Best books, resources, and atlases for Medical School Anatomy and the Anatomy NBME 2024
We know that getting a consensus on the best books and resources for any given class can be difficult. Asking friends, searching SDN, and consulting seniors can lead to a confusing mixed bag of advice.
We've done the work for you. Compiled below are comprehensive recommendations on the best books and resources. Click here to find out how we ranked each resource as well as a description of the tiers used. Happy studying!
Highest Yield — The best anatomy book for medical school
Clinically Oriented Anatomy — Moore, Dalley & Agur
Our apologies, Moore and Dalley's is not the highest yield anatomy review book; it's actually not a review book at all. However, it's a medical student directed, easy to read, comprehensive paragraph based text that explains anatomy in a way that a complete newcomer to anatomy—as many medical students are—can understand the principles and relationships within anatomy. Pages are full of drawings and diagrams that detail anatomical relationships and help with understanding. Especially helpful are the blue pages in which clinical correlations are made (especially high yield for exams).
High Yield Anatomy — Dudek & Louis
BRS Anatomy's counterpart but about 200 pages shorter. Organized in a consistent format with all anatomical regions. A lot less wordy than BRS and more of a true review text rather than a primary text. Full color and helpful clinical correlations at the end of each chapter. Use this over BRS Anatomy if you are already using a more complete text, such as Moore and Dalley's.
USMLE Road Map Gross Anatomy — White
Similar length as High Yield Anatomy and in a similar format but more dense. Especially helpful are the clinical vignette boxes which are connected to the chapter; high yield for exam questions.
University of Michigan Anatomy
Extremely high yield questions and answers made by the University of Michigan Medical School; questions are directed and short and will give you a taste of what type of material is tested on in a given body system.
Next Steps
BRS Gross Anatomy — Chung, Chung & Halliday
Anatomy packed into a small, 500-some page dense book. Outline based and logically organized, but with too much detail, which is not a bad thing if you also do questions concurrently to highlight the things that are often tested within the BRS chapters. There are diagrams and other pictures that help with understanding but it's probably best used—if used as a primary text—for someone with previous experience in anatomy. However, one of its greatest assets are the review questions following each chapter which are styled in a similar fashion as the anatomy NBME exam
Acland Anatomy Videos — Acland
Dr. Acland reviews anatomy with beautifully dissected cadavers. Helps you understand the three dimensionality of anatomic structures and the relationships of different structures; a great way to review for the practical. This gives you one year of access to the online repository of narrated anatomy videos.
Gray's Anatomy Review — Loukas et al.
500+ NBME and Step 1-esque questions with detailed explanations. Use after going through UMich and BRS Anatomy questions. Further allows you to understand what is usually tested.
If you have time
Gray's Anatomy for Students — Drake, Vogl & Mitchell
Paragraph-based general anatomy textbook with great illustrations. The book, however, is directed towards graduate students as a whole, such as physical therapists, as opposed to Moore's text and is less directed for medical students. It has about 500+ questions within the text and also comes with Student Consult access which provides more questions and an online copy of the text.
Grant's Dissector — Detton
Not the idea study or review text but helpful in the cadaver lab. Pro-tip: make a copy of the relevant section and take that with you into the lab. You can take a shower after lab but your Dissector won't be able to :(
Best Anatomy Atlases
Choosing an atlas is as much a matter of personal preference as it is quality. The following are the best anatomical atlases on the market that have been used successfully by medical students. Peruse the different images (click on the image in Amazon to "Look Inside") and see if the art style fits your taste.
Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy
There's a good chance that your anatomy lecture Powerpoints are based off of Netter's illustrations. Frank Netter, a general surgeon, quit practice and started medical illustration work in the 1930s; since then, he produced almost 4,000 illustrations with his Atlas, drawing from his many previous illustrations, coming into print in 1989. Netter's is the gold standard on which other atlases are weighed against. This edition has little fluff with wonderfully diagrammed illustrations and the occasional diagram and radiograph; is associated with flashcards and a coloring book as well.
Thieme's Atlas of Anatomy
Beautifully illustrated, and where some of Netter's illustrations look distinctly painted or "illustrated," Theime's manages to make incredibly detailed, photo-like images with appropriately diagramed anatomy which makes it easy to distinguish tissues and structures. Theime's text also has a good amount of tables and text which help orient the reader.
Clemente's Anatomy: A Regional Atlas of the Human Body
Another beautifully compilation of anatomy and artwork; art style is a mix of Netter's and Thieme's. Helpful explanations with radiographs and tables.
Rohen's Anatomy: A Photographic Atlas
While the other atlases are based on illustrations, Rohen's uses pictures of beautifully dissected cadavers to display anatomy. It's not as easy, however, to track different structures, such as nerves, in photographs as it is illustrations. While there is a great advantage to seeing anatomy as it truly is in the body, make sure you have an illustrated atlas as well to simply see separations in fascia and structures. Comes in flashcard form as well.