Microbiology - Questions

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Specializes in LTC & Private Duty Pediatrics.

All:

Had two questions regarding Microbiology.

1. How difficult/time consuming would you rate your study effort in this class compared with Anatomy & Physiology 101/102?

2. The college I am looking at has a chemistry pre-requisite for the class. How much chemistry do you need to know for Microbiology?

Thanks,

John Coxey

Evansville, Indiana, USA

1. I had separate anatomy & physiology classes. My phys instructor was a tough one, so I would say that I studied more in there than in Micro...but I was the only one in my micro class who got an A. It didn't seem like the material was that hard, but some did have problems.

2. Basically the same amount that you need for physiology. It is a pre-req at the CC here and probably the university, too.

Good Luck!

C'Anne

Micro is less time-consuming than A&P by far, in my opinion. I study a lot more for A&P now than I ever did for Micro. The class I took didn't require chemistry, so can't speak to that.

I should add-I took micro knowing nothing about chemistry, and did fine. I think it just depends on the class.

I finished A&P I-II and am taking micro this semester. I would have to say micro is harder because you have to study to understand, as opposed to A&P, which is mostly memorization. Time wise, I would have to say they require about the same amount of study hrs. It's hard to say which is harder because the difficulty level depends on the teacher a lot of times. I don't think the information is really difficult in either class(the volumn makes it difficult). In A&P you tend to concentrate on one system at a time, whereas in micro, you learn about a lot of different classification, diseases, and processes at the same, which makes it more confusing and difficult to organize and regurgitate for tests.

As far as chemistry requirements in micro, you don't really need a chemistry bacground because what you cover in micro is really basic chemistry(you do dabble in organic, bio, and inorganic chemistry but you don't need a chemistry background to understand the info). If your school requires that you take chem before micro then I guess you will need to; but I don't think it's necessary to take chem before micro to do well in the class. In either classes the key to doing well is consistent study habits, something I don't have, which can make memorizing 5 units of micro a few days before the exam kind of an adventure.:D

Don't underestimate the class, and don't psyche yourself out also, just "consistant" study habits and you should do fine. Good luck, B.T.H

Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.

A&P took more at-home study time than micro. But, at the same time, I struggling harder for that micro grade. Maybe because micro has assignments and group work (my class does) and A&P was strictly lecture and test. Micro lab requires preparation before you walk into the classroom than anatomy lab because sometimes you're working with potential pathogens. My professor has dropped students from lab for not following aseptic technique and being generally unprepared.

I used more chemistry in A&P than micro.

Specializes in CICu, ICU, med-surg.

1. I took micro this past summer. Even with the shorter summer session, I still think A&P was more time consuming. I didn't really find the concepts in micro as difficult to grasp as some of the physiological systems presented in A&P.

2. I don't remember using chemistry very much in micro. I actually feel like it was used more in A&P.

Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

Wow, sounds like I had a very different experience than many of you...

I got an A in both A&P I and A&P II. I didn't find A&P difficult. A lot of studying, but usually not difficult to grasp conceptually.

Micro, however, was a nightmare. Very, very difficult. And the lab was much more demanding than A&P lab, where we had basically just studied different models and did one dissection. In micro lab it was usually two weeks later when i finally understood the purpose of what we had done before. I was mentally & physically exhausted at the end of the semester. I got a B-, and I feel that grade was probably a "gift."

As far as the chemistry, I did spend the first few weeks of A&P wishing that I had had chem more recently, but if you read and re-read, and apply yourself, it shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck to everyone.

~Leigh

It's different at every school. Maybe try talking to some students, and if everyone complains about Micro, or A&P, then you know which one is the hardest.

At my school, the hard class is Micro. And A&P was pretty easy.

I really can't imagine why you need chemistry for Micro. I took Chemistry 3 years ago, and it hasn't been of any use to me.

OH..I do remember, in the Micro book, like the first chapter is a review on basic Chemistry.

My teacher told us to read that if we haven't had chemistry in awhile. I didn't read it, and I did well in Micro.

It's actually an interesting class if you have a good teacher. And I really liked the lab. Taking cultures,etc.. that's pretty easy, and you don't need chemistry for that.

Specializes in tele, ICU.

I am taking A&P I and Microbiology at the same time right now. A & P requires far more study time. While most of it definitely is memorization, much of it also entails being able to figure out how things work together and where something is in relation to something else.

Micro requires less study time but is harder to grasp conceptuallly. You need to make more intellectual connections on your own to have a good understanding of why something works the way it does.

I'd say on average I study anatomy four hours for every one hour I study micro.

I don't use much of my chem in my micro class. In fact, I probably use more in Anatomy than Micro. It definitely helps to have a base understanding of how electrons work and molecular structure in micro, but I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary unless you've *never* taken chem before and have no clue about the subject. You can probably pick up what you need to know from what's already in the textbook.

Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

This is a link to the professor who teaches Micro, A&P, Genetics, Nutrition 223, and the Chem classes at my college. Brilliant man, hard as nails teacher. He's known to weed out the slackers and the ones who just won't make it in the nursing program. The average test score in our A&P classes hovered around 68-70 and the highest grade in the Nutrition class was a 75. I got a 74 and ended up with an A in his class. His Micro class is supposed to be a blast, if not a little tough. I will get a better idea of his Micro class this summer, when he will be teaching it in 3 weeks...WOOHOO...talk about cramming!!! Test every 4 days, hours and hours of lab, 4 days a week. Check out his information online to get an idea of Micro and maybe a few other classes.

http://tooldoc.wncc.edu/

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