The study of anatomy is essential to those doing medicine and dentistry. It goes without saying that you need to know where things are in the body. However, it has caused many a student hours of lost sleep - needlessly. You have the best method of learning the subject right in front of you. Read on and all will be revealed.

What I write here will tell you all you need to know to pass anatomy with ease. More importantly, it should make the study of anatomy fun. Who knows: maybe one of the readers will go on to become a medical anatomist or - perish the thought - a surgeon!

Of course, it goes without saying that you should start your revision from the first week, and people who do that will have no problems passing on a level playing field. (That is a separate matter). However, what I write here should make it a lot easier to pass. Please remember one thing: it will all come together at the end, not at the beginning.

Before a practical class, read the relevant section from the textbook. If you can, go to as many practical classes as possible. Nobody is going to expect you to have 100% attendance but if you attend 70% it will make passing a lot easier. On top of that, good attendance at practical classes will make passing a spotter exam incredibly easy. The other thing to do in a practical class is to get one of your colleagues to give you a practice oral exam or spotter every two weeks. The other hint I would give you is to attend your tutorials with your demonstrators. This may sound silly but usually they have a hand in setting your papers. They will usually be recent medical graduates and, as such, will want you to pass. Very often, they will give you hints about what will come up!

The best books we found from our experiences were: The Anatomy Colouring Book: Clinical Anatomy Made Ridiculously Simple by Stephen Goldberg and the world famous Manchester Atlas. I would go so far as to say that any book in the Ridiculously Simple series by Stephen Goldberg is worth its weight in gold (The publishers are McMaster). I can't recommend them enough. As far as colouring books go, again they are worth their weight in platinum. I would go so far as to say that from personal experience the colouring book is every bit as useful as a practical class. There isn't a person alive who does not enjoy colouring, and what would you prefer - looking at a boring book, or colouring in a book and having fun? I know what most would say. Using all three of these books will make life easier. If you don't believe me, listen to the hundreds of students who have used them.

However, what I say here will simplify the study of anatomy enormously. It will make life so much easier that a fair assessment system will ensure that you sail through.

Look at your elbow and move your hand towards your shoulder. What movement have you made? You have flexed your elbow. What muscles have you used? Principally you have used the biceps, brachiallis, brachioradialis, pronator teres and the flexors of the forearm. If you make the opposite movement you have used your triceps muscle and aconeus. All you need to do is to make movements and say to yourself what muscles and structures are involved, and then go into nerve supply, etc. The study of the limbs will become child's play if you do this on a daily basis. Don't forget: once you learn the upper limb, learn the lower limb, as the anatomy is very similar, believe it or not.

In fact, to make life easier, if you go to a gym and look on the exercise machines, it will tell you what muscles are used for each exercise. This will also have the benefit of getting you to exercise...

You can apply this to all your systems. For example, take a deep breath. What nerve have you used? Just say 'C3, 4,5 keeps you alive' - the phrenic nerve. Do this once a day and it will stick in your mind for life! I am sure that you get the idea now.

This method applies doubly to the study of neuroscience. However, to pass neuroscience, there are two other methods to help you pass. Make a list of catchphrases such as "Catch your eye," "pissed myself laughing", "f****d her brains out" etc. All of them have a neuro-anatomical basis. As you study neuroanatomy you'll see why. The other method is to go to a park and watch the children playing. You'll see that when children play all they are doing is exploring their nervous systems and as such you will learn to apply your knowledge. However, take a chaperone!

Some medical and dental students have bought skeletons in the past. If you can afford one, it does give you an advantage. However, they are very expensive and in short supply.

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'The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.'