Coursework & Fieldwork Gross Anatomy help!!

[Person101]

So I just started my first year of OT school and I am in Gross Anatomy as an 8 week summer course. It is only day two and I already feel behind and defeated! So far we are working on the back and shoulders. I have been making flashcards over the muscles of these regions that consist of proximal and distal attachment, innervation, and action. I am struggling to remember everything especially spinal cord levels. I am also struggling with identifying muscles. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to study for this class? Particularly on memorizing the muscle innervation spinal cord level and being able to identify what muscle you are looking at on a cadaver? I have been trying to find some interactive matching games that would allow me to match the muscle name to a picture of the muscle but I cant find much.

Text books used in this class: Grants dissector, Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 7th Ed. by Moore, Dalley & Agur, Atlas of Anatomy, 2nd Ed. by Gilroy

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[HonestOT]

Hey! Firstly- I feel your pain!!!! I just completed my first year of OT school and gross anatomy is HELL!!!! I don't know about your program, but in mine people literally just passed anatomy. It takes a crazy amount of work and effort to literally just pass! My course was during first semester, so it was more spread out but we also had other classes to focus on.

I am one of the strange weirdo's that happens to love anatomy, and I was probably the only person in my class who got an A in the course, but that doesn't mean it was easy for me! It took SO much work and studying time to get the grades that I did.

I also had to memorize the origin, insertion, innervation, and action of each muscle. My program gave out a muscles manual and it was 54 pages, divided into three tests. I cut out each muscle with it's info and made flashcards out of them. Then I counted up how many I had, and looked at a calendar. I wrote down the number of flashcards I needed to memorize each night, and also gave myself a night or two to review them all. This was on top of lecture notes that also needed to be memorized, which I did the same thing for.

This first course is really going to determine how you are able to divide your time wisely in OT school. Pace yourself! DO NOT CRAM! My final was cumulative of ALL THE MUSCLES OF THE BODY! Yep, origin, insertion, innervation, and action of every single muscle! If you study correctly, the info will go into your brain the correct way. The key to memorizing is repetition!!!! Take your flashcards with you everywhere, and when you have time pull them out. Review them before you go to sleep, when you get up, when you have extra time. If you go over them the next day and forgot everything (story of my life!) keep repeating it! And it will go into your brain!

I loved cadaver lab! I'm an extremely visual person, so I was able to pick up which muscle was which very quickly- but I helped so many people like you who needed extra help because honestly, the muscles all look the same! A program you might find useful on the Ipad is an app called Muscle Systems Pro III. It's amazing for isolating specific muscles if you're unsure of where it is located/ originates/ inserts. SUNY Downstate has an online cadaver quiz site that's AMAZING!

http://ect.downstate.edu/courseware/haonline/quiz.htm

I used this before each lab practical to quiz myself, and even after each lab session to reinforce what I learned. Do you have a list of specific structures you need to identify in lab? My course did and I always took my list with me to lab. When I found a muscle/vein/artery I wrote a hint down for myself, or tried to draw a pic of it so I could remember it better.

And of course, SPEND AS MUCH TIME IN LAB AS YOU CAN! Go before class, after class, Sundays. As much as you need to! Take an atlas with you, and a study buddy! If your college has tutors take advantage! I know its so hard since you have so much other work to do, but try to find the time! I went with a friend early Sunday morning, between class, during breaks, Fridays. KEEP REPEATING EVERYTHING! Study out loud. Youtube also has great videos of cadavers that I also watched.

Hope this helps! I know it's not easy, but once you get passed anatomy the rest is a breeze!! And if you get through it, you know you could do anything! My friends and I always say that nothing gets worse then anatomy!

YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT! Keep studying! It will get better and you will LOVE OT school! Good luck!

 

[OTGonzagaa]

This might help too! It includes cadavers as well. Good luck!!

http://wps.aw.com/bc_pal_lms/?itcc0509

 

[futureOTsj]

Hey! Firstly- I feel your pain!!!! I just completed my first year of OT school and gross anatomy is HELL!!!! I don't know about your program, but in mine people literally just passed anatomy. It takes a crazy amount of work and effort to literally just pass! My course was during first semester, so it was more spread out but we also had other classes to focus on.

I am one of the strange weirdo's that happens to love anatomy, and I was probably the only person in my class who got an A in the course, but that doesn't mean it was easy for me! It took SO much work and studying time to get the grades that I did.

I also had to memorize the origin, insertion, innervation, and action of each muscle. My program gave out a muscles manual and it was 54 pages, divided into three tests. I cut out each muscle with it's info and made flashcards out of them. Then I counted up how many I had, and looked at a calendar. I wrote down the number of flashcards I needed to memorize each night, and also gave myself a night or two to review them all. This was on top of lecture notes that also needed to be memorized, which I did the same thing for.

This first course is really going to determine how you are able to divide your time wisely in OT school. Pace yourself! DO NOT CRAM! My final was cumulative of ALL THE MUSCLES OF THE BODY! Yep, origin, insertion, innervation, and action of every single muscle! If you study correctly, the info will go into your brain the correct way. The key to memorizing is repetition!!!! Take your flashcards with you everywhere, and when you have time pull them out. Review them before you go to sleep, when you get up, when you have extra time. If you go over them the next day and forgot everything (story of my life!) keep repeating it! And it will go into your brain!

I loved cadaver lab! I'm an extremely visual person, so I was able to pick up which muscle was which very quickly- but I helped so many people like you who needed extra help because honestly, the muscles all look the same! A program you might find useful on the Ipad is an app called Muscle Systems Pro III. It's amazing for isolating specific muscles if you're unsure of where it is located/ originates/ inserts. SUNY Downstate has an online cadaver quiz site that's AMAZING!

http://ect.downstate.edu/courseware/haonline/quiz.htm

I used this before each lab practical to quiz myself, and even after each lab session to reinforce what I learned. Do you have a list of specific structures you need to identify in lab? My course did and I always took my list with me to lab. When I found a muscle/vein/artery I wrote a hint down for myself, or tried to draw a pic of it so I could remember it better.

And of course, SPEND AS MUCH TIME IN LAB AS YOU CAN! Go before class, after class, Sundays. As much as you need to! Take an atlas with you, and a study buddy! If your college has tutors take advantage! I know its so hard since you have so much other work to do, but try to find the time! I went with a friend early Sunday morning, between class, during breaks, Fridays. KEEP REPEATING EVERYTHING! Study out loud. Youtube also has great videos of cadavers that I also watched.

Hope this helps! I know it's not easy, but once you get passed anatomy the rest is a breeze!! And if you get through it, you know you could do anything! My friends and I always say that nothing gets worse then anatomy!

YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT! Keep studying! It will get better and you will LOVE OT school! Good luck!

Hi honestOT, what school are you attending?

 

[c2902]

Draw things out, and label your drawings. Draw them over and over. Drawing/writing with an actual utensil (vs typing) has actually been shown to help commit information to memory, better than typing. Especially when you get to the forearm - there are a ton of muscles in the forearm, and it's really easy to get confused, so make a map. And pay attention in cadaver lab because some of the muscles look a little different on a real body than they do in a picture in your textbook.

 

[otot1313]

I am sorry to ask this...

SO, can you guys compare how easy Anatomy class that we need to take for pre-reqs vs gross anatomy?

I did get an A when i took it at city college but how much more difficult is the gross anatomy in ot school?

I will be applying to school this year or next and i want to know how difficult OT school is... especially an anatomy class...

 

[sngot]

There is not one formula to learn anatomy but rather small tips here and there that can make it easier. I like drawing it out so I can understand the direction that the muscle is going and the nearby muscles that are around that area. Another good way is to make lists: what are commonality among muscles attachments, nerves, and actions.

For example scapula: anterior is subscapularis, posterior is supraspinatus and infraspinatus. Medial border has levator scapulae and rhomboids that goes to the vertebrae. Beneath the scapula are your teres minor and teres major. Shoulder joints are glenhumeral joints that start at the humerus and insets on to the scapula. Shoulder girdle are muscles that attaches the scapula and thorax together. Innervations are harder to learn on the back but group them when you can. If they share the same nerve, then it is because they are near one another.

Anatomy coloring book may be a good investment if you feel like ID is hard. Youtube also has many videos that are at your disposal.

 

[sngot]

I am sorry to ask this...

SO, can you guys compare how easy Anatomy class that we need to take for pre-reqs vs gross anatomy?

I did get an A when i took it at city college but how much more difficult is the gross anatomy in ot school?

I will be applying to school this year or next and i want to know how difficult OT school is... especially an anatomy class...

Every school is different but I think it is safe to assume that community college anatomy does not go as in depth as graduate anatomy since every OT school had to taken anatomy to get in. The graduate one review and adds more in terms of specificity and clinical applications.

 

[c2902]

I am sorry to ask this...

SO, can you guys compare how easy Anatomy class that we need to take for pre-reqs vs gross anatomy?

I did get an A when i took it at city college but how much more difficult is the gross anatomy in ot school?

I will be applying to school this year or next and i want to know how difficult OT school is... especially an anatomy class...

My prereq Anatomy class was done at a community college and did not include a cadaver lab, so that is one major difference. Additionally, the professor I had was kind of a schmo - really nice, but got behind himself in the syllabus, went off on tangents, etc. So he never had us learn innervations, and only kind of tested us on origin and insertion for some muscles. Otherwise, it was just identification of the muscle and naming the action, however, we did not cover all of the muscles of the body. With osteology, we at least covered all of the bones and many of the important bony prominences; he got really behind with the muscle unit, so that's why we kind of lost out on that one. Luckily, I memorize well, so Anatomy class in OT school was not a problem for me, however, I know many people have trouble with the subject because of the sheer volume of stuff you have to commit to memory. The added benefit of the cadaver lab in OT school also helps, especially when you see the actual location of the muscles in the body, it makes a lot more sense. Plus, I thought cadaver lab was cool.