A&P ONLINE

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hi,

I am completing my pre requisites are my local CC. I will then be transferring to a four year for my BSN. Anyway, I had first planned on staying at my CC and doing their ADN program but changed my mind once I found out that it is lottery based. The four year school is based off academics and with my 4.0, I probably have a good chance. I was doing some research and found out the school that I am transferring to accepts an A&P I course online (called Human Structure and Function) and A&P II is called Neuromusculoskeletal Systems. Both of these courses are offered online at my CC, which I am enrolled in the Structure and Function one currently.

Do you think online A&P classes are as effective? The reason I am asking is because I was about half way through A&P I this past spring semester and dropped out because I had changed my mind with some of the classes I was taking (Online courses work better with my work schedule and I have two kids). I feel like I was studying for hours and hours and hours on end with A&P I.. this course I just started (Human Structure and Function online) seems like I will hardly be studying. We have no lab exams and only have to do the lab questions at the end of the lab excercises. For lecture, we have discussion questions and exams.

What are your thoughts are online A&P classes??

BTW, we use an A&P book and all.. learning the same things that my friend who is taking A&P I at the school....

Thoughts and comments appreciated!!

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I took A&P II online over the summer, and I thought that it was a very good class. I have retained a lot of the information, and do not regret taking it online at all.

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I'm taking A&P I now and II later this year online through the University of Phoenix. I'm learning a lot, spend a lot of time studying (probably 15-20 hours/week), and feel very engaged in the class. My class may be structured differently than yours is, though. In my class, we are required to post 10 discussion board posts per week that respond to particular questions from our text. We also have to do virtual labs as well as workbook exercises. If you are committed to learning the material and have a good work ethic (i.e., you aren't tempted to cheat), I think online A&P classes are fine.

Also, when in your career as a nurse are you going to dissect a frog? Never. People may scoff at the virtual labs, but I don't know that the in-person labs necessarily teach you skills you'll need that you can't get from the virtual labs. Yes, you miss out on the physical aspect of actually performing a dissection yourself, but you still have to develop and apply problem-solving and critical thinking skills, which are more important than knowing how to isolate a tendon in a crawfish leg.

Just my $0.02! I know others may disagree. I feel confident though that the online A&P classes were a good choice for me.

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Specializes in ICU, ED, ER, Family Practice.

I think it really depends on your instructor! I've had many online classes and some teachers are just useless online. But I have an A&P teacher who is wonderful. He's supposed to be the most difficult, but I actually switched my A&P II to take it from this prof. He doesn't just lecture AT you, he keeps everyone involved in the discussion the entire class period. His online class is actually given on a program called elluminate where he sets up a time and actually lectures with us real time in a chat room. We can hear him speak and we can type questions real time for him to answer. He shows us his desktop and types notes like we would see a prof write on a board at school. It's great! I'd check with your school or previous students who've taken the online course to see how it's run there if you can!

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Hi!

I think it's great that you can take an online A&P class! I can also see how taking an on-campus course would help too. I took Anatomy, not online, and we were instructed to actually cut open cats ourselves and identify structures. We also took a look at a cadaver dissected from the Anatomy II class! It was quite different looking at organs, vessels on a cadaver or cat model versus looking at photos online. Sometimes the photos and illustrations are clearer online than in person. Plus, it helped me realize if I could stomach certain things that would gross others out.

Wish you luck! :)

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