How to use this book

This book will help you use your study time more effectively, both as you study histology and cell biology for the first time and as you review for course, subject board (miniboard), or U.S. Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE). More specifically it will aid in quickly finding and filing the gaps in your knowledge of histology and cell biology and allow you to spend less of your valuable time figuring out what you need to learn. So that you can focus your efforts on actually learning. Because histology and cell biology cover all of the body’s systems and because they focus not only on microscopic structure but also on structure function relationships at the cell and tissue levels, they incorporate many fundamental concepts of importance in anatomy, biochemistry, embryology, immunology, neurobiology, pathology, and physiology. Thus, this book, in addition to serving as a review and study guide for histology and cell biology provides a foundation for any comprehensive system by system review of the basic medical sciences.

Each chapter covers one topic and is divided into four sections. The first is a list of objectives for you to bear in mind as you study the material. They describe, in general terms, the most significant types of facts and concepts you will need to learn about the topic. Besides assisting you during your first encounter with the material, this section will help you, as you review for an examination, to identify stronger and weaker areas of your knowledge and to tailor your review accordingly.

The second section of each chapter is a set of MAX-Yield study question that direct your attention to key facts needed to master the material most often covered on examinations. Again, these questions allow students preparing for examinations to quickly identify gaps in their knowledge. The associated reference to the synopsis will help you fill these gaps just as quickly. This section is also useful during your first encounter with histology, If you use these questions to focus your studies and write out the answer to each as you proceed, you will improve your retention and be left with an outstanding personal review of course and USMLE examinations. Many of these questions can be answered with a word, phrase, list, or sketch; others ask you to draw comparisons and are best handled by setting up a chart or table to be filled in with the requested information. Again, this will help you focus you efforts on learning instead of spending time figuring out what to learn. Even if you do not write out the answers, focusing on the questions first will improve your retention of the mate rail you study, making you a more efficient student.