Use a Virtual Study Skeleton to Learn Bones & Markings

Learning the bones and markings of the human skeleton can be quite a challenge. Most students do their best learning by repeated practice with a study skeleton in the learning lab.

The problem is, one doesn't always have access to study skeletons. Wouldn't it be great if you had a study skeleton anytime you want to spend a few minutes of practice?

A free or "open" learning resource called eSkeletons let's you do that!

This online tool is not exactly a "real" study skeleton, but it's the next best thing. It's an always-on, always-available virtual study skeleton.

Check out my video walk-through to see if this A&P study tool might work you.

Click here for more tips to help you learn the human skeleton.

Learning bones & skeletal features

Wow, not only must I learn all the bones of the skeleton, but also a humongous list of bone features?!

Beginning the study of the skeleton can be intimidating, for a number of reasons.  Not the least of which is that the names of the bones and bone features seem to be very odd—sometimes almost unpronounceable.

There's a reason the names are so odd.  They're based on a foreign language!  They're all based on Latin, with a lot of Greek word parts mixed in there. Once you realize that you're learning a new language along with learning new structures, the task ahead will be clearer to you.  And hopefully, a  bit less intimidating.

It turns out that if you actually focus on the fact that these are terms from a foreign language and try to translate them, then learning skeletal anatomy is far easier—and takes far less time and effort—than if you ignore the meanings of bone names.

To help you get started on this road, I've produced a couple of very brief videos that outline a proven method to quickly and easily learn your entire assigned list of bones and bone features.  Watch them both to get the greatest benefit.

In the videos, I mention a couple of lists of translations (and pronunciations) that will help you engage the method I'm recommending.  Links to those lists are found below.

Bone Names Have Meaning - Part 1 - Get Started

Bone Names Have Meaning - Part 2 - Types of Bone Markings

Want to know more?

List of bone marking types

• Translation of each term
• Pronunciation of each term
• Brief description of each term
• my-ap.us/16PNh3K

List of bones and bone markings of the human skeleton

• Translation of each term
• Pronunciation of each term
• Use with your textbook or Survival Guide for A&P (below), which has a description of each structure
• my-ap.us/15zZYom

Field Guide to the Human Body:  Bone Names

• Part of the Lion Den Study Tips & Tools series for A&P students
• Includes the videos and lists mentioned above
• my-ap.us/13ihrPs

Survival Guide for Anatomy & Physiology

• Many time-saving, effort-saving, and frustration-saving tips and shortcuts
• my-ap.us/16aa5zg

Learning A&P Terminology

• Brief introduction to the scientific terminology used in A&P
• You might want to look at this FIRST if you haven't seen it yet
• Includes short, helpful videos
• my-ap.us/14PncUV

More Tips on Learning the Human Skeleton

• Additional blog posts (including this one) focusing on bones
• my-ap.us/JJEEMF

Legs and wings

What part of your body is the leg?

Wait . . . think carefully before you answer.

If you said the long limb below your waist (or equivalent), you'd be wrong!  Well, okay, it would be correct in everyday conversation.  But it is not anatomically correct.

In anatomical terms, the lower limb (lower extremity) is made of up of the thigh, leg, and foot.  Anatomically, the leg is only that section of the lower limb just below the knee.

The same sort of thing happens with the arm.  In anatomy, the entire upper limb (upper extremity) is not the arm.  Only the section above the elbow is the arm.  The section just below the elbow is the forearm.

One way to help you remember this is think of pieces of chicken.  I realize that not everyone is a meat eater. But those who eat chicken know that it's often served in pieces.  A chicken leg is not the entire lower limb--there's another piece just proximal to the leg: the thigh.  Remember that, and it may be easier to keep the distinction straight in human anatomy.

Likewise, one can think of the two types of pieces often served in an order of chicken wings.  The "drumette," which looks like a mini drumstick, is the arm.  The "flat" or "wingette" is the forearm.

Study Blue

As stated recently, the best way to learn anything is . . .

Practice.

Practice.

Practice.

And one of the easiest and fastest ways to practice learning the basic facts and terminology of A&P is to use flash cards.

One great way of using flash cards is to use an online platform for making, studying, and sharing flash cards.

Study Blue is one of the more popular online flashcard tools.


Here's a brief video introducing the philosophy behind Study Blue

With Study Blue you can can create flash cards on your device based on your course needs, then use their automated system to review them.  You can also create custom study guides and quizzes based on those flash cards.

This brief video Tap. Snap. Speak, shows how simple it is to make a flash card with Study Blue.

Now imagine yourself in A&P lab with a skull.  Or a model of the torso.  Point to a structure, snap a photo and say, "mastoid process." and you've got a great flash card for studying!

Teachers can assemble sets of flashcards with Study Blue  then share them with students.  Of course, students can share with their classmates in study groups.  For example, in your study group you may assign each person a set of flashcards to make based on your course material.  By sharing each of these with the whole study group, everyone now has a whole library of flash cards based on the week's study topics.

Check out Study Blue at

Study Blue

For more advice on making and using flash cards effectively for A&P check out the collection of articles at

Flash Cards

Master the trapezius

One of the most recognizable muscles of the human body is also sometimes the hardest to figure out.  I'm talking about the trapezius muscle.   How can it both elevate the shoulder and depress it?  And also produce so many other diverse movements?

The folks at Visible Body have offered a FREE helper to explore the trapezius.  It called the Trapezius Digital Kit and it provides both a downloadable mini eBook and a downloadable video.

Check out the free "digital kit" here:

my-ap.us/UJd1IT

Also, try out this video:

Blood typing game

Here's a nifty little game that helps you practice applying principles of blood typing.  The game has you type the blood of a series of "patients" then figure out which blood units are appropriate to use in a transfusion.

It's pretty simple IF you know the principles of blood typing.

First, review blood typing in your textbook.

Then try your hand at this game:


If you can't see the game in this blog window, go directly to my-ap.us/SYuJXo

Skull puzzle

The folks at Visible Body are offering a FREE mini eBook that clearly illustrates and summarizes the 22 bones of the skull. 

This handy little gem will help you get started studying the bones of skull and provide a valuable addition to your set of  study resources.  The three dimensional views of the skull will help give you a deeper understanding of the structure of the skull.

It also gives you an introduction to Visible Body's computer-based anatomy study tools.

Check it out at my-ap.us/UXwSHb

Planes of the body

In a previous post, I addressed that initial struggle with anatomical terminology when beginning a course in anatomy & physiology.  In this post, I'll pick up with another early--but essential--set of concepts: planes of the body.

As with any concept of A&P, one shortcut to understanding is to connect the concept to something simple that you already know about.  Let's see how that could work with anatomical body planes.

For planes of the body, think of them as ways you could slice the body if you had a big giant saw like illusionists use to saw people in half.

If you saw a person so that there is a top part and bottom part of their body, then you’ve cut along a TRANSVERSE or HORIZONTAL plane.  Either term can be used. They both mean the same thing.  It doesn’t have to be equal top and bottom halves . . . ANY separation of top and bottom is a cut along a transverse plane.

If you saw a person into left and right pieces, you are sawing along a SAGITTAL plane.  The word sagittal literally means “relating to an arrow” used in archery.  So imagine shooting an arrow into an apple that is sitting on top of my head . . . and then imagine the apple falling apart into a left and right piece as the arrow slices through it.  That’s a sagittal cut . . . a cut along a sagittal plane.

If the sagittal plane is exactly in the middle, dividing the body along its midline into equal left and right halves, we call that plane a MIDSAGITTAL plane.  If instead the plane is off to one side or another, splitting the body into unequal pieces, it’s simply called a SAGITTAL plan.

If you saw a person into front and back pieces, you are cutting along a FRONTAL plane or CORONAL plane. 

Again, seeing this visually is a good idea. 

• First, study the images of body planes in your A&P textbook and lab manual. If you are using one of my textbooks or manuals, you can find a handy diagram  of the planes of the body just inside the front or back cover.    By looking at many different diagrams, you'll get a better understanding of the essential concept of body planes . . . as well as plenty of practice.
• Try constructing a three-dimensional "paper doll" model that resembles the diagram shown here.  Or any kind of simple, hands-on model.  Such activities may seem like a childish project, but it engages many parts of your brain and thus strengthens your learning . . . and your memory.
• Here's a great YouTube video outlining the concept of body planes:
  



• You may find this FREE mini-course to be helpful.  It's called simply Anatomical Directions and it's provided as a free service from Insight Medical Academy. It requires a free registration to use the course, so be sure to register before trying to access the course.  Here's a brief video explaining how the free course works.
  
  
  

  
  
   

Anatomical directions

When starting out in A&P, it's important to get a good grasp of how we talk about directions in the human body.  That's so that we can get down to business and really start describing human structures.  Describing them in a way that is accurate enough to be really clear on where those structures are in the body.

The problem is that most of us feel overwhelmed when a long list of rather foreign terms and concepts seem to suddently fall on top of us and make it hard to breathe!

A good approach is to stay calm and look for ways to connect these ideas to simple concepts that are already familiar to us. Following are some examples to get a good start.

Think of the directions of the body as you would ordinary directions like UP, DOWN, FORWARD, BACKWARD, etc.:

• Superior UP
• Inferior DOWN

• Anterior FORWARD
• Posterior BACKWARD

• Lateral TOWARD THE SIDE
• Medial TOWARD THE MIDDLE

• Proximal NEAR THE BEGINNING
• Distal AWAY FROM THE BEGINNING

Notice that the directions above are grouped into opposite pairs.  This is a good way to think of them . . . as pairs of opposites.

Now try the same with these directions:

• (Anatomical) Left
• (Anatomical) Right

• Dorsal
• Ventral

• Cortical
• Medullary

Now look at the diagrams showing anatomical directions in your A&P textbook and lab manual.  If you are using one of my textbooks or manuals , you can find a handy diagram along with a list of direction terms just inside the front or back cover.  My books and manuals also use a an anatomical compass rosette in every illustration, pointing you in the right direction just like the compass rosette found on any ordinary map.

Then try to find similar diagrams by doing an internet image search for "anatomical directions." The more diagrams you look at, the more it will become clear how the directions are used.


Next, try searching for some YouTube videos that explain the anatomical directions of the body.  Here’s a really good one:  

But this is just the beginning.  To truly understand them . . . and to be able to recall them quickly and easily as you must during your A&P course . . . you need to PRACTICE using them.  How you ask?  Aha! I have some strategies that are both fun and effective:

• Start using them in every conversation.  Explain to your friends or family that the remote is superior to to the television screen but you are about to move it to a position inferior to the screen.  Explain that your pocket is on the lateral side of your jeans.   "Hey look, my shoelaces are dorsal!"  Yes, it's goofy.  But that's part of what makes it effective.  And your friends and family will love helping you study.  Really. The important thing is to do it frequently and throughout  each day . . . until you have reached total mastery.
  
• Label your body.  Yep, you read that correctly.  Remember when you were a little kid and you labeled one shoe "left" and one shoe "right" so you could learn your left from your right?  What?! You didn't do that?   Well, if you had then you'd have learned that lesson far more quickly.  Well, here's your chance!  Pin "proximal" and "distal" labels on your sleeve.  Pin a "superior" label on your hat.  Then add an "anterior" label to the front of your hat and a "posterior" label on the back.  Yes, another goofy strategy.  But it's one that works, while also letting others join in the silliness.
  
• An extra advantage of this strategy is that when folks see the labels and ask about them, you will be reminded to practice them.  "Oh yeah, I forgot about those labels.  Here, let me explain them to you."  Both the reminder and your explanation of each one will continue to give you the practice you need to master your anatomical directions.
  
• Use flash cards to practice anatomical directions.  If you're not already familiar with the many ways to use flash cards to quickly and thoroughly learn anatomical concepts and terminology, check out my many posts describing this method. 

 In an upcoming post, I'll follow up with some strategies for learning the planes of the body.

10 tips for studying the skeleton

One of the first major challenges in learning A&P is learning all the bones and bone features of the human skeleton.  Many students have not had much experience in memorizing physical structures to be identified by sight.

This video from my friend Paul Krieger is a good place to start.  It summarizes some of the basic shortcuts and tips that will help you learn the human skeleton . . . tips that will help you learn any anatomical structures of the human body.




Here are some additional links related to Professor Krieger's "10 tips"

• Flashcards
• Anatomical terminology
• Skeleton tips

Here's another resource from Professor Krieger that my own students find to be very helpful in learning the human skeleton as well as other concepts of A&P

A Visual Analogy Guide to
Human Anatomy & Physiology

Study Droid

Looking for a way to tame the thousands of terms you are flooded with in your A&P course?

Looking for a shortcut to memorizing  structures in your A&P lab?

How about an easy way to practice identifying histology specimens, anatomical structures, and important concepts?

Maybe you've already found out what bazillions of A&P students before you have discovered . . . flash cards!

One of many web-based tools that you can use is Study Droid.

If you want to see one student's take on Study Droid, then check out this video.


If you want a more focused tutorial on how to use Study Droid, then check out this video.


Already using Study Droid to study for A&P, then let's hear about your experience!

FREE body browser

I recently saw a story about one of the newest Google Labs creation: Body Browser.  I immediately thought of how helpful this will be for A&P students.


The Body Browser is a FREE online tool that you can use to explore the anatomy of the human body in a "virtual dissection" format.  Using the familiar Google Maps navigation tools, you can . . .

• Peel (or fade) away layers of the body . . . removing the skin, then muscles, then bones, to reveal the internal organs
  
  
• Select systems (skeletal, muscular, nervous, cardiovascular) to view
  
  
• Click on any structure to show its label
  
  
• Type the name of any structure in the search box to find it in the body
  
  
• Tilt, zoom, turn the body to a variety of positions to see organs in more views that usually available in a textbook, atlas, or chart

The Body Browser runs inside any WebGL-enabled browser, meaning that you don't have to worry about having the latest Flash or Java plugins installed.

I think Body Browser a is a great FREE tool for A&P students to have access to an online model of the human body that can be used for a beginning study of anatomy.  Because it allows the user to type in the names of organs for which they are looking, you can be certain it will work well with what you need to know for your course.

There are a few minor limitations of the Body Browser:

• The only available specimen is female (that is, there is no male specimen available to complement the female specimen)
  
  
• The specimen is partially clothed.  Although one can see some of the underlying surface structures as the "skin" layer fades back, it's not the same as seeing these structures clearly.  An odd feature that makes certain regions of the body "off limits." (I've seen some hacks to fix this, but none of them work for me using the Chrome browser)
  
  
• Some of the organs are roughly rendered, so it's not as detailed (at least in some areas) as you may like to see
  
  
• Only a few systems can be shown in entirety.  Some useful system views that are missing are the lymphatic system and the respiratory system
  
  
• You cannot select or hide individual organs for display
   
• I could find no documentation or even a help button (pretty typical of the experimental Google Labs resources)

Even with some minor limitations, Body Browser is still a fantastic learning and study tool.  As an A&P student, you might use Body Browser as . . .

• a study tool during a solo or study group session to demonstrate the location and structure of specific organs
  
  
• you could use it live or you could record a session with Jing or similar recording tool and use the pre-recorded exploration to review or to share with others in your study group or class
  
  
• you can send the URL of a specific view (perhaps with a label) to a student or group of students or post it to Facebook, Twitter, or a class website
  
  
• alternative lab model to use along with physical models in the lab
  
  
• use it as a reference side by side with your lab manual and your laboratory model
  
  
• use it in place of a laboratory model when studying at home or away from the lab
  
• a way to create images for
  
• your class notes
  
• concept maps
  
• study guides and review sheets
  
• class presentations, lab reports, term papers, and other assignments

Do you have some other ideas for using Body Browser in an undergraduate A&P course?  Just use the comment feature and share your ideas with us!

Check out this video to see a demo of the currently available features of Body Browser

Painless memorization with Quizlet

Understanding anatomy and physiology often begins with building a foundation of basic terminology and identification of structures by name and location.  Yikes, that means memorization.  

A lot of folks dread memorization tasks because they simply don't know how to do it in a quick, pain-free manner. Once you know the tricks of memorization, it's not that bad.

The essential trick is to practice, practice, practice. 

That means every day, several times a day, if possible.

However, this will only work if you spend just a few minutes at a time practicing.  If you try to get in all in one long session, it won't work . . . or at least least is won't work very well.  In fact, the "long session approach" can sometimes burn you out so badly, it'll be hard to make yourself study the same topic again.

One of the easiest ways to practice painlessly is to make and use flashcards.  I have a previous blog post and a study tip web page and even a YouTube video devoted to methods of using flashcards to study A&P effectively.

My friend Monica Hall-Woods (another A&P professor) reminded me recently of a website called Quizlet.com where you can easily make a set of flashcards online (for FREE) and use it to study and to quiz yourself.  In fact, Quizlet.com gives you some alternative methods to quiz yourself, including some fun, game-like activities.

The more practice sessions you do on Quizlet.com, the more you'll almost effortlessly pick up the basic facts that you are trying to learn.  Quizlet.com helps you keep track of what you've studied and how you are doing.

You can also upload photos from Flikr.com . . . which means that you can take photos of your lab specimens with your smartphone, then upload the images into a set of flashcards!

Another great feature of Quizlet.com is that you can form study groups.  This allows one or more users to post and share sets of flashcards related to a particular topic.

Quizlet.com also lets you use flashcard stacks that others have created.  (Warning: be careful those you use are accurate before using them to study.)  Here's a stack of cards that I created simply by cutting and pasting a list I already had into the Quizlet.com editor:

Bone Marking Types

Try it!  Use different options for quizzing yourself and playing games. I think you'll have fun with it. Which is the point . . . the less pain, the more gain.  At least in this case.

Let me know what you think!  And use the comment feature (below this blog article) to post your favorite Quizlet.com sets you've made or found . . . so other A&P students can benefit.

Trouble with tissues?

I don't think I've ever met a person who could identify tissues of the body on sight on their first day of trying. And yet many A&P students get frustrated just because they can't "get it" after only one day of trying. Identifying tissue types by sight is difficult for everyone, at first—for  several reasons.

First, each example is unique. No two examples look exactly alike, just like no two fingerprints look exactly alike.So you have to learn to look for patterns. And you can't do that until you've looked at a lot of examples. And that takes time—and a lot of practice.

Second, not all examples are stained in exactly the same way. Even when the same general type of staining is used, a lot depends on the quality of the sample, the quality of the stain used, and how well the preparer did their job. So again, you have to look for patterns. For example, stratified squamous epithelium can be found in wildly different colors, depending upon which type of staining technique is used. But no matter what the color, the pattern of flattened cells near the free edge, progressing to cuboidal and perhaps even column-shaped cells further away from the free edge, will still be present.

Third, when you look for patterns you have to remember what part of the pattern is important. You also have to remember that many patterns are very similar, so you have to remember how to tell them apart. For example, dense fibrous connective tissue can look a lot like fibrocartilage at first glance. You have to learn to look for the little white halos around the cells in fibrocartilage that tell you that the cells are within lacunae (spaces).

Oh, did I mention that practice, practice, practice is important?

Tissue identification really isn't as hard as it first seems. It really is mainly just a matter of putting the time into practicing.

Here are some tips for getting the most practice time in during the short time you have studied tissues:

• Spend as much time in the lab as possible. If there are open lab times available, by all means take advantage of it.
  
  
• If there is a learning center available with tissue specimens spend as much time as you can with them.
  
  
• Use the examples published in your textbook and lab manual, or any other resource (such as a Brief Atlas of the Body),to practice identifying tissues. Cover up the labels and see if you can identify them. Make a photocopy of the images, cutaway or cover-up the labels, and test yourself.
  
  
• Ask your instructor for other sources of practice images. Sometimes, someone will have taken photographs of the specimens used in your class. This is a good resource for practicing.
  
  
• There are a lot of online resources for practicing tissue identification. Here are a few of my favorites – you can find many more by searching the web using key terms such as "tissues," "histology," and similar terms.
  
  
• LUMEN
  [Loyola University's famous histology site; includes lessons on histology]
  
  
• Blue Histology
  [Histology site at School of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia]
  
  
• Dr. Stephen Larsen's Channel (YouTube)
  [Dr. Larsen walks you through a variety of specimens as they are seen under the microscope.]
  
  
• The A&P Professor Free Image Library
  [My site for A&P teachers includes links to free images of tissues that you can use to practice histology.]
  
  
• Use flash cards (study cards) with photocopies of tissue specimens or printouts of digital images. See my recent blog article for a video on how to use flash cards in this manner.  Mosby's Anatomy & Physiology Study and Review Cards includes some histology cards along with all other topics in A&P.
  
  
• Try to study a little bit several times each day, rather than a few long sessions several days apart. Constant practice is what works best.

The introduction to my Field Guide to the Body at the Lion Den website compares studying tissues to what birders do when they identify wildlife in the field. Take a look at that brief analogy, including examples of how to apply it to histology, for helpful tips on making this topic easier. If you're using any of my lab manuals in your A&P course, you can apply this technique directly by looking at the "Landmark Characteristics" boxes scattered throughout the tissue exercises.

Translating muscle names

When you first face that long list of names of muscle that you need to learn in A&P, you may be taken aback by the odd names of the major human muscles.  Well, that and the sheer number of muscles you'll be tested on!

But what makes those muscle names so odd . . . the fact that they are Latin phrases . . . can be used as a shortcut to help you identify those muscles!

For example, the muscle name latissimus dorsi tells you exactly where to find this muscle.  Latissimus means "way over to the side" and dorsi means "back."   So the phrase latissimus dorsi muscle means "back muscle way over to the side."  This not only tells you exactly where the muscle is . . . once you learn the meaning of the name, you have a way to remember the muscle.

Check out this video for a clearer idea of this strategy.

Then check out this article in my Lion Den Study Tips & Tools . . . Muscle Names.

This article also has more video to help you learn the meaning of muscle names AND a FREE downloadable, printable list of muscle names and meanings (and pronunciations).

For a great resource in learning about muscles, perhaps to add to your growing professional library, check out the book The Muscular System Manual: The Skeletal Muscles of the Human Body

100 Best Web Tools for Science Students

I recently became aware of a new website that includes a handy list of the 100 Best Web Tools for Science Students. It includes virtual laboratories and experiments, explorations and web quests, basic foundations and principles, research and collaboration sites, modeling and mapping tools, plus links to search engines and databases.

Although the list includes resources covering a variety of science topics, several could be very useful to A&P students. Just a few examples:

1. Virtual Labs at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute A free tool that enables students to take on the role of scientist, technician, doctor, and immunologist. They participate in labs on topics related to cardiology, immunology, and bacterial identification.

57. Note Mesh A web 2.0 app that allows college students in the same science classes to share notes online using a wiki set-up.

73. Flashcard Exchange Print flashcards, create flashcards and study science topics online with this tool, the world’s largest flashcard library.

86. Virtual Cell A simulation of the look and feel of moving through an actual cell or cellular component. Students are encouraged to play the role of a biologist and examine cellular organelles, conduct experiments and form conclusions.

But be careful! There are a lot fun links, like virtual field trips to the plains of Africa, that might distract you from studying A&P. Well, OK, it's a good thing to have a little fun, too.

Learning anatomic structures

When you first face human anatomy in the lab course, it can seem overwhelming. All those parts. And parts of parts! Yikes!

Many inexperienced students feel that their objectives consist entirely of memorization. Often, they feel that memorizing the particular models, specimens, and diagrams available to them in the lab course are the beginning and end of the process facing them.

That's wrong on several counts.

First, what good is taking this course, if you are simply going to memorize things that will be useless to you outside of this particular course . . . when you'll face other specimens, perhaps even real human bodies?

Second, there is a far easier way to learn your anatomy—even a long list of required structures—than merely memorizing them. If you first construct a conceptual framework, before learning all those parts, your learning will be faster, easier, and more accurate. AND you'll be more likely to hold on to that information (and recall it when you need it) so you can use it in the future!

A conceptual framework is just a "picture in your head" of how it all fits together—a rough pattern to begin with. When you fit new knowledge into a pre-existing pattern, after you know what to look for and remember, the new learning has meaning for you.

Usually, the lab manual, handouts, pre-lab activities, and other explanations your lab instructor provides give you the framework upon which you can hang all that new stuff you are learning. It's just that most beginning students just don't recognize these helps for what they are.

For example in my textbooks and lab manuals, I provide lists of what the different bone markings are.

A foramen is a simply a hole, for example. But I can't tell you how many students jump into their lists of bone markings without even knowing that every part with "foramen" in the name is hole!

They're poring over diagrams and trying to figure out whether it's the hole or the nearby bump . . . or maybe it's that little depression. Yikes! No wonder it takes them so long to learn . . . and what they learn is so easy to forget.

Starting with a framework, what the names of bone markings mean, makes learning all the markings fun and easy!

For a link to a sample of a framework you can use, go to the related article in the Lion Den.