Phase 1 Anatomy: Applied Imaging Fundamentals for the RANZCR Candidate
What Phase 1 actually tests
Phase 1 anatomy is not a recitation of cadaveric lists; it is three-dimensional anatomy that can be interrogated on the modality you will use clinically. You must be fluent in cross-sectional topographical anatomy (axial, coronal, sagittal planes), fascial and compartmental boundaries, vascular territories and collateral pathways, and normal variants that mimic disease. Build each region around a scaffold: bones and foramina, then muscles and compartments, then vessels and nerves in their course, then viscera and peritoneal/pleural reflections.
Concepts to master
Know the named foramina and what traverses them (jugular foramen, foramen ovale, superior orbital fissure), the branching order of the aorta and the coeliac axis, the hepatic and portal venous segments, the brachial and lumbar plexuses by root-to-nerve mapping, and the dural venous sinuses with their drainage. Understand segmental anatomy of the lung and liver because questions test segment numbering and the structures separating segments.
Traps
- Order-of-branching questions: knowing that a vessel exists is not enough; know whether it arises before or after a landmark.
- Laterality and side-specific relations: the recurrent laryngeal nerve loops under the subclavian on the right and the aortic arch on the left.
- Nerve versus vessel companions in the carotid sheath and the intervertebral foramen.
- Variants presented as pathology: azygos fissure, retrorenal colon, aberrant right subclavian artery.
Worked example
Asked which structure lies immediately anterior to the uncinate process of the pancreas: reason from the scaffold - the uncinate process is the posterior, medial extension of the pancreatic head, so the portal vein/SMV confluence sits anterior to it and the aorta lies posterior. That relational method, not memorised lists, answers most items.
Rule of thumb
For any structure, be able to state its anterior, posterior, medial, lateral and superior relations and its arterial supply, venous drainage and nerve supply - five relations plus three systems.