A&P Advice..?

NYNursingStudent · Feb 4, 2011

I'd tweak your study habits. A&P is hard. I took it as one of those classes that I wanted to just pass. I wasn't looking for an A. Good luck. (Oh, and 79 isn't bad at all! I would have been pleased with a 79)

KGMM · Feb 4, 2011

I bought a digital recorder and brought my laptop to class too. I would record the lecture and type in as much of what my Professor said as the class was happening, flipping pages in the text book at the same time and inserting page #'s within my notes so I could keep track, I type faster than I write so this worked great for me. Then I would go home and prior to the next lecture I would go back and listen to the recording and fill in anything I missed in my notes, it would take a few hours to complete this but just doing that process taught me pretty much everything I needed for the exams. When exams rolled around I would just need to focus on my notes because I had every word my Professor said right in front of me. I also would make notations in my notes if my Professor stressed something a lot. As I typed the notes from the recording I would take the time to make sure I understood the material by constantly referring to the text and using the internet to clarify anything I was still stuck on - it helped A LOT! I got A's in A & P I & II and Microbiology and I think it was largely due to that whole process. Staples has a basic sony digital recorder for about $30 so not a huge investment for a HUGE study tool. You just need to find what method works best for you, but recording the lecture is a huge help even if you just want to listen to it again. Best of luck, you can do it!!!

Streamline2010 · Feb 4, 2011

To me, A&P was incredibly tedious, not hard. Unless you count how annoying it is, as an adult, to make yourself spend 4x your usual time and effort on a college course. I found there is no substitute for time and repetition when learning A&P. The Latin is another obstacle. Just keep going over and over it and do all of the questions throughout and at the end of the chapter, and maybe also buy a study guide for your textbook, if you haven't already.

For A&P I, most of my difficulty came from 1) not having a good understanding of Latin roots for body part names, and 2) being annoyed at the amount of time I had to spend sitting and going over and over things.

It's not really the kind of stuff you can cram. It's more of a daily grind.

On a positive note, it did get easier the more time I spent on it. The A&P sequence at my college had mostly anatomy in the first semester and then the physiology part in the second semester. Some physio in A&P I but not all that much. The prof for I covered almost the entire material of each chapter in class. But the prof for II was at the opposite end of the spectrum followed the European ed model, and did the bare minimum in class, meaning for it to be an example, and then we were supposed to go expand on that ourselves. Either way, I felt I was self-teaching the entire thing, and I personally got more out of digging through the textbook by myself than I did out of lectures. Nobody can rote-memorize for you but you, I guess. ha ha.

In this type of class, I almost think the very bright students are at a disadvantage, in that most of us have gotten by in college with relatively little study effort compared to the general student body. Then, you hit a class like A&P, which if you do not have any biology or life science training, is a totally different animal from, say, accounting, calculus, or engineering, where you memorize comparatively little but "do" a lot of application and calculations. A&P, you memorize a lot, but "do" darned little besides that, and I found that 180 degree difference both annoying and boring compared to engineering, math, biz, and computer programming.

ncbutterfly · Feb 4, 2011

OP, I just got back my score on my first A&P test and I got an 86. Not much different from yours. I would have loved to have an A, but this was the first test and I was anxious on if I had studied the right material and how the test would be formatted, etc. Now I know all that and feel like if I study the lecture notes, listen to the recording of class, and do all the work on the Aandp.com site I will do much better.

Good luck to you.

Chameleonchick · Feb 4, 2011

I am going to say don't stress out too much, this is your first test and it lets you know if you have been studying correctly or if you need improvement. You scored a 79 which is 1 point away from a B so you were on the right track just add an extra hour or so of studying per week and the next time I'm sure you will do much better. I haven't taken my first test yet so I don't really have any extra advice. I have two more weeks until my first A&P test.

mangopeach · Feb 5, 2011

Don't give up. I failed my first Chem test and still wound up with a B in lecture and A in lab, so don't beat yourself up. Oh and I'm in my first semester of nursing school now. I'm saying that because I had those same feelings you are having right now after bombing that chem test. Wondering if I was in over my head. After the pity party, I picked myself up and refocused my efforts.

jellybean321 · Feb 6, 2011

thanks for the insight guys!! I love coming to this site because there is so much support and encouragement!! Come to find out, I actually got an 80 on my test. And our instructor told us that out of the entire school, our class had the top grades for the first A&P 1 exam, which made me feel a little better too. But I will definitely be choosing a different method of studying.. Any good tips on how to study? I bought flash cards, but I can't use flash cards for everything I'm studying, it seems kind of wasteful to me because if I spend all that time creating flash cards, I probably could have memorized 3 things! I also bought an A&P coloring book, which does help somewhat..but I need help remembering like what organelles do what, all of the classes of connective tissue and their functions, etc. :eek: What method of studying did you find the most helpful???

Thanks again for all of your support!! :redbeathe

ncbutterfly · Feb 6, 2011

I am finding the aandp.com site is helping me tremendously. I don't know if your book is by Elaine Marieb or not but mine is and all the information is on the inside cover of the book. There is a code to put in to get on it for free, but if your book is used you need to buy the code. I am not sure how much it costs but alot of students in my class say it is worth it. Good luck. BTW, the 80 is great. Like I said, I made an 86 and I was thrilled with that.

gregsbouch0816 · Feb 6, 2011

I would find a group of others to study with who also need/want an 'A'. We met at the library for 5-10 hours per week. Some of us were better at the chemistry/physiology, others better at the diagrams/anatomy. We helped each other remember the fine details, quizzed each other, and answered each others' questions. If one of you doesn't get it, chances are somebody else does. We all had to get an A to get into a highly competitive nursing program. A&P was a pre-req and a 4.0 was mandatory to get accepted. Plus having the accountability of being there for each other forces you to study regularly.

kbucksn · Feb 8, 2011

I totally feel your pain, just took my first exams in anatomy lecture and lab... i got a 90 in lab but a freAKING 77 in lecture!! im sick I am going through the same emotions, people tell me oh many people have to retake the class, but that wont get me into NS!!

karla

Skips, MSN, RN · Feb 8, 2011

Don't feel badly about a 79. I got an 83 on my first A & P I test, which is very similar. I say good job to you! Once you get the hang of the teacher's style & testing style, you will begin to get better grades on the tests. That way, you can tweak your studying and note-taking.