The Unofficial Guide to First Year - University of Oklahoma Health ...

UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
NEURO LAB:
The original author’s advice: “GO TO LAB! While the lab session as a whole is
informal, I feel it is very helpful to be able to match an actual structure with the
function described in lecture…not to mention, it might be nice to see the actual
specimens that will be used on the practical. Many may find the best resource
for Neuro lab is the Hippocrates INTERACTIVE LAB GUIDE, as it shows any
and every structure that could possibly show up on the exam (see below). I
would suggest looking over the guide before going down to lab and then asking
Dr. Blair or O’Don to show you anything you are confused on or cannot find,
especially deeper structures. It would also be helpful to ask if there are any other
dissections that might be presented during the practical, as this gave our class
fits!” My advice: don’t go to lab unless the practical exams in gross anatomy
kicked your butt (keep in mind, I am home-schooler). Dr. Blair began doing a
gross lab review for our class, in which he pointed out nearly (if not all) the gross
structures we would be expected to know for the downstairs portion of the exam.
I recommend watching Dr. Blair’s review once on normal speed and then twice
more at double speed, naming all the structures before he does. If you are
confused about the orientation of a structure, check on the lab guide. The best
way to perform well on practical exams is to associate each structure with its
surroundings. For the upstairs portion of the exam (the slides), I recommend
putting in maybe two hours the night before memorizing the slides on the
interactive lab guide and using part of your break in between the written exam
and the practical to review these images. Memorize the circles, the colors, and
the shape of the outline. Dr. Blair will use the same slides as those in the lab
guide.
TBLS AND IMPS:
Our class was somewhat of a guinea pig class. Our year was the first to
incorporate Team Based Learning (TBLs) into the curriculum. We had two
hours of Neuro (and two hours of physiology) TBL every week. TBL may be very
helpful when preparing for exams as it allows you to see what is emphasized,
along with providing example questions to demonstrate the type of questions
you will get on the exam. It is designed to keep you caught up on your studies
and to initiate critical thinking about neuro and phys. The material comes from
anything discussed prior to the TBL with a focus on new material from the past
week. We were allowed to use our notes, the syllabus, and the web to answer the
questions, so while being caught up is incredibly helpful, it isn’t essential. There
were two general formats for TBL: 1) you are presented with a clinical case from
which you try to answer various related questions; and 2) stand alone questions
that are not related to a larger case. The TBL consisted of usually nine to eleven
questions which we discussed in assigned small groups composed of several
people from you mod. We submitted our answers using an electronic
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