Anatomy : its importance, best books to read, approach, tips & exam strategy.

What is Anatomy?

Anatomy is the field in biological sciences concerned with the identification and description of body structures of the human body. The word ANATOMY is derived from the Greek word – “Ana” meaning “up” and “tome” meaning “a cutting”. Anatomy is considered as the most exciting subject in the first year of the medical curriculum. It is a common subject to many medical fields like BSc nursing, MLT, BDS and MBBS . It is mostly studied in the first year of MBBS/BDS in India and subcontinent.

For the ease of classification, we will limit our discussion to MBBS curriculum only .

Purpose of studying Anatomy :

Along with academic principles, anatomy develops a practical approach to understand the proper structure of the human body. The knowledge will later be applied in subjects like surgery, ENT, etc.

Anatomy can be divided into the following sub parts:

• Gross Anatomy
• Microanatomy (Histology)
• Embryology and genetics
• Neuroanatomy

We will take these parts into discussion one by one :

(i) Gross anatomy

It involves investigation of larger structures of the body like lungs, heart, brain, etc. It is studied under following headings –

● Head and neck
● Upper limb
● Thorax
● Lower limb
● Abdomen and pelvis

The approach : The very basic to start with is GENERAL ANATOMY. Know the basic terms of anatomy, which will be very helpful later in the subject.

Particularly for Upper and lower limb– study the muscles with their origin, attachments, nerve suppl , blood supply, function and the related clinicals. Take help of dissection videos available on YouTube. The course of major blood vessels and nerves are very important. They mostly come in long answers.

For topics like Thorax and Abdomen and pelvis, have an organ wise approach. You should watch the video of a particular organ on YouTube before-hand. Learn to place the organ in its anatomical position and other specific features of that organ. This will be helpful in viva.

Be it viva or theory , Head and Neck is one of the most scoring topics in Anatomy. Topics like scalp and face require detailed study of its definition, layers ,muscles, blood supply, nerves supply and applied Anatomy. Give extra focus to glands like parotid gland, thyroid gland, lacrimal apparatus, etc as they often come in long questions. You can also refer to notes of various online platforms for better clarification of the topics. Overall, don’t leave any topic . Pay extra attention to cranial nerves especially facial, oculomotor, etc. to its nucleus, course, injury, etc.

For studying BONES, borrow bone sets from seniors or departments and discuss it with your friends. Learning the Anatomical position, muscle attachments ,ligament ,bursa, joints, etc is necessary. It will also improve your vocal skills for viva. Pay extra focus to Skull Norma as it is a sure shot topic for viva.

Books: BD Chaurasia (4 volumes) and Vishram singh (3 volumes) are mostly preferred.
BD Chaurasia has a better clinical approach for any given topic whereas Vishram singh comes with concise text and better diagrams which are easy for practice and memorization.
Read any particular topic from both books and see which book better suits you.
For a better understanding , Atlas of Human body by Netter’s is recommended. Standard book for anatomy is Gray’s anatomy.

(ii) Neuroanatomy

It is the study of the relationship between structure and function of the nervous system.

The approach : start with CNS , learn the ascending and descending tracts of the spinal cord then study the Brain stem. This way you can relate to the course and the origin of particular tracts . Then proceed with ANS . Study all the cranial and spinal nerves ,their origin , course and clinical – injuries related
to it. The orientation is very important. You can refer Vishram Singh’s book of neuroanatomy. If you are short of time, online platforms can also be used.

(iii) Embryology

It deals with the study of development of an embryo from fertilization of the ovum through the fetal stage.

The approach – Start with fertilization, then study week wise development of embryo. Once done with this, do Systemic development like development of Gut, Heart, etc. One should also study Fetal circulation for better understanding of the topics.

Langman’s Medical Embryology can be used as reference. Other books like Human embryology by Inderbir Singh have easier representation of the topics.

(iv) Microanatomy (Histology)

It helps understanding the microscopic details of cells and smaller structures of the body e.g. cardiac tissue, skeletal muscle ,etc.

As you might get to draw a histology diagram of any tissue or organ in exams, study the properties and illustration of tissue of organs (liver, heart, etc) , glands (parotid, thyroid, etc ) , tracts (respiratory tract, GI tract, etc). Focus on the slides taught in your classes and make tricks to remember the appearance of a specific type of cell.

The Exam pattern : Any subject in MBBS consists of a Theory paper and Practical . There are 2 papers in theory each of 100 marks . Paper 1 consists of Head and Neck, Thorax and upper limb while Paper 2 consists of Abdomen and pelvis and lower limb. Related Embryology and Neuroanatomy might come in any paper depending on university pattern.

Practical includes dissection, surface marking, spotting (histological slides and any structure of human body ) and viva-voce.

Note: Syllabus and pattern may vary in different universities.

Few tips :

1. Limit your study material : Choose one standard book, see what suits your taste and give your time to complete it.
2. 3D visualisation : Imagining and picturing the studied structures solves most of the problems faced during learning . For this you can either use atlas or any 3D anatomy model app.
3. Take help from online resources : Lockdown phase has taught us the perfect way to extract the exact information we want online . There are numerous videos available online which are very helpful for better understanding . You can also consider a certain paid platform if you need everything in one place.
4. The 60-40 rule : Anatomy is 60% visualisation and 40% practice and memorization. For this purpose, you can make a diagram notebook. Use a notebook with plain pages for this purpose. The diagrams need not to be colourful. Line diagrams work the best because it saves time during exams too. Diagram based study also improves long term memorisation of the subject. Repetitive revision technique and group discussions are very helpful for a longer term memorization of the subject.
5. Recognizing the pattern of college exams : It’s very difficult to shift to subjective exams after giving MCQ based NEET exam. For this purpose, you should refer to PYQ of your respective college and university. Observe the question pattern and prepare accordingly. You should also practice writing answers within a limited time frame to avoid any kind of panic during exams.

Clinicals of each topic are very essential to write in exam. Try to include as many line diagrams in your answers.

Anatomy is a subject which can’t be studied just one night before an exam. It needs your efforts throughout the year. But still it’s not completely a herculean task. We hope these points will be useful during the course of your study and examination.

For more articles on such topics on any other subjects or topics, keep visiting our website and if you have any suggestions or queries, write to us in the comment section.

Happy studying!

Editor – Mili ( MBBS, JLNMCH & Social Media Manager, MCD ) & – Chahhat maini ( BDS, PGDCH )