Memory Techniques for Med School #2 Visualization

VISUALIZATION

People remember better when they visualize.  Forgot where you left your glasses?  If you make a point of visualizing them when you put them down, you are more likely to remember where you left them.  It is similar with learning anatomy.  Try to spend a few more seconds visualizing, fixing in your head, the anatomy, or for that matter any other picture, before going on.

It is easier to first learn anatomy through conceptual line drawings than through photographs of dissected specimens, with all that fascia to muddy the conceptual view.  When I was an ophthalmology resident, I found books that showed photos of actual ocular anatomy dissections relatively useless compared with books that showed conceptual pictures, particularly line drawings.  We are very visual learners, and it helps when we can visualize things as a whole.