eat alot of b-6 vitamins it helps your memory capacity

..i think

I’m currently taking 17 credit hours at school and working 20 hours a week, so I can sympathize with you. I’m taking anatomy and physiology too. It is a very difficult class, but it can be manageable. What I do with that class is I highlight everything in the book that may be important. Then I copy down everything the teacher says in lecture that may beimportant, and I simplify and combine the notes into one set of notes – in my own words. That set of notes I will study every day at least half an hour, preferably an hour. I’ve found that for me studying in small amounts often helps my memory much more than cramming before the test. My test for that is, if I were to go a few days before the test without studying, would I still make a good grade?

In addition to this, flashcards are useful for remembering certain things. If you’re trying to learn definitions of words (such as terms that relate to certain body parts), find some note cards and go through them. Set aside ones you’ve learned and focus on the other ones. Make sure you shuffle them up so you don’t remember the definitions in order.

Also, acronyms can be useful for remembering lists of things. They’re not difficult to make, and they don’t have to make sense. You just have to be able to remember it and associate it with the correct answer. For example, when I’m trying to remember the nine abdominal regions, I say ‘Happy elephants laughed under ignorant hippos.’ It starts at the top and stands for hypochondriac ( top right and left), epigastric (top middle), lumbar ( center right and left), umbilical (center), iliac (bottom right and left), and hypogastric (bottom middle).

You just need to experiment. Figure out your learning style (visual, kinsethetic, auditory) and study in ways that suit your learning style. There is no cookie-cutter way to study well. Effort is very important, and is what ends up getting to most people in the end. Overall, you just need to find what’s right for you.

Anatomy is notorious for having time. Talk to your professors and TAs about good study techniques. I like making flash cards of defintions and going through them. I also think it’s easier to think in terms of the system. I hate memorizing that the trachea is the tube to the lungs by itself. I prefer almost singing in my head, “air comes in through the nose, down the trachea where it splits into the bornc…. and then into the avoli.” (It’s been a while, but you get the idea). I like linking structure and function.

You also might ask around in the class if anyone is looking for study buddies. That way you quiz each other and practice explaining stuff.

I also get a lot out of making summaries of lecture notes. I use the book to help fill in holes. Hopefully the lecture notes make the book make more sense.

When I took biochem (the most memorization filled class ever), I had an hour break after it. I went to the library, made flash cards of all the new terms and then went through the entire semester’s worth of flashcards. If I knew the definition, it went into the “done for the day” pile. If I didn’t, I kept recyling it ’til I got it. Took forever.

Try out different methods and see what works for you.

Catherine

I suggest visiting SAS Martial Arts Consulting online. They offer free online guidance. They are not a message board and you can interact live with a real martial artist. The key is to first narrow down your personal wants/needs. Next, find a style that suits those. Finally, know what to look for and what questions to ask when you visit schools.

Make a list of the words you need to memorize and using the first letter or syllable, create a little poem or rhyme or song etc…..and memorize that.

When you have the test just think of your little song or whatever and start writing the words out.