Is anatomy easy or is it just my class?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hello all,

I have been attending a community college for the past year and am close to finishing my prerequisites. That being said, I find my A&PI class very easy... I put a good amount of time in each week (About 20 hours) for studying and end up averaging 97% on my tests. I have talked to my wife about this and she said when she took A&P that she had to know a lot more and do a lot more than me. I am taking quarter credits so the classes are only 11 weeks long, which could be the reason we aren't taught as much. I guess Im a little worried that I am not going to be prepared for nursing school if im not being taught A&P at the same level most everyone else is being taught at. Our tests are 50 questions, all multiple choice, and includes roughly 3-5 extra credit questions at the end. We don't have any homework in the class, just the 5 tests for each system in A&P1. My questions to you all are:

Does anybody have a similar experience as far as A&P being very easy?

Do any of you foresee this affecting me negatively for nursing school? or is this just me overthinking everything like I usually do?

Thank you in advance!

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My class is really easy. I do have a medical background but I've never taken a&p before now. The only test we've taken so far I aced and I just looked over my notes everyday before the test.

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I did not find anatomy easy; however, it wasn't unbearable. It is heavy on memorization, so if you are great at that, it may feel easier. My physiology class by far was the most difficult. I considered physio my thinking class; Simply memorizing facts does not work (at least not at my school). I understand you may be concerned they aren't properly preparing you, but maybe memorization is just something that comes easily to you!

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

I didn't find A&P to be as hard as many people make it out to be. I had a solid background in the sciences, was working in healthcare, and am a very self-motivated learner - I found the coursework to be a lot of fun and more time consuming rather than purely difficult. It may just be a subject that comes easy to you or that you already have well ingrained study habits that work for you. I think that my classmates who struggled the most didn't have a good understanding of how they best learned and what study habits would be most beneficial to their understanding.

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Anatomy is not a conceptually difficult class, It's hard due to all the information that must be memorized. If you are studying 20 hours a week for one class, then (IMHO) it is not an "easy" class. Easy would be running through your notes for a few hours before a test and getting 97%. Sounds like you know what it takes to get an "A" so keep it up!

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Specializes in PICU, CICU.

I always thought A&P was easy when i took those courses. In all honesty you could slide through that series with A's just by memorization of the systems and knowing the models by heart. Its not necessarily application of the material but just straight up knowing the answer to the question instead

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It really depends on the professor. My AP 1 professor was very good, although his practicals he went a bit overboard on, but otherwise it was a decent class because of the way he explained the material. My 2nd AP, the professor is the polar opposite, has had horrible reviews on rating sites and they seem justified.

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You should be studying about 1.5-2.5 hours per credit hour. So if your class is 3 hours long and meets 2 times per week you should study 9-15 hours. "For high school students, the positive line continues to climb until between 90 minutes and 2.5 hours of homework a night, after which returns diminish (Cooper, 1989; Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006)". So it does not truly matter how much she had to do per week. She could have put in 40 hours, and it would have similar results to your 20.

It's impossible to say if you are being taught everything you should be taught without actually seeing your rubric and the books you are using. If you school is accredited then you most likely are being taught the same things as everyone else.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I feel like saying that soandso class is easy when it might be difficult for others is just a little weird...

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Anatomy can be difficult, but easy to manage. I know the first time I took anatomy the teacher I had went into a lot of information, and I just felt overwhelmed. Now I'm taking anatomy and physiology one and to me it is very easy! I guess splitting the class into two separate parts makes it easier.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

If you want to get an 'objective' measure, I would advise you to arrange to take a practice TEAS test. Since these tests are standardized, it would provide you with comparative information.

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I believe how difficult HA&P is depends a lot on one's professor. Some will want you to know every little detail, and some will tell you specifically what to concentrate on. Luckily for me, my professor was the latter type. Most of the exam info came from the provided notes/slides. You studied/memorized those, you were golden.

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