this: do not be frightened these next few weeks as you go into these finals! You definitely cannot screw up as much as I did last semester.

Good luck, everyone!

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Do you have any funny finals and test stories? What else can I do to make your college life less stressful? Let me know in the comments! Also, as of next week, I will be switching to bi-weekly posts. :) Have a wonderful day! 💜