A&P in 8 wks - how did you do it?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

Published

I will start A&P 1 in January, it will last 8 weeks. Then I will start A&P 2 immediately after and complete it in 8 weeks. I have not taken any biology or chemistry classes in preparation, and I am a bit nervous. I believe I am the most nervous about covering 2 chapters a week, 8 weeks does not seem like enough time to take this class, but my college has no other option.

So for those of you who have taken A&P in such a short time can you give me some tips?

Any ideas on how to stay on top of things, and how to cram in so much info in a short amount of time -- really anything would be helpful at this point!!!

Thanks!!!

UC Berkeley has A&P videos - Prof Dimond is amazing! I got my A in A&P thanks to her. Whenever I did not get something, I could always count on her for a better explanation.

Here's one on the muscular system, but there are many others so look on the sides for the others

This guy's videos helped me tremendously learn the skeletal system. I am very much a visual learner so the way he does his drawings made me learn them much easier. He has lots of vids, so check out his page for the rest

http://www.youtube.com/user/hyperhighs#p/c/67197245B077F3E2/0/bWLIWIYQGGU

There are lots of videos on YT. Just type in whatever you are looking for

I suggest you give yourself a head start with learning the bones and the muscles

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Great tips on learning the muscles and bones, and thanks for the links.

The UC Berkeley videos - are these all on youtube or do I need to get these from the UC Berkeley website?

Thanks again!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I took an 8 week course, well actually 7 week because exam is on week 8, but did fine. The A&P book had study questions at the end of the chapter. Also, we got a coloring book/study guide book that helped a ton. The book also had a website you could log on and take practice tests and review online flash cards. The biggest thing that helped me was a study group. 2-4 people max.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Great tips on learning the muscles and bones, and thanks for the links.

The UC Berkeley videos - are these all on youtube or do I need to get these from the UC Berkeley website?

Thanks again!

You are welcome. The UC Berkeley videos are all on Youtube. The first video I linked is a UC video. They have a full semester of A&P videos. The prof is great. I wish I had her for my prof, but having her on YT to watch over and over was a big help.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I LOVE the videos you linked from University of Toronto hyperhigh's channel.

Those are great!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I would email your future instructor and ask for the bone and muscle list. These are pure memorization. So there is no way around tort rehearsal for these. Barrons flash cards are great.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I took A&P 1 in the summer during 8 weeks while also taking micro and english at the same time. I was not working but have a son who was home for the summer so all day i was with him, fitting studying in when i could, and then i had class at night. I did get As in both sciences....it is completely doable....just a bit stressful.

If you have time now work on reveiwing anying basic consepts you can, and work on memorizing the bones and muscles ahead of time because that is one of the hardest parts of such a fast class is having so much material thown at you at once its hard to memorize it all so fast.....and bones and muscles are usually taught back to back so that is 2 or 3 weeks that is just overwhelming because there are a lot of both and it is flat out memorization.

http://www.anatomyarcade.com/ even just playing whack-a-bone or poke-a-muscle on anatomy arcade will help....and its amusing.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Well it seems I need to get busy on those bones and muscles -- what do you think the best way to learn them without the book? A Certain set of flashcards, vidoes, games like the anatomy arcade mentioned above.

I mean I can use all the resources, but I'm just curious -- what is the best way to learn them. Is there a certain order I should learn them in -- certain muscles or bones that should be learned as a group?

Not sure at all what the best way of going about this is -- my thoughts as of right now would be flashards?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

HOW you learn them would depend on you. Some people going off a chart and just straight memorizing helps.....some flashcards help....some a game helps.....some hearing or talking helps....some filling out a blank diagram helps. Play around with what resorcrses you DO have first....anything you have free online, your book when you do have it..and thenn figure out if you do need other resorses. You need to figure out what works for you best.

As far as groups to learn first, there really arent any. You should learn bones first. Many muscles are named based on what bone they are near, or what bones they have their attachments and insertions on(plus there are MANY more muscles to learn). Even if you dont have them all down now, having a good feel for most of the bones, and a good chunk of the muscles will make your life a lot easier then going into it not knowing any of them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I took A&P II over the summer as a 6 week online course while working ~30 hours a week, and I got a B. Time management is the key, and finding out how you study and retain information best.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Oh one other thing to consider if you are thinking about BUYING flashcards. Sometimes half (or more) of the learning from flashcards comes from MAKING them....especially if you are a tactile learner. Is cheaper to make your own flash cards. Maybe could get yourself an A&P coloring book and photocopy pages (or scan and print if youhave a scanner)to use for cutting up and isolating one bone/muscle/whatever on a picture and putting on one side of a flashcard and then whatever info on the other. Could even get your kids to help with it for as long as it would entertain them (i know my 8 year old it would for a while).

Im just saying this from knowing myself, as a tactile learner flashcards for bones and muscles would have been pointless, just filling out diagrams and identifying them on models and such, as well as games, helped me most. If i had made flashcards, i probably would have learned more in making them then using them, so buying premade would have been pointless. I do use flashcards for some things, like a medical terminology course i am taking now, which is also memorization, and many of the terms i do learn simply from making the cards...some i do need to continue to go over, but many i can eliminate from my "dont know/dont know well" pile on the first time through, even if i didnt know prior to making the cards.

If you are a visual or auditory learner, or learn from repition, then maybe premade cards would not be a waste, but if you are a tactile learner, you would definitly be far better off either making your own or using a different method of study.

Do you happen to know what kind of learner you are? Visual/tactile/auditory? That is something that if you dont know you should try to figure out before you start these courses...will make your life far easier if you know how you learn things best.

http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test-b.html

Test to figure that out, though i dont know how good it is.

My best example is if you are going to drive a route you never drove before, how would you remeber it best? If you saw it, either on a map, or riding as a passenger(visual), if you were told how to go, maybe even while riding as a passenger or driving it yourself (auditory), or just the act of driving it, whether that is guided by a map or someones directions (tactile). There is some crossing over between, and you will probably get there anyway, but the point is where is the "clicking" point for you where that route becomes completely clear in your mind.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am not an auditory learner -- I like to see things, and I also like to write things over and over to the point of obsession. :)

I see I should learn bones first - great idea!

My issue now is - for fun I went to the Anatomy Arcade site -- I played the muscle and the bone games -- I didn't know the names of most at first, but after doing it a few times I had it down. Then I started thinking -- there have got to be so many more muscles in that area??? I mean aren't there like 3 layers of muscles all named different things within that same area?

Wow, I'm really showing my lack of knowledge here! :)

Seriously though -- I wondered how I would figure that out, especially without a book.

I love books, flashcards, lots of visuals -- but I get hung up wanting something complete with all the details.

The coloring book sounds like a great idea -- that is on my wish list already. I could probably go ahead and get something like that.

Will it show me all muscles and all bones? Like I said, I get hung up if it's not ALL there! I get worried if I don't learn it all together, then it'll be harder for me to get it in the future.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment