A&P Prep?

ALongRoad · Nov 2, 2012

I took them last year and did not do very well ( C and C-). I found that I would have done much better if I had taken a medical language course first. With that said, I would look for a study guide or a short course on medical terminology or medical language. It will help you greatly.

zoe92 · Nov 2, 2012

Have you tried to get a hold of a syllabus from the professor who will be teaching you A & P? You can do that by trying to find another student who took the class in a previous semester. I find that more helpful because then you know what sort of things you should start studying now.

MsAlba · Nov 2, 2012

A&P1 is a lot of memorization of bones and such. It's really not too bad but I picked up "Pocket Anatomy and Physiology" by Shirley Jones. It has a section for bones, muscles, the nervous system, the brain the heart and so on. Great little pocket book! I highlighted what we were studying at the time and when we moved on, I washed it off and started highlighting the new information we were to learn. It was really helpful - so much so, I still have it! It was also helpful in A&P2 but that class was much harder than the first. Make sure you don't take it hybrid!

SycamoreGuy · Nov 2, 2012

If you can get the book for the course early that would be the most help. Beyond that I found the anatomy apps for iPhone and iPad are a really good foundation. They won't come close to showing you everything but they give a nice overview. If you want to

Shell out the money there are 3D anatomy software programs that are extremely helpful as well.

maddiem · Nov 2, 2012

Try this book!! Its GREAT! It gives a great overview of A&P and breaks it down in an easy to understand way. It helped me soooo much in class and it would be a great introduction for you as well! Also, try and familiarize yourself with all the bones...it will give you a godo head start! Good luck!

E-Z Anatomy and Physiology (Barron's E-Z Series): I. Edward Alcamo Ph.D., Barbara Krumhardt Ph.D.: 9780764144684: Amazon.com: Books

Tashiarox · Nov 2, 2012

A&P is a very demanding course. The best thing you can do is know what type of studying works well for you. As previously stated, it requires a lot of memorization and if flash cards help you, make them. Draw diagrams to help you remember different processes. I've found it best to attend lecture and lab to get a feel for the professor and their method of teaching and how helpful he/she is with providing notes and study guide before purchasing extras. My A&P II professor provides notes so that helps us focus more on what she's explaining. Lab Practicals can be intimidating, but if you begin studying well in advance you will do well. Good luck to you!

jennaroo · Nov 2, 2012

I agree with the above poster, take this time to learn what study techniques work for you.......chunking is amaing for A&P

If possible before class try to learn at least the basic bone names, markings and organization.....if you have time go ahead and learn the smaller bones as well, such as the carpals and tarsals.....If you can get the skull down that will help a bunch.......HOWEVER try to learn it from many different views not just the view shown in your book.....as it will be presented to you in many different ways and will will have to know whats what...... You could also go ahead and learn body planes, cavities, sections ect. I mean it all depends on the amt of time you have to study before you start, but like the poster above said, the most important thing would be to figure out what type of studying works best for you, decide how yyou plan to organize once school starts. Print the syllabus and get familiar with what you will be doing!!!

Good luck!

goingtothedogs · Nov 2, 2012

Thanks!!! We have a month long break and I figured it would be better to keep my mind working an be prepared rather than relaxing and familiarizing myself with why weekday TV is awful. :).

In response to the last poster, I am now thankful for the torturous physical anthropology class I took a few years back (before I realized that the only future I could have as a museum curator would be grim and really realized I would rather focus on living, breathing people and how to help them). I know the planes and am fine with the skull and most of the rest if the skeletal system. Dentition is a bit shaky but hey, this will only focus on humans. Think I can manage. :)

I have heard that this class requires several extra hours of study each night. I was going to go ahead and order the Mosby's deck of A&P flash cards, since they appear to contain a lot of information, and their layout looks like something a visual learner like myself will be able to easily recall.

I had gotten excited this morning when I went on the bookstore's web site and was able to pull up spring classes. Sadly, none of the books are listed just yet. Hopefully that will be up soon!!!

Thank you all again for your amazing and helpful guidance. A friend told me (she's an RN and works in oncology) that I would find myself surrounded by a lot of wonderful and supportive peers, both throughout nursing school and into my career. I think she's right!!

alicouturier · Nov 3, 2012

The professor will talk from the moment they enter the room till the class is over. It's constant note taking, and preparing with your textbook prior to the class and then studying what you learned that night. It's serious. It's memorization, but it's the building block to all other nursing classes. If you don't know how alkalosis and acidosis works, it's hard to learn all about diabetes... just stuff like that.

I went to a private BSN university in Nashville and cranked out a 98% in that class. It was my favorite class of all time. It's so interesting.

Good luck! Study Study Study. Flash cards help if you make them yourself- don't buy any crap on the market until you MIGHT want to get a NCLEX study guide- but I didn't do that. Your whole nursing training/classes prepare you for everything on the test. Trust in that.