Anatomy Mnemonics

The best anatomy mnemonics for medical student finals, OSCEs and MRCP. You can either view this piece of Doc or download it through the link down below

• Anatomical layers of the scalp (SCALP) mnemonic

  • Skin
  • Connective tissue
  • Aponeurosis (galea)
  • Loose connective tissue
  • Periosteum

• Bones in the medial wall of the orbit (My Little Eye Sits in the orbit) mnemonic

  • Maxilla (frontal process)
  • Lacrimal
  • Ethmoid
  • Sphenoid (body)

• Bones in the nasal septum (My Very Fine Nasal SEPtum) mnemonic

  • Maxilla
  • Vomer
  • Frontal
  • Nasal
  • Sphenoid
  • Ethmoid
  • Palatine

• Nerves passing through the superior orbital fissure (Live Frankly To See Absolutely No Insult) mnemonic

  • Lacrimal nerve
  • Frontal nerve
  • Trochlear nerve
  • Superior division of oculomotor nerve
  • Abducens nerve
  • Nasociliary nerve
  • Inferior division of oculomotor nerve

• Structures in cavernous sinus and their positions (O TOM CAT) mnemonic

  • Oculomotor nerve
  • Trochlear nerve
  • Opthalmic branch of trigeminal nerve
  • Maxillary branch of trigeminal nerve
  • Carotid artery (internal)
  • Abducens nerve
  • Trochlear nerve

• Contents and structures draining into the cavernous sinus (Rule of 3’s)

  • 3 afferent veins:
    • Sphenoparietal sinus
    • Superficial middle cerebral vein
    • Ophthalmic vein
  • 3 efferent veins:
    • Superior petrosal sinus
    • Inferior petrosal sinus
    • Communicating vein to pterygoid plexus
  • 3 areas draining into it:
    • Cranial vault bones
    • Brain
    • Orbit
  • 3 contents
    • Cranial nerve III
    • Cranial nerve IV
    • Cranial nerve V (only V1 and V2 branches)
  • 3 nerves
    • Motor (III, IV, VI)
    • Sensory (V1, V2)
    • Sympathetic

• Where trigeminal nerve branches exit the skull (Standing Room Only) mnemonic

  • Superior orbital fissure – V1
  • foreman Rotundum – V2
  • foreman Ovale – V3

• Branches of the facial nerve (Ten Zulus Bought My Cat) mnemonic

  • Temporal
  • Zygomatic
  • Buccal
  • Mandibular
  • Cervical

• Brachial plexus (Randy Travis Drinks Cold Beers) mnemonic

  • Roots
  • Trunks
  • Divisions
  • Cords
  • Branches

• Nerve root supply of deep tendon reflexes (one, two – buckle my shoe, three, four – kick the door, five, six – pick up sticks, seven, eight – shut the gate)

  • S1, S2 – ankle jerk
  • L3, L4 – knee jerk
  • C5, C6 – biceps and brachioradialis
  • C7, C8 – triceps

• • Nerve root supply of long thoracic nerve which innervates serratus anterior

    • C5, 6, 7, raise your arms to heaven

• • Nerve root supply of phrenic nerve

    • C3, 4, 5 keeps the diaphragm alive

• • Attachments of pectoralis major, teres major and latissimus dorsi to the bicipital groove (a lady between two majors)

    • Pectoralis major attaches laterally
    • Teres major attaches medially
    • Latissimus dorsi (‘lady’) attaches to the floor in between

• • Muscles involved in elbow flexion (3 B’s Bend the elbow)

    • Biceps
    • Brachialis
    • Brachioradialis

• • Hand interossei muscles (PAD DAB)

    • Palmar interossei – ADduct
    • Dorsal interossei –ABduct

• • Wrist bones (She Likes To Play, Try To Catch Her)

    • Scaphoid
    • Lunate
    • Triquetrum
    • Pisiform
    • Trapezium
    • Trapezoid
    • Capitate
    • Hamate

• • Median nerve supply of hand muscles (ulnar nerve supplies all intrinsic muscles of hands except the LOAF muscles)

    • Lateral two lumbricals
    • Opponens pollicis
    • Abductor pollicis brevis
    • Flexor pollicis brevis

• • Level of diaphragmatic apertures

    • Vena cava = 8 letters = T8
    • Oesophagus = 10 letters = T10
    • Aortic hiatus = 12 letters = T12

• • Alternatively

    • ‘I ate ten eggs at twelve’
    • ‘I ate’ = IVC at T8
    • ‘ten eggs’ = oesophagus at T10
    • ‘at twelve’ = aorta at T12

• • Position of thoracic duct in relation to oesophagus (left) and azygous vein (right)

    • A duck between two gooses
    • Duck = thoracic duct
    • Two gooses = oesophagus and azygous vein

• • Paired erector spinae muscles from lateral to medial (I Like Standing)

    • Illiocostalis
    • Longissimus
    • Spinalis

• • Relations of femoral nerve, artery and vein (from lateral to medial NAVY)

    • Nerve
    • Artery
    • Vein
    • lYmphatics (femoral canal)

• • Borders of the femoral triangle (shaped like a SAIL)

    • Sartorius
    • Adductor longus
    • Inguinal Ligament

• • Pes anserinus attachments (Say Grace before Tea)

    • Sartorius
    • Gracilis
    • semiTendinosus

• • Contents of the tarsal tunnel (from anterior to posterior Tom, Dick And Very Nervous Harry)

    • Tibialis posterior
    • flexor Digitorum longus
    • Artery (posterior tibial)
    • Vein (posterior tibial)
    • Nerve (tibial)
    • flexor Hallucis longus

• • Nerve root innervation of the urethral sphincter, anal sphincter, and penis (S2, 3, 4 keeps the pee/poo/penis off the floor)

    • S2, 3, 4 innervates the anal sphincter, urethral sphincter and causes erection of the penis.

• • Relations of ureter and uterine artery/ vas deferens (water runs under the bridge)

    • Ureter (water) runs posteriorly to uterine artery/ vas deferens (bridge)

• • Innervation of the penis (Point, Shoot, Score)

    • Parasympathetic (erection)
    • Sympathetic (emission and ejaculation)

• Layers of the scrotum (Some Damn Englishmen Called It The Testis)

  • Skin
  • Dartos
  • External spermatic fascia
  • Cremaster muscle
  • Internal spermatic fascia
  • Tunica vaginalis
  • Testis

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