Study Skills

• When studying Anatomy, use flashcards! Make your own. Pre-bought ones are “ok” but in the long run writing your own “facts” or actually drawing the pictures will drive home the point.

• When studying Hormones, draw feedback loops, practice adding the stimulators and inhibitors at each level (hypothalamus, pituitary gland, effector organ).

• When studying Physiology, act it out! While you study, try to do the physical activity associated with the physiological action (ex: grind your fist on your abdomen to represent churning of the antrum of the stomach and the small intestine). It may seem silly, but associating action with knowledge will drive home the point.

General Study Strategies

• Take your notes and make them into a story. We remember things that are entertaining, generally. Review a body system from beginning to end and tell it like you would read a book to a child. Again, it may seem silly, but silly things often stand out in our memories.

• Study in small chunks, multiple times a week. Cramming before an exam will not allow maximal comprehension and retention

• Teach it! Study on your own and then find someone (or even a pet or a child) to say it out loud to. If you can explain the concept to someone with no background knowledge then you KNOW the material!

   

Study Resources

• Anatomy: flashcards! Make your own.  Pre-bought ones are “okay,” but in the long run, writing your own “facts” or actually drawing the pictures will drive home the point.

• Hormones: draw feedback loops, practice adding the stimulators and inhibitors at each level (hypothalamus, pituitary gland, effector organ).

• Physiology: act it out!  While you study, try to do the physical activity associated with the physiological action (ex: grind your fist on your abdomen to represent churning of the antrum of the stomach and the small intestine).  It may seem silly, but associating action with knowledge will drive home the point.