I mentioned in class that I’d post my own little GI summary table – so here it is. It’s probably more effective if you make your own – but this might be a good start.

I got a student question a couple years ago about how to tell the difference between stomach and small intestine on histology. I love this question because I remember having the exact same issue when I was a wee medical student learning histology, and I’m not sure I ever really figured it out until I started actually teaching it!

Stomach and small intestine can be confusing when you’re first learning this stuff because they both have glands at the bottom and other structures (pits in the stomach, villi in the small intestine) on top, and it can be hard to visualize all of that in 3D.

So I made a short video explaining the difference. I think it’s easier to understand if you can see someone drawing on the pictures. I hope if some of you had the same problem that this will solve it!