A&P Prep?

[ItsThatJenGirl]

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

[md322]

you should review first few chapters and get familiar with the terminology.

I requested power points from my professor two months before classes and he emailed them to me.

get familiar with the body planes etc...

[rileowski]

Just finished A&P I a month ago and got an A in the class. It was my first time being exposed to the material, but I managed to take it all in and I learned A TON. It requires a lot of studying but if you love A&P (like me) and WANT to learn, all you have to do is put in the time and you'll do fine.

Flashcards are a great tool for anatomy, because anatomy is mostly memorization--cranial nerves, landmarks of bones, etc. However, flashcards aren't that affective when it comes to physiology (in my opinion) because it's not about memorizing, but understanding.

Don't worry too much about taking notes in lecture. You can if you want to, but I found it helpful to pay attention instead of trying to write down everything he said. I would take notes when I read through the chapters in the book as well as from the printed powerpoints my professor handed out. And once I had pages and pages and pages of quality notes, I'd rewrite them a few times before the test so it'd stick better.

Should you start studying now? Why not! It would have made my life a lot easier if I did, and I'm studying right now for A&PII which I take in the fall. Read through the first five or six chapters in the book if you have it and look at the chapter outline for each chapter. You don't need to know everything, just have a good idea of the basics: anatomical terminology like proximal and distal and ventral and dorsal, the four main tissues in the body (epithelial, connective, muscle, nervous), body cavities, etc.

Want to really be ahead of the game? Watch Crash Course A&P on YouTube. Only watch the first 22 videos in the playlist. Pause the video and take notes on the important stuff. The videos are short but he goes through a lot of information in a short amount of time.

I'd also highly recommened Professor Fink on YouTube. He has a whole playlist on Anatomy and a whole playlist on Physiology. I'm currently in the middle of his physiology playlist and I love it! I'm learning so much and I'm going to breeze through A&P II because of him. For his videos, don't take a whole lot of notes. Just pay attention and try to really understand what he is teaching. I take notes on the really important stuff I know I'll need for nursing, like normal pH level of the blood, for example, but for the most part I just soak it in.

The key to studying before a class isn't trying to learn everything, but getting yourself exposed to the material. So when you hear about something in class, like how myosin and actin are the two muscle proteins used for muscle contractions, it won't be your first time hearing about it and when the professor is giving his lecture you'll have an easier time understanding him.

A&P is an essential class for nursing. The better prepared you are before taking it the more fun you'll have and the more you'll learn.

Good Luck!

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

Thanks - I posted this a year ago and have completed both A&P I and II now with A's.