A and P getting harder during midterms and on?

Published

Specializes in home health, developmental disabilities.

Hi, jsut feeling a little discouraged about A and P. I feel like the beginning was a breeze. Now we are into Axial Skeleton and muscle contractions and all that stuff and I feel myself slipping. My grades are good in lecture, probably a B+ and in lab I have a B-. I have a lab quiz on the Axial Skeleton on Monday, and I jsut can't seem to grasp the material.

Am i crazy for thinking its getting a lot harder? Maybe I jsut feel myself slipping and starting to give up. Does anyone have any advice as to how I can learn all this materal by Monday? :( Or helpful study tips?

Thanks and good luck to all!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I did the Axial Skeleton a couple weeks ago.

To study, I would do one section at a time, like the face for example.

I would study the face bones and then go online and find an image of the face skeletons with blank labels, and see if I could fill them in correctly. Once I could fill them in all correctly, I'd move on to another section. Then I'd move on to another bone, and another, etc.

Once I did all of them I would go back and try to do them all again WITHOUT looking in my book before I started, and just keep doing them until I had them all completely memorized.

On the actual test I got an 83/85 on the section where you have to identify the parts of the bones, so it worked pretty well for me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in home health, developmental disabilities.

thanks! I have tomorrow to study so ive got a lot of work to do!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I would like to share a site that helped me for my practice exams (and lecture). You can print the study notes and questions; there's also practical exersices that were great. Here it is and I hope it helps: A&P1 http://www.midlandstech.edu/science/kelleherk/210/ and A&P2 http://www.midlandstech.edu/science/kelleherk/211/.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in home health, developmental disabilities.

juliansmom, this website seems helpful! thanks for the resource!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I added the other part of A&P2. Hope it helps.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

First, Don' t give up or lose confidence, YOU CAN DO THIS. It definetly ain't no cake walk but it is doable just takes hard work and focus. I am currently in BIO 201 online and we just started gross anatomy of muscles. We are on the face, neck etc.

I purchased a coloring book recommended by other ppl and it is definetly helping me. Also I made up many mnemonic sentences to help me memorize the terms. Honestly I find the Physiology aspect SO MUCH HARDER than just memorizing weird terms.

All I can say don't get down and YOU CAN DO IT. Stay strong and keep practicing! Review in chunks everyday! ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It does get harder. Partially because things get more complicated, but also because you start having to rely on the previously learned information. And if you didn't learn it well the first time, it's really tough. It's totally doable though!

Good luck! You can do it!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.

My advice is to find a study buddy and do some reciprocal teaching. It makes the time go faster, the material seem less daunting, and really helps to reinforce what you are learning/teaching. My personal experience is that learning through teaching really helps to move the material into my long term memory.

I'm not an expert in neuroscience by any means but I think that this makes sense since so much of our brains are devoted to social interactions. Interacting socially while discussing the material seems like a logical way to feed the information into the brain in a format that it is wired to absorb.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck,

-Dennis

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I second the study buddy advice. I thought the bones and muscles were about the hardest in A&P I, but once you get your studying routine down for those sections you know how to study for the rest of the course.. I Just kept telling myself that all I had to do was pass this test with a good grade in order to reach my goal of becoming a nurse. I tried very hard not to think any farther ahead than the test I was studying for at the time. You can do this!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Check out this online site from University of Minnesota, they have some good labeling exercises. I used this site quite a bit to study for A&P.

http://msjensen.cehd.umn.edu/webanatomy/

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I definitely agree with the study buddy. As long as its someone you really study with and not just chit chat. Also I find along with doing the online help websites, our library has the bones on reserve. Checking them out with a study buddy and getting really hands on helps a lot in my opinion. Remember its ment to be hard. It's just the tip of the iceburg of what nursing school will be like. Don't give up! You can do it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion