What is the best way to study physiology, anatomy, and other bioscience stuff?

[Ms. Yoko Anna]

Hello my fellow geeks.

I started another schooling starting January.

I enrolled myself into acupressure school and reflexology school.
Yes, two schools at the same time.

My entire post-secondary education was in humanity and social science.
So it was all about reading books, incorporate the knowledge with social theories (like Foucault) and come up with some new analysis.

For these alternative medicine school, it seems to be more memorizing, understanding the body system, and applying the existing knowledge, skills, and technique, rather than being creative and original.

I have never taken biology classes in university.

So, ladies and gentlemen, who has background in medicine or any science.....
How did you study?
Should I go get some of flash cards like high school students?

I am a visual learner.
So if any neat tips for visual learners to study bioscience, please share those with me!

 

[Dgodus]

Hands on practice

That is of course both a joke and actual suggestion which I found to work. However I did also drop out of the science program lol so take it for what it's worth.

 

[jesuschrist]

In humanity and social sciences the subject matters lent themselves best to written words because there is a propensity of dialog or arguments to best understand those subjects.

The sciences (my 2nd degree) required a different kind of thinking. Organic, inorganic and biological phenomena required understanding of some base concepts but by and large the volume of material was association of elements, so required brute force memory work. The ways of learning the social sciences are inappropriate for the nature of this kind of material; you cannot use the written word in dialog effectively to capture an understanding. Disband with lined paper when taking notes. Instead, get yourself a binder full of blank paper and use that. Be artistic and creative: make every page a canvas to draw your understanding; use circles, arrows, bubbles, squares, words, lists, etc. Every page becomes something that encapsulates the subject at hand and those visual images are directly embossed in memory.

 

[donovan12345]

hi Yoko...

for anatomy, I would suggest an full week of extensive hands on study of my body.. not only visual but a lot of physical touching, caressing, and of course licking. I happen to have a free week in Feb and would be happy to donate my time to your studies.

take care/donovan

 

[Ms. Yoko Anna]

hi Yoko...

for anatomy, I would suggest an full week of extensive hands on study of my body.. not only visual but a lot of physical touching, caressing, and of course licking. I happen to have a free week in Feb and would be happy to donate my time to your studies.

take care/donovan

I cannot wait to look at your pancreas!
( no, I don't need to do any of pancreas biopsy on you, parhaps some of genital anatomy with you?)

 

[ISM]

Here's a topical article from Wired on the relative success of different studying techniques: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/01/everything-about-learning/

That said, rather than blank sheets of paper, writing with a calligraphy brush along the lines of Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book would be my preference. Be as creative as you like, but no writing on the inside, please.

 

[billa69]

For me mnemonics help a lot. Especially the dirty ones

For example humans have 12 cranial nerves and they are :

I - Olfactory nerve
II - Optic nerve
III - Oculomotor nerve
IV - Trochlear nerve/pathic nerve
V - Trigeminal nerve/dentist nerve
VI - Abducens nerve
VII - Facial nerve
VIII - Auditory nerve
IX - Glossopharyngeal nerve
X - Vagus nerve
XI - Accessory nerve/Spinal accessory nerve
XII - Hypoglossal nerve

However, I use the following mnemonic:

Oh, Oh, Oh, To Touch And Feel Virgin Girl's Vagina And Hymen

 

[Ms. Yoko Anna]

That is interesting.
I used to memorize things well by writing those down many times.
But I will try the mnemonic method!
I remember I used the strategy when I had to memorize chemistry symbols back in high school!

 

[MissJasmine]

Netter's Anatomy book and flashcards are really good. So is this colouring book: http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Coloring-Book-Wynn-Kapit/dp/0805350861
A fully articulating human skeleton would also be helpful in learning the origin and insertion points of muscles, plus it makes a nice conversation piece.

 

[vancity_cowboy]

how do people learn?

in many ways, but everybody is different

some people can't learn it if it isn't written down, others if it isn't shown in photographs, others if it isn't demonstarted in the flesh

how do you learn?

 

[riceraw]

for physio/accu I found its best to think of things as a system rather then single units.
how one thing effects the other, as in the body, you ll find they run into each other often
I dont suggest flashcards as it is point form learning and fragments this learning, outside certain points and what they are for


start with something you know well, then branch into the next limb (no pun)

 

[Ms. Yoko Anna]

how do people learn?

in many ways, but everybody is different

some people can't learn it if it isn't written down, others if it isn't shown in photographs, others if it isn't demonstarted in the flesh

how do you learn?

How do I learn?
Hmmmm.

This is a new area of study for me as I dedicated most of my post secondary to social science department.
I had to take Chinese language classes, and I suppose I did some study methods for memorizing.
I usually write it down in detail.
I even write down hponetic symbols as well.
I also do a lot of excise questions repeatedly till I get 100% result.

Hmmmm... Sounds like a typical study strategy that a lot of Asina kids do... I suppose I am one of them.

For anatomy, which I have never studied, I am thinking to draw human body in detail using pencil crayons.
Flash cards may not help, but the process of making flash cards definitely helps me to memorize.

But as riceraw suggests, it is a whole dynamic of body system that I need to understand as a whole.
So macro methods and micro methods need to be combined......
Hmmm, as a proud geek, this is fun fun fun!

 

[vancity_cowboy]

for physio/accu I found its best to think of things as a system rather then single units.
how one thing effects the other, as in the body, you ll find they run into each other often
I dont suggest flashcards as it is point form learning and fragments this learning, outside certain points and what they are for


start with something you know well, then branch into the next limb (no pun)

you mean like, 'leg bone's connected to the... knee bone...' old song?