Jones Criteria
I know they are quite simple to memorize. But for
some weird reason, I never recollect them
instantaneously!! So, here is a mnemonic from
“Kaplan USMLE Step 2 Notes”
J:
O:
N:
E:
S:
Joints (Arthritis)
O stands for heart!! (Carditis)
Nodules
Erythema migrans
Syndeham Chorea
Chronic Bronchitis
I know, its definition is quite complicated but well
we are supposed to know it. I just came across
this book called “Medical mnemonic comics:
Resp. Diseases” and whoa there was a good
mnemonic in it (rest of books is full of some carp
drawings, really a comic!!)
1,2,3 rule
Cough for 3 mths every year (thats 1) for 2
years.
Neat!!
WPW??
Well, if you guys also have trouble remembering
the drug of choice for treatment of WolfParkinson-White (looks like a wolf ate a white with
Parkinsons. he..he..), worry no more. Its quite
simple actually.
WPW
Procainamide
Just to side track, dude never use CCB or beta
blockers. Thats a big, BIG mistake!!
Drug Hypersensitivity
Now don't be pimped anymore!!! Just remember
the drugs which typically cause hypersensitivity
reactions with my mnemonic. Just remember the
word “P”
Penicillins
Phenytoin
Pain Killers (NSAIDS)
Pee drugs (Sulfonamides!!, they treat UTI idiot)
Kewl eh... Thank you, thank you!!!
Kernig Sign
OK, like me perhaps you also often get confused
between Kernig and Brudzinski signs of
meningeal irritation. So, here is a mnemonic from
“Medicine Recall”
K for Kernig
K for Knee
Just to side track: In Kernig, you extend a flexed
knee and patient reports pain. In Brudzinski, you
passively flex neck and patient flexes knee.
Cyanotic Heart Diseases
This is my favorite mnemonic. It's awesome!! I first
read it in “Pediatrics Recall”
1-2-3-4-5 Ts:
Truncus Arteriosus (1 vessel)
Transposition of the (two) great vessels
Tricuspird Atresia.
Tetralogy of Fallot
Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (has 5
words)
Amox Vs. Ampi
Which one is PO and which is IV?? Confusing??
Not anymore!!!
Amoxicillin:
Ampicillin:
O for PO
I for IV
I made this one myself :-D
SIADH
They call it Syndrome of “Inappropriate” ADH
secretion, but what wrong would they have done if
they had called it Syndrome of “Increased” ADH
secretion!! That way it would have been easy on
our neurons, but WTF!!
SIADH:
Increased ADH
Bupropion Vs. Buspirone
This one is very confusing, for these two drugs
sound similar but are altogether different and no
matter what, they are always present in options!!
Here is a mnemonic from “Prep4USMLE forums”
Buspirone: Ansiety (i.e its a anti-anxiety drug)
Bupropion: Proper behavior (i.e. Its used in drug
withdrawl)
On a side note: Buspirone is a 5-HT agonist and
Bupropion is a TCAD.
Horner Syndrome
This one is funny (and I
think I made it!!).
Sometimes
even
Hollywood helps us
med students too!! If
you can't think what's
so
horny
about
Horner, think PAM
P:
Ptosis
A:
Anhidrosis
M:
Miosis
Changes from Kid to Teenage
This always used to baffle me, till I made this
mnemonic MYSELF!! This is cool but it belongs to
a category of mnemonic which I hate the most!!
Always
Go
Towards
Puberty
With
Growth &
Motivation
Adrenarche
6-8 yrs
Gonadarche
8-9 yrs
Thelarche
9-10 yrs
Pubarche
10-11 yrs
WTF !!! (Can ignore this!!)
Growth Spurt
11-12 yrs
Menarche
12-13 yrs
EOM supply
This is quite famous. You might be familiar with
this one. Looks like a chemical formula!! (No
doubt, because eyes are involved in lot of
Chemistry!! Silly joke, never mind)
LR6SO4AO3
Gardner Syndrome
This one is for remembering the classic
associative findings seen with Gardner Syndrome.
Think of a Gardner planting SOD.(SOD is a kind
of grass used to make turf, I just googled it!!)
S:
O:
D:
Sebaceous cysts
Osteomas
Desmoid tumors (i.e. Soft tissue
tumors)
This one is from “Surgical Recall”
Hemophilia
This one is truly for retards!! Its from “Surgical
Recall”
Hemophilia A:
Hemophilia B:
Factor Aight deficiency
You got it, 9 it is!!
PS: After reading this mnemonic, I almost write
“eight” as “aight” these days. Too much study, eh...
3-6-9 Rule
Its not as hi-fi as it sounds. Its mainly for those
interested in Surgery and yes, again its from
“Surgical Recall”. Its basically to remember
diameters of bowel!!
3cm:
6cm:
9cm:
Small intestine
Colon except cecum
Cecum (Cecum is the broadest
part of GIT, I did not know that!!)
Argyll Robertson Pupil
This is one of the whackiest mnemonic!! I just love
it and perhaps you might be knowing this one.
“Accommodates but does not react”
PS: Who wants sex with a prostitute who doesn't
react!!
Primary Amenorrhea “Square”
OK...this is in every book. Its just too good!!
Uterus +
Breast +
Breast -
Dude, that's supposed to
be normal
Uterus Mullerian Agenesis (RKH syndrome,
46,XY) OR testicular feminization
Turner syndrome (FSH raised)
OR
HPO axis failure (FSH low)
Dude, thats rare!!
Rare “Square”
Hmmm...its terribly difficult to remember stuff when the
attending pimps you on rounds especially if that stuff
happens to be those rare metabolic errors. Euw... Here is
an aid from ME!!
Cherry red spot +
CRS -
HSM +
Niemann-Pick
Gaucher
(glucocerebrosidase def.)
HSM -
Tay Sachs
Krabbe
(galactocerebrosidase
def.)
Burger “attacks”
This is stupid but can ruin your day!!
Berger: IgA nephropathy
Buerger: Smokers vasculitis
See, told ya... Now how to remember?? Mnemnic
is more stupid so forgive me!! “Bu” sounds like
boo...boo... and smoking is certainly a boo!!
This stupid mnemonic originates from my stupid
mind.
Some “murmur” shit
Squatting “squashes” HOCM murmur. (Dude,
murmur of HOCM decreases with squatting)
Regurgitant
murmurs are “squeezed” with
handgrip. (Simple, handgrip test increases
intenstity of MR)

Both these “gem” of mnemonics are from
“Cardiology made ridiculously simple”...the name
says it all, but this book is more complicated than
what it says...looks can be deceiving!!
CN lesions
This is perhaps the most simple mnemonic, but I found
out about this only about 2 yrs. Into my med school!!!
Very useful for clinical years. Its from “Neuroanatomy
made ridiculously simple” (MUST read this book!!!)
Midbrain lesions affect: CN 1,2,3,4
(of course I know
CN 1and 2 don't come from midbrain but atleast 3 and 4 do and
c'mon its a mnemonic not a dissertation!!)
Pons lesions affect:
CN 5,6,7,8
Medulla lesions affect:
CN 9,10,11,12
Kewl, eh...
Pimp the attending!!
This one is for fun!! Did you guys know what
Warfarin stands for???
WARFarin: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
But why “arin”?? May be its like WARF “are in”!!! Never
mind, one of my stupid jokes!! But fun anyways!!
Similarly Lasix is so called because its action last 6 hrs!!
(This I first read in “Medical Mnemonics” with moral that
talking to pharmaceutical representatives can help and of
course we can pimp them too!!)
Anemia cutoffs
This is I made myself!!
Adult male:
Adult female (non-pregnant):
Children:
Pregnant female:
<13 gm/dl
<12
<11
<10
Kewl, right!! Well, well may be I am a genius!!
Chinese or Japanese??
So, guys if you always get confused
between those Kawasaki and Takayasu,
just thank me for I come here with fruit
from my mnemonic field!!

Kawasaki:
Chinese children (S and
C sound similar)

Takayasu:
Sounds Japanese like
Ryotsu (from Kochikame) if you have
ever watched that funny Manga TV
series!! So Takayasu affects Japanese!!

Triple test
This one confuse me a bit...so its here. Again
creation of my mind!!
MSAFP
βhCG
Estriol
Down
↓
↑
↓
Edward
↓
↓
↓
So what’s the mnemonic!! Well Down pts. Live till
40s right and deliver pretty OK, so we can think
that their pregnancy is kinda healthy... so has
raised hCG levels!!!
Which breast??
Hmm...either breast is fine if you are talking sex!!
But no we are talking about breast cancer and
those carcinomas in situ, DCIS and LCIS. So here
is an aid from Surgical Recall to recollect;
DCIS: Directly in same breast
LCIS: Liberally in either breast
You know what it means. Isn't it good??