The Use of Mnemonic Techniques in Teaching Human Anatomy

The development of a methodology for the effective assimilation of various information is one of the urgent problems of scientific and pedagogical activity. The course of anatomy, due to its specificity, is one of the most time-consuming subjects in medical education. In the preparation of first-year students at the Department of Human Anatomy, a phased level of education is used with a gradual complication of the information received. The use of mnemonics is impossible without certain knowledge about the features of memory, its forms and types, as well as the processes underlying memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. There are very few mnemonics available for studying human anatomy in the medical literature. The purpose of the study was to offer mnemonics, especially rhymed, to improve students' memorization of human anatomy and thus to improve the knowledge of the subject. Results and discussion. The article presents the results of the study of mnemonics (rhymed, alliteration and visual schemes) and explains the features of their use for encoding, storage, and retrieval of educational material from different sections of human anatomy by students. Basic principles of mnemonics, such as the use of associations, elaborative encoding and creating the emotional bonds can be successfully integrated into the study of anatomy. One of the most effective methods in teaching human anatomy is schematization, that is a conditionally simplified image of the structure of morphological formations. While preparing for lectures and practical classes, anatomical drawings and diagrams are selected and adapted. The scheme allows to imagine and to understand the anatomical structures in various projections and different sections, to trace the topographic and functional connections of individual organs and systems as a whole. Thus students form a certain anatomical image as the basis for future clinical thinking. It is noted that memorizing the right terms, words, concepts, and explanation of some anatomical facts is much easier in the poetic form. Conclusion. By transforming anatomy teaching material into the form of visual image or by comparing it with existing knowledge using associations and rhyming provides more consistency, involvement in obtaining new knowledge, interest in classes. Association formation has a positive effect on the brain, helps to improve student's skills of synthesis, analysis and the ability to systematize knowledge, helps to memorize large amounts of information faster and more efficiently. The use of mnemonics, especially the method of rhyming, visual mnemonics, acronyms for human anatomy makes it possible to improve the quality of knowledge of the subject