Anatomy on Crack at my school

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So I am finding this a little unfair and wanted to see if anyone else is having or had a similar experience to me with Anatomy. At my college, they do Anatomy in 2 classes. Anatomy Lab and Anatomy Lecture. You can take them separately or simultaneously. However, they do not piggyback with each other. The classes are so difficult that they require about 15 hours of outside study per week, per class in order to be successful. The professors take pride that our college is more difficult than other competing colleges and they say they teach a level of anatomy that is taught in medical school.

Here's where I get frustrated: All of the other community colleges in our area teach Anatomy in 1 class. And after picking the brains of former students, their anatomy is MUCH easier than what I am currently enduring. I was told by the nursing program counselor to only take Anatomy classes this semester because it is so difficult. I am discovering how right he was. I have no life outside of studying 7 days per week just to keep up. So far I am doing well, but it's a lot of work. LOTS OF WORK.

With how impacted our nursing program is, only the top students get the spots each year. And since our school only takes 32 per year (each fall) it's even more challenging to compete with the 150-200 applicants each year. That puts enormous pressure to have top GPAs ( I currently hold a 4.0) and they only take the top TEAS testers (having a passing score barely helps you). I am sure you all can imagine how difficult it makes it and then you add the extreme rigor of our science department that is seemingly unheard of at most other schools. I think my hair is gray already! lol

Which leads me to my initial probe, is anyone else experiencing this at their school? I don't see how forcing us to take a higher than necessary level of anatomy is going to help me get paid more as an RN. You know what I mean? Any thoughts out there? :) Thanks and happy studying to all those students out there!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

Yes, some teachers and done schools expect more or less in an A&P class. I happened to take A&P with instructors who demanded a lot.

In the end, I'm thankful for then because I learned so much. Yes what they taught me does help me do my job as a nurse better because I truly (for the most part) understand the pathophysiology of the various disease processes I work with the doctors on to help my clients.

It also helps me to give better patient teaching because I can explain things to my clients better because I understand the "why" of their need to be compliant.

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Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

Is the question based on how much money you are making? You could get into that and view it from a less self centered way and view it as maybe completing a more challenging course will build character and survival skills and also help you when dealing with challenging patients. You will have "unfair" conditions at work. All of this is perception and the way you view challenge. If you don't like it..then it is up to you to fix. As far as "forcing" you...NO ONE is forcing you to do ANYTHING. You have the right to quit and go make burritos or find a job with less challenge. If you CHOOSE to attempt to become an RN then you are expected to complete the work. Think about this..if you get in with "harder" work that may serve you well in nursing school and as a nurse. Shows you can take the pain and survive.

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If you are spending a total of 30 hours outside of class studying for lab and lecture, than you are still doing much better than what I did this summer. I had anatomy this summer with an instructor that I found out after is known for being one of the most difficult instructors that teaches that class in my school. I had already had anatomy twice previously, once as a senior in high school, 16 years ago, and than again at my school 7 years ago...so the material was not brand new to me. 7 years ago I took the same class during the summer like I did this year and didn't have to spend as much time studying. However I did pull off a 4.0 both times. This time around it meant studying over 40 hours a week while working full time and also volunteering. Did it cut into my social life, sure did. It ended up meaning that I did not see my boyfriend all expect for a few times during that 8 week period, and definitely had been a strain on the relationship. Do I think that the class was unfair, no. I choose to look at it this way, this for me was a small taste of what the nursing program is going to be like. There are sacrifices that I am going to have to make, and at times it will mean spending less time with friends and family. It is possible that it will place a strain on some relationships, but those who I choose to have around me I would hope would be supportive of my goals and dreams, if not maybe they are really needed in my life. It might not seem "fair" but than life and the work environment is not always fair either. Yes I studied my butt off to get that 4.0 in my anatomy class, but it was worth it and for me was an accomplishment to celebrate when I was finished.

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Specializes in ICU/ Surgery/ Nursing Education.

Taking the better A&P classes wont get you more money, it will get you through nursing school. Studying 7 days a week isn't out of the ordinary. 15 hours over the class time for each class? That sounds a little small, depending on what you want to achieve. You may want to plan for more than that during nursing school, especially if you are having difficulties.

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Specializes in ED, Medicine, Case Management.

A&P at my school was a sequence of 3 courses and I spent at least 15 or more hours per week studying for lecture and lab for each class. The point of college in general is not to take the easiest class possible - it is to learn something that will help you in your career. A&P is not algebra; you will actually use it. Be thankful you have the benefit of a more comprehensive A&P experience that is highly relevant to your future as a nurse.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

I fail to see what is unfair.

Had similar A & P classes and busted my but to get a 3.0; I studied 30 plus hours/week to earn it.

A&P knowledge is a VERY strong base of what nurses KNOW.

We have to know what the doctors know, on top of what we know, btw. :blink:

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Sounds pretty normal. 15 hours is expected in a hard science class. Some students will need more or less.

I had a weird situation where my prof was strong armed into teaching nursing students when he didn't want to. His class was designed for junior pre-med students and he was not willing to change that even though most of his students are now freshman pre-nurses. He also crammed it all into one semester instead of two.

I still managed to get a B without any Herculean effort (could've managed an A if I had) though that nursing school happily accepts C's in that class and many did worse than that. I had difficulties transferring the course and now need to take another semester to satisfy their yearlong course requirement at my new school, and it's now mind numbingly easy by comparison.

Luck of the draw sometimes but what you learn now will make nursing school easier later.

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Specializes in Oncology/hematology.

I was in your situation. I was in the open lab one day, four years ago, and found out that I had the hardest instructor at our school, by far. Everyone was making fun of him and saying I should drop. I was ******. I just needed to get into nursing school, why couldn't I have gotten in one of those other classes?

But, I stayed. I worked hard. And, I have retained all of that information to put into practice as a nurse. That instructor was so pleased with me that he wrote me a letter of recommendation to the honors program at school for a full scholarship. He then wrote me a letter of referral to my BSN bridge program. I use that anatomy class every day working now as a nurse.

Stick with it. Work hard. Learn.

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Hello! I used to joke with my study partners in Anatomy that I felt like we were on crack :). At my school, they separate Anatomy from Physiology. We did a full 24+ chapters of lecture and lab in one semester. Yes, I felt pretty crazy between studying for both lecture exams and lab practicals. On a given day, I'd put in minimum 5+ hours of studying, with the amount of studying increasing dramatically as I got closer to exam(s) day. Our lecture exam consisted of 100 questions, and our lab exam consisted of 74 questions. Yes, it was extremely intense. In Anatomy there is a ton of memorization, which is extremely time consuming. Once you get to Physio, you will kick that up a notch, because you will need to know how stuff works all the way down to the atom, and that is tough.

You should be happy that you are not getting a watered down version of the course. My professor used to say the same thing as your professor regarding the difficulty her class. She took great pride, because she knew that she was preparing us for the next level. My Physio professor is the same way, and reminds us that the complexity of his class, especially the critical thinking portion, will help us in nursing school.

Today, as my Physio Professor discussed a topic, I felt completely prepared for what he was teaching, and it gave me confidence. In that moment, I thought of my anatomy teacher and sat in complete gratitude of her and how she prepared me so perfectly for my physio class. You too, will thank this difficult professor later! :)

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My school is the same way, our nursing program is known as the "best" and "toughest" but employers seek graduates from my school and the experience and knowledge from the program is amazing for when you start your practice in the nursing field. I don't mind working my butt off to get something so amazing out of it. ??

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To those of you who gave truly helpful and insightful answers, thank you! That's why I got on here and asked because it has been a hot topic among our study group at school and it's great to get different people's experiences. Yes, I think it probably is better in the long run and the hard work will be worth it. It's just good to know other schools teach with the same rigor because it seems most of ours around here do not.

For those who misread or took offense to my post, I offer no apologies. Rather, I find it a turn-off that people like to scorn others for an honest question. Yet, I was a high-ranking manager in corporate America and single mom before I voluntarily left to pursue my dream of being a nurse. I know how cut-throat the workplace is (any workplace) and there are always negative people out there that enjoy making assumptions. I don't need to be reminded how difficult and challenging the workforce is because I have been there and I worked hard to get there and I work very hard to be successful at school. I won't let anyone bring me down from my dreams. It's those really encouraging nurses out there who inspire me everyday. So to those out there who encourage rather than tear down. Thanks :)

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