A&P Prep?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I'm taking A&P 1 this fall - people keep telling me how hard the class is. I want to be as prepared as possible. Should I start studying now? If so, where do you recommend starting?

TIA

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Don't start now. Wait for the class to start. Just keep up on the work. A and p is mostly memorization. Flash cards and frequent review of models will be your friend. Don't kill your summer worrying about something that doesn't start for 3 months.

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It's a difficult class in that there's a whole lot of memorization. I wouldn't start studying now, but I would definitely figure out what kind of learner you are. Like for me, it helped tremendously to look at and study models of the concepts both in person and online, while another person might enjoy diagrams or videos or podcasts and whatnot.

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It is difficult but completely doable if you are disciplined and keep up with the work.

I wouldn't bother studying yet. Studying ahead personally "burns" me, but that'll be up to you once the class starts.

To prepare, I would just make sure you have a day planner and to accept that you'll need to clear out your schedule to dedicate to studying. I work more than full time, so this is especially important if you do too and take additional courses.

My best advice is to study a little bit every day, at least. Even if it's 20 minutes. Get a quizlet app for your phone. If you know you're going to have a hectic day, you can use quizlet while you're brushing your teeth, waiting for laundry, lunch break at work, whatever it is. Repetition is key in A&P. Don't get discouraged if it takes you a while to "get" things. Start with what I call small victories to build up to higher understanding. Some chapters will be MUCH harder to you than others.

To be quite honest, there is a lot of A&P I don't remember from AP1 and that I don't understand, but I know enough at baseline and clearly knew enough to get me an A.

Read your syllabus thoroughly and see if your professor posts study tips (mine didn't, mine is an online class and essentially says to read the book, which in my experience was the worst way to learn A&P, or not learn it, lol). To get that A, you'll need to understand how your prof tests and what they are looking for.

I supplemented a lot of my studies with Khan academy and youtube. I would find a really great professor (I think her name is Mandi Parker, but your results may vary, some people like her and some don't) who has their lectures on youtube and use them to supplement if you need additional clarification. I didn't have a professor in A&P, so this was essential for me. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of learning and just training myself to regurgitate facts :(.

Anyways, you'll do fine. The fact you are on here asking how you can prepare shows you have discipline. People will say stuff is easy and hard, don't really let it impact you too much. Ironically enough, my nutrition prof is the toughest prof I've ever had. Very, very detail oriented. I have to read about 120 textbook pages a week. He tests directly from the book. Here I was thinking nutrition was an "easy" class but I actually find myself needing to spend more time on that than A&P!

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It is difficult but completely doable if you are disciplined and keep up with the work.

I wouldn't bother studying yet. Studying ahead personally "burns" me, but that'll be up to you once the class starts.

To prepare, I would just make sure you have a day planner and to accept that you'll need to clear out your schedule to dedicate to studying. I work more than full time, so this is especially important if you do too and take additional courses.

My best advice is to study a little bit every day, at least. Even if it's 20 minutes. Get a quizlet app for your phone. If you know you're going to have a hectic day, you can use quizlet while you're brushing your teeth, waiting for laundry, lunch break at work, whatever it is. Repetition is key in A&P. Don't get discouraged if it takes you a while to "get" things. Start with what I call small victories to build up to higher understanding. Some chapters will be MUCH harder to you than others.

To be quite honest, there is a lot of A&P I don't remember from AP1 and that I don't understand, but I know enough at baseline and clearly knew enough to get me an A.

Read your syllabus thoroughly and see if your professor posts study tips (mine didn't, mine is an online class and essentially says to read the book, which in my experience was the worst way to learn A&P, or not learn it, lol). To get that A, you'll need to understand how your prof tests and what they are looking for.

I supplemented a lot of my studies with Khan academy and youtube. I would find a really great professor (I think her name is Mandi Parker, but your results may vary, some people like her and some don't) who has their lectures on youtube and use them to supplement if you need additional clarification. I didn't have a professor in A&P, so this was essential for me. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of learning and just training myself to regurgitate facts :(.

Anyways, you'll do fine. The fact you are on here asking how you can prepare shows you have discipline. People will say stuff is easy and hard, don't really let it impact you too much. Ironically enough, my nutrition prof is the toughest prof I've ever had. Very, very detail oriented. I have to read about 120 textbook pages a week. He tests directly from the book. Here I was thinking nutrition was an "easy" class but I actually find myself needing to spend more time on that than A&P!

Thanks so much for all these tips! Just what I needed!

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The first part of anatomy with the muscles and nervous system threw me for a loop compared to the second part of the course. If your school has an area where professors mentor students or even get a tutor, I'd take it. Just having someone go over the material with you can help.

If if there are any open lab sessions, be there. Ask your professor for some extra study material if you don't understand. After tests, go to their office and go over the test so you know how to improve the next time around.

I wish you success in A&P!

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Thanks! I really carefully chose my teacher based on her reviews. I will absolutely use everything I have access to to get the best foundation I can!

I'm terrible at memorization, so I'll have to really sit down and figure out how to overcome that obstacle.

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It really is a lot of memorization, which I am not great at either. I found that it was very helpful to actually draw out by hand the structure(s) that I was trying to learn and label them. I would draw it several times over and over until I could do it from memory. I am no artist but that wasn't the point, it helped me learn where things were in relation to each other. Free online videos and quizzes were helpful, depending on your text book the publisher may offer some online resources. Quizlet is great but make sure that the answers are actually correct if you use a quiz that someone else has created. :)

I don't think its a terrible idea to get started this summer if it won't stress you out... maybe get one of the anatomy coloring books and go through that... its pretty low stress and you will at least get familiar with the terms. Once you get into the class, study at least a litle just about every day- review what you already studied and then add something new. The advice you got about going to open lab sessions is spot on, my college opened lab sessions to anyone enrolled (I could go to my assigned lab and any others offered that week). Those with the highest grades went to multiple labs each week and stayed the whole time to review. Good luck to you!

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I remember studying from the time class was out 3PM all the way until 3AM most days.. Then again, I was in a 15 day course. I am considering re-taking a 13-week class.

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Good thing you researched your professor.. I took A&P 2 with the dept chair.. not the most animated type of person, and not very helpful when he goes off topic which was frequently..

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This advice will go completely against what all the other posts have said but hey here it is. I would suggest to start studying now but not in the sense of trying to memorize ANYTHING. At this point you have posted on Allnurses 3 months before you have the class. You are what I consider "Highly Motivated"( I am the same way!). This is a great thing don't lose your motivation. I would say feed your curiosity! Study now based on how you feel. Dont make it arduous or laborious. If something gets you excited one day and you really want to know about it look it up (or listen to a lecture, its more efficient), dip your toes. The goal is to familiarize yourself with the basic terminology's, the big words, and concepts of A&P. Start by body system or listen to lectures on youtube that you find interesting. Check out Dr. Fink on youtube he will not steer you wrong. Study with the idea that you will be hearing EVERYTHING you are reading or listening to again in 3 months so don't stress on remembering any of it. Just trust that in 3 months, when you start your class, your brain will remember little tid bits that will add up to a TON of information. This is what I do for all my nursing related classes and I am a straight A student. I have made a habit of doing it everyday so I end up retaining a lot of info and the classes come to me as easy as walking. I go in there and I blow it out of the water because I am so familiar with all of the material already. There is a plus side to this because I don't "feel" like i'm studying at all. people think i'm a genius in the class because I know everything but it is just because I have been passively listening to this stuff for 3 months before the class.

Best of Luck to you!

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This advice will go completely against what all the other posts have said but hey here it is. I would suggest to start studying now but not in the sense of trying to memorize ANYTHING. At this point you have posted on Allnurses 3 months before you have the class. You are what I consider "Highly Motivated"( I am the same way!). This is a great thing don't lose your motivation. I would say feed your curiosity! Study now based on how you feel. Dont make it arduous or laborious. If something gets you excited one day and you really want to know about it look it up (or listen to a lecture, its more efficient), dip your toes. The goal is to familiarize yourself with the basic terminology's, the big words, and concepts of A&P. Start by body system or listen to lectures on youtube that you find interesting. Check out Dr. Fink on youtube he will not steer you wrong. Study with the idea that you will be hearing EVERYTHING you are reading or listening to again in 3 months so don't stress on remembering any of it. Just trust that in 3 months, when you start your class, your brain will remember little tid bits that will add up to a TON of information. This is what I do for all my nursing related classes and I am a straight A student. I have made a habit of doing it everyday so I end up retaining a lot of info and the classes come to me as easy as walking. I go in there and I blow it out of the water because I am so familiar with all of the material already. There is a plus side to this because I don't "feel" like i'm studying at all. people think i'm a genius in the class because I know everything but it is just because I have been passively listening to this stuff for 3 months before the class.

Best of Luck to you!

Thanks so much! I'm doing pretty much what you suggested. I bought a little notebook and when I come across a medical term/phrase/drug/etc that I'm not familiar with, I write it down and later I google it and make a few notes on it. So I'm not studying really, but I'm opening myself to learning naturally.

I'll check out YouTube - great idea.

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