Last semester, I completed a year-long course of Anatomy and Physiology. I considered it quite a feat since the class required so much effort to memorize bones, muscles, tissues, veins, arteries, etc! I’ll provide an example:
Chapter 5 of a particular anatomy textbook discusses histology. It lists seven types of connective tissue (CT) within eight pages: adipose CT, fibrous CT, elastic CT, reticular CT, cartilage, bone, and blood. You have to memorize what these look like, as well as what sort of fibers (i.e. collagenous, elastic, and reticular fibers) and cells (i.e. fibroblasts, macrophages, mast cells, etc) they contain, where they are found in the body, and role they play within their location. Once that task is completed, you must go over other topics within the chapter including epithelial cells (i.e. simple squamous, stratified squamous, simple columnar, pseudostratified columnar, simple cuboidal, transitional, etc.), glands, as well as muscle (skeletal, visceral, and cardiac) and nerve tissue.
Overwhelmed? I’m starting to sweat just typing out all these concepts! Reading through an entire chapter front to back is not useful in preparation for exams-your brain cannot retain the enormous amount of information contained in its pages in one attempt. Textbook authors realize that their pages contain A LOT of information. This is why they include so many pictures and diagrams condensing a subject they spend four pages explaining. My advice to students is that they take full advantage of these useful tools.
I am going to share how I learned to study for this course using images contained within my anatomy and physiology text. Anatomy and physiology courses are comprised of two segments: lecture and laboratory. Lecture exams focus on a student’s level of knowledge with material covered, while laboratory exams require one to visually identify what is discussed in lecture. During my first semester, I spent too many stressful hours attempting to study for the two separately. I learned to condense by combining visual study with definitions. Here is an example. Below is a photo of adipose connective tissue.
The explanation for this connective tissue spanned two pages. I skimmed through it once, never had to back to it again, and received an A on both the lecture and laboratory tests covering this subject. How did I do it? Whenever I study a topic in anatomy, I seek to answer these four questions:
What is this?
Where is it found?
What is it comprised of?
Why it is it important?
When a solution to these problems was discovered, I immediately wrote it down next to the picture. For example, the adipose tissue contains collogen, elastic, and reticular fibers, as well as fibroblast cells. I would label these items, and under it write their definitions. Within the margins of my text next to this page I also wrote “ located under epithelial tissue,” “surrounds capillaries” “has macrophages” “plays role in inflammation” “holds tissue fluid.” My method worked for me because it combined and condensed. Time and energy were spared when two pages (out of a 30-page chapter) of an explanation were reduced to a single picture with some words around it. Whenever I needed to prepare for an exam, I would refer not to my text, but the photos within my text. In addition, my studying style allowed me to combine preparation for lecture and laboratory exams. I learned what adipose tissue was, and why it was important simultaneously.
This is a great visual tool for studying-try it!
In summary: Find a diagram or photo within a chapter that condenses a particular discussion within the text. Find the information you need (What is this? Where is it found? What is it comprised of? and Why it is it important?), write it in/around that picture or diagram, and refer back to it when studying instead of the text.
Photo from: Hoehn, K., & Marieb, E. (2007). Human anatomy & physiology. Pearson: New York
