1st Neuoranatomy Class

5th March 2010

33rd day in Melbourne

Rainy

Had my 1st neuroanatomy class today!!!!!!! Never had a chance to do it in NUS so i was pretty excited..The practicum involved looking at and touching the preserved brains, donated by their previous owners. It's really hands-on!! Each of us wore the disposable apron (didn't have the lab coats) and a pair of latex gloves..at that moment, i do feel like i'm a neurosurgeon...hehe :)

Each of us had a tray and 1 full brain and 1 half brain and we get to play with it (not literally) by looking at the gyri and sulci and the subcortical structures...The brains were immersed in alcohol and the smell is really overwhelming... Russell, my lecturer took 2 hours to go through each and every brain structure and Oh my! I need to remember around 40 different structures and their locations, and many of the names were unheard of...At that moment, i realized that i do not acquire adequate brain anatomy knowledge during my time in CNL....I know the brain structures, but only in 2D view..looking at the 3D gross brain anatomy, I'm stumped! On the other hand, my classmate Melissa, knew every structure and could correctly identify them...I'm really amazed! I'm just thinking how many hours do i need to learn and remember all the structures and their locations?

Conclusion? I need to work REALLY hard on this module!