More anatomy . . .

Day two of medical school is over and I just thought I would write a few more notes on my impressions so far.

I am actually excited this time about doing anatomy, which is interesting because if I had revealed this to my past self, she would have declared me to be an impostor. (If I told her that I was doing anatomy because I am studying medicine, she would know I was an impostor!) When I did anatomy in my first degree it was an absolute grind of rote memorisation, focusing on regional anatomy. We covered a little of the function but were mainly concerned with EXACTLY where bits were located in relation to other bits, and what every single little lump, bump and hole was called. It was as painful as it sounds.

Enter the medical course with its focus on PBL (Problem Based Learning) and concentrating on the actual practical use of the anatomy. We get to focus on why things are there, what they do and how they interract with everything else! It is much more motivating. The fact that I am potentially going to be treating people and potentially cutting into them is also a great motivator!

I also want to get everything I can out of our cadaveric dissection classes, so I have purchased McMinn's Colour Atlas of Human Anatomy which focuses on pictures of real cadavers. Memorising nice pictures with blue veins, red arteries, green lymphatic vessels and yellow nerves is quite different to looking inside a real person. Somehow I feel I owe it to the person who donated their body to get the most I can out of dissecting it.

Also, histology seems to be making sense. When did that happen???