There’s no “right” answer that works for everyone. For me personally, I know I learn by learning the concepts to the point where I can link it to my existing conceptual knowledge. I’m also visual learner, so if I can attach a vision to what I’m learning (preferably in 3D space, where I can spin it around in my head).

So if I was trying to learn the name of all the bones. I’d see if I could borrow or buy an anatomically correct mini skeleton. Something like this 19" model for $26. I’d start with just the bones knew which for me are: Femur, Tibia, Fibula, Radius, Ulna , maybe a couple more. I would touch to the bone on the model and say the name out loud, name the bones it attaches, then point to the bone on my own body and say the name again. Then I’d do the same for a second bone, maybe on the opposite end of the body.

This would give me all kinds of marker memories!

• The proprioception of where my touching finger is relative to my other hand holding the model.
• The name of the bone as I thought about it.
• The name of the bone as I heard myself say it
• The names of the bones it attaches to
• The depth of the bone relative to the model in 3D space
• The positional relationship of other bones near it. Did my finger bump the rib cage near the bone I’m pointing to?
• The relationship on my own body where that bone is
• If it was a movable bone, how the joints moved when I touch the model bone

So when I try to recall the name later, I could easily forget HALF that list, but still be able to recall the name of the bone and where it is on the body. Those along might help me recall another 25% of the list or so. Alternatively, because we’ve attached the concepts, you can also go the other way. You have the name but can’t remember the location. Close your eyes, put your hand out like you’re holding the model. Picture the model in your head as though you’re holding it. Recall the name…where did your remember where your pointing/touching hand went on the model?

All of the above is what I know works for me because of how I learn. If you’ve gone through 12 years of primary school you should have a decent idea of how your particular mind learns new things. Put those lessons to work in ways that work best specifically for you!

https://www.learningscientists.org/posters

They have some basic strategies to use there. My go to method is to create stories. I find studying to be intensely boring, and I will either zone out or just stop when it quickly gets boring. Stories, on the other hand, are exciting and fun. I definitely still have stories from twenty or thirty years ago bouncing around inside my head. Random snippets from reading books is where I get my large trove of trivia.

So for your medical terms, try creating stories that involve real world adjacent plots. Maybe the Kingdom of Aorta had a schism, and split into multiple factions vying for power. The Brachiocephalic lords went first, taking the right half of the kingdom with them, but the northern common carotids couldn’t find agreement with the subclavians on anything, so they went their separate ways. That sort of thing.

Mnemonics are amazing too. I don’t know a single person who didn’t find it easier to remember the cranial nerves after “Oh, oh, oh, to touch and feel a girl’s vagina, ah, heaven!” Or the adrenal glands’ “Salt, sugar, sex, the deeper you go, the sweeter it gets” for remembering your “go fuck rats” of the cortex’s layers. Obviously the ‘carnal’ things are easier to remember because they intrigue your mind in a more powerful association. That might just be me… but it does seem like the majority of us who are playing with other people’s bodies have good sex drives.

First learn Latin.

I went into finance briefly and had to take various financial tests, which involved a lot of memorizing rules and regulations (rich, I know). I was lucky enough to find that some guy on YouTube had made a fantastic series of tutorials PRECISELY teaching to those tests. It was soooo helpful. So definitely check YouTube.

Memoization cards! Good for driving snippets of information through short-term memory, medium-term, and into long-term.

Cut up cardboard pieces roughly credit card sized.

On each write a cue on one side e.g. “Anatomical name of funny bone”, and answer on other side e.g. “ulnar nerve”.

Keep them in stacks of “hourly”, “daily”, “weekly”, “monthly”.

Every hour, go through the hourly pile one by one and try to answer it, then flip and check. If correct, move to daily pile.

Every day, go through daily pile. Correct go to “weekly”, incorrect go back to “hourly”.

Etc for the other piles