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For the next year I am going to be heavily focused on medical practices and terminology. I was wondering if anyone had practical tips for me as far as retaining the minutiae and jargon?
Anatomy posters? Flashcards? I have a chalkboard and spare wall space that I can devote to learning. I enjoy memorization and learning but will be on an accelerated time-line and am a bit nervous about retaining everything I am cramming in.
When I took medical terminology, I found flashcards worked really well. I think they actually came with one of my textbooks. There is a lot to learn and it might seem daunting but you will get them and eventually you will use them so much in your classes, it becomes natural. Think of it as leaning another language - speaking it as much as possible is how you learn. Get with your classmates if possible.
For the next year I am going to be heavily focused on medical practices and terminology. I was wondering if anyone had practical tips for me as far as retaining the minutiae and jargon?
Anatomy posters? Flashcards? I have a chalkboard and spare wall space that I can devote to learning. I enjoy memorization and learning but will be on an accelerated time-line and am a bit nervous about retaining everything I am cramming in.
If you think you have a visual memory, or are interested in memory tricks in general, I'd suggest picking up the book Moonwalking with Einstein
It builds on the fact or idea that humans remember imagery and stories quite well, as opposed to contextless facts, numbers, and names. It has you construct "memory palaces" that house memories and thoughts. I use them now when it comes to professional certifications, prepping for meetings, etc.
For the next year I am going to be heavily focused on medical practices and terminology. I was wondering if anyone had practical tips for me as far as retaining the minutiae and jargon?
Anatomy posters? Flashcards? I have a chalkboard and spare wall space that I can devote to learning. I enjoy memorization and learning but will be on an accelerated time-line and am a bit nervous about retaining everything I am cramming in.
When I have had to memorize large amounts of terminology, I have found flashcards to be the best way. I studied several foreign languages, which always entailed learning large vocabulary lists. Then later I was studying for the A+ computer certification - again, lots of terminology. I would cut index cards in half and write the word I needed to know on the front, and the definition (or English translation) on the back. I would go through them every day, and after I got one right 2 or 3 times, I would remove it from the stack. This concentrated my efforts on the items I hadn't learned. Every so often I would return the set-aside cards to the deck and do a complete review.
When I took medical terminology, I found flashcards worked really well. I think they actually came with one of my textbooks. There is a lot to learn and it might seem daunting but you will get them and eventually you will use them so much in your classes, it becomes natural. Think of it as leaning another language - speaking it as much as possible is how you learn. Get with your classmates if possible.
If you think you have a visual memory, or are interested in memory tricks in general, I'd suggest picking up the book Moonwalking with Einstein
It builds on the fact or idea that humans remember imagery and stories quite well, as opposed to contextless facts, numbers, and names. It has you construct "memory palaces" that house memories and thoughts. I use them now when it comes to professional certifications, prepping for meetings, etc.
I've been utilizing memory palaces for a bit since getting more access to Sherlock but no doubt my techniques could use tweaking. I will definitely take a gander at the book. Thank you ever so much for directing my attention to it!
When I have had to memorize large amounts of terminology, I have found flashcards to be the best way. I studied several foreign languages, which always entailed learning large vocabulary lists. Then later I was studying for the A+ computer certification - again, lots of terminology. I would cut index cards in half and write the word I needed to know on the front, and the definition (or English translation) on the back. I would go through them every day, and after I got one right 2 or 3 times, I would remove it from the stack. This concentrated my efforts on the items I hadn't learned. Every so often I would return the set-aside cards to the deck and do a complete review.
I like the idea of removing cards once you have the hang of things. I think I let my flashcard piles grow too large. Thank you for the insight of your experience!
When learning medical terminology, focus on learning the Greek/Latin prefixes more than the terms as a whole. Once you know those, it becomes easy to work out what the term means. There's a pretty comprehensive (and a little scary looking) Wikipedia reference here.
When learning medical terminology, focus on learning the Greek/Latin prefixes more than the terms as a whole. Once you know those, it becomes easy to work out what the term means. There's a pretty comprehensive (and a little scary looking) Wikipedia reference here.
Yeah, I was going to mention this. It's often a lot easier to learn what the word is derived from, because it tends to tell you the meaning in its name! I like using this site, but it is probably not as comprehensive as Wikipedia: Online Etymology Dictionary
I have never taken med term, but when I took anatomy as a freshman...I had a whiteboard and I would continually write the terms on the board until I could remember them entirely correct without having to reference the text. This came especially in handy when we would learn muscles because we had to know more than just identification (origin, insertion, action, innervation).
I have moved away from that now because it takes a long time, but it might be a method worth trying. I don't know many people that have utilized that method. Instead, when I memorize content now, I recite it repeatedly out loud until I have memorized a given page in the text, then move onto the next page.
Obviously this won't work if your med term content is not all laid out on one page, so you might want to organize it yourself before you begin. It's essentially the same as flashcards, but without the excess of time it takes to make the flashcards. I never found flashcards all that useful to begin with because it would take so long to make them (and the process of making them didn't help me memorize anything), but I'll admit I have used them on occasion.
And then obviously there's the use of mnemonics and memory tricks. Use any type of story or abbreviation to help you, no matter how stupid it sounds.
----
I'll give some anatomy related examples of ways that I have used memory tricks if you're interested in seeing how this works. Otherwise ignore this bit.
1. I always had a hard time remembering whether or not it was the right or left AV valve (in the heart) that had 3 cusps vs. 2 cusps. My memory trick was to realize that an L is made up of two lines, therefore the left valve is the one with 2 cusps! Fine, now which is also called the mitral valve? That's another one that was hard to remember. So I went to my etymology dictionary and looked up the word "mitral," and found that it related to a bishop's hat. If you don't know what it looks like, you can think of it as sort of like two pieces of paper vertically oriented. So it essentially has two "cusps," just like the left AV valve!
Pic:
2. I could never remember the openings of the diaphragm and what structures pass through each opening. This is something I have to teach to students most semesters and it was just something that would never stick. I would have to review it before each class that I would teach it in. It was only this year that I found a super simple way to remember it!
The three main openings of the diaphragm are at T8, T10, and T12. Fine, this is all a regular pattern, but how do I remember the structures that pass through?
Well, at T8, think of the words "vena cava" (for inferior vena cava). Why? Because "vena cava" has 8 letters (T8)! So I remember that the caval opening is at the level of T8 and transmits the inferior vena cava! At T10, think of the word "esophageal," because that has 10 letters (T10). So what do you think passes through the esophageal opening? The esophagus of course! And also the vagus nerve because of its "rest and digest" (intestines!) function. At T12, think of the phrase "aortic hiatus." This one is just the actual name of the opening, but it also has 12 letters and tells you what passes through it (the descending aorta).
There are other structures that pass through these openings and more things to learn about the diaphragm, but those are the basics.
3. How do you remember all 12 cranial nerves? Very simple! A mnemonic! Oh oh oh to touch and feel very good velvet (or insert lewd word here), ahh!
I - olfactory, II - optic, III - occulomotor, IV - trochlear, V - trigeminal, VI - abducens/abducent, VII - facial, VIII - vestibulocochlear, IX - glossopharyngeal, X - vagus, XI - accessory, XII - hypoglossal
4. We had a full on entire story to go with the insertions of the rotator cuff muscles and teres major, but it got to be a bit long to talk about during class. If you ever want to know what it is, just ask lol.
----
Bam! For every single one of these examples I gave, I only had to derive the trick once, and its meaning stuck with me forever.
I can't take credit for deriving these memory tricks, because most, if not all, can already be found on the internet. But do what works for you. Some tricks may work better than others.
I second Harry Lorayne books; better yet, get his audio course. You might be able to find some old copies on ebay or goodwill. Lorayne teaches the link method and the peg word method (using the mneumonic alphabet).
Mind palaces are a thing, and they are awesome. I forget the exact term for it.
Figure 1 is a good app to look at while you're in line at the grocery store. At first its like "yeaahh.. okay.. sure... " but you sort of get the hang of it just looking for a while.
I made up a lot of my own mnemonics. Sometimes other peoples' are gold, sometimes they are. I still remember the spine to this day from the meal-time logic.. "7am breakfast, 12 lunch, 5 dinner" for cervical, thoracic, and lumbar numbers. However, the cranial nerves mnemonic didn't ever help me at all, it was more confusing. Even now, if I don't see a word frequently I'll forget what it means and have to go look it up right quick and smack my forehead. It's not like riding a bike, it's more like math. Lots of repetition does the trick. Most people suck at the class because they simply don't put the time into it.
When learning medical terminology, focus on learning the Greek/Latin prefixes more than the terms as a whole. Once you know those, it becomes easy to work out what the term means. There's a pretty comprehensive (and a little scary looking) Wikipedia reference here.
I second Harry Lorayne books; better yet, get his audio course. You might be able to find some old copies on ebay or goodwill. Lorayne teaches the link method and the peg word method (using the mneumonic alphabet).
Mind palaces are a thing, and they are awesome. I forget the exact term for it.
Figure 1 is a good app to look at while you're in line at the grocery store. At first its like "yeaahh.. okay.. sure... " but you sort of get the hang of it just looking for a while.
I made up a lot of my own mnemonics. Sometimes other peoples' are gold, sometimes they are. I still remember the spine to this day from the meal-time logic.. "7am breakfast, 12 lunch, 5 dinner" for cervical, thoracic, and lumbar numbers. However, the cranial nerves mnemonic didn't ever help me at all, it was more confusing. Even now, if I don't see a word frequently I'll forget what it means and have to go look it up right quick and smack my forehead. It's not like riding a bike, it's more like math. Lots of repetition does the trick. Most people suck at the class because they simply don't put the time into it.
Yeah, I was going to mention this. It's often a lot easier to learn what the word is derived from, because it tends to tell you the meaning in its name! I like using this site, but it is probably not as comprehensive as Wikipedia: Online Etymology Dictionary
I have never taken med term, but when I took anatomy as a freshman...I had a whiteboard and I would continually write the terms on the board until I could remember them entirely correct without having to reference the text. This came especially in handy when we would learn muscles because we had to know more than just identification (origin, insertion, action, innervation).
I have moved away from that now because it takes a long time, but it might be a method worth trying. I don't know many people that have utilized that method. Instead, when I memorize content now, I recite it repeatedly out loud until I have memorized a given page in the text, then move onto the next page.
Obviously this won't work if your med term content is not all laid out on one page, so you might want to organize it yourself before you begin. It's essentially the same as flashcards, but without the excess of time it takes to make the flashcards. I never found flashcards all that useful to begin with because it would take so long to make them (and the process of making them didn't help me memorize anything), but I'll admit I have used them on occasion.
And then obviously there's the use of mnemonics and memory tricks. Use any type of story or abbreviation to help you, no matter how stupid it sounds.
----
I'll give some anatomy related examples of ways that I have used memory tricks if you're interested in seeing how this works. Otherwise ignore this bit.
1. I always had a hard time remembering whether or not it was the right or left AV valve (in the heart) that had 3 cusps vs. 2 cusps. My memory trick was to realize that an L is made up of two lines, therefore the left valve is the one with 2 cusps! Fine, now which is also called the mitral valve? That's another one that was hard to remember. So I went to my etymology dictionary and looked up the word "mitral," and found that it related to a bishop's hat. If you don't know what it looks like, you can think of it as sort of like two pieces of paper vertically oriented. So it essentially has two "cusps," just like the left AV valve!
Pic:
2. I could never remember the openings of the diaphragm and what structures pass through each opening. This is something I have to teach to students most semesters and it was just something that would never stick. I would have to review it before each class that I would teach it in. It was only this year that I found a super simple way to remember it!
The three main openings of the diaphragm are at T8, T10, and T12. Fine, this is all a regular pattern, but how do I remember the structures that pass through?
Well, at T8, think of the words "vena cava" (for inferior vena cava). Why? Because "vena cava" has 8 letters (T8)! So I remember that the caval opening is at the level of T8 and transmits the inferior vena cava! At T10, think of the word "esophageal," because that has 10 letters (T10). So what do you think passes through the esophageal opening? The esophagus of course! And also the vagus nerve because of its "rest and digest" (intestines!) function. At T12, think of the phrase "aortic hiatus." This one is just the actual name of the opening, but it also has 12 letters and tells you what passes through it (the descending aorta).
There are other structures that pass through these openings and more things to learn about the diaphragm, but those are the basics.
3. How do you remember all 12 cranial nerves? Very simple! A mnemonic! Oh oh oh to touch and feel very good velvet (or insert lewd word here), ahh!
I - olfactory, II - optic, III - occulomotor, IV - trochlear, V - trigeminal, VI - abducens/abducent, VII - facial, VIII - vestibulocochlear, IX - glossopharyngeal, X - vagus, XI - accessory, XII - hypoglossal
4. We had a full on entire story to go with the insertions of the rotator cuff muscles and teres major, but it got to be a bit long to talk about during class. If you ever want to know what it is, just ask lol.
----
Bam! For every single one of these examples I gave, I only had to derive the trick once, and its meaning stuck with me forever.
I can't take credit for deriving these memory tricks, because most, if not all, can already be found on the internet. But do what works for you. Some tricks may work better than others.