AP1 during winter session at HCC or anyother cc

clhRN2b2010 · Sep 24, 2008

How long is the winter session? Our winter session's (AACC) are only two weeks and I don't think A&P is offered in that format.

Agrippa · Sep 25, 2008

Does HCC even offer AP1 in the winter?

Fallon · Sep 25, 2008

No, just A&P II is offered during the winter session

FutureNurseSaga · Sep 25, 2008

I looked at he class schedule for winter of 2008 and it was being offered at the laurel campus.

Fallon · Sep 25, 2008

The winter sessions only run for 6-8 weeks, so unless you have taken A&P before I would not recommend it. There is alot of information to retain in such a short amount of time. I am enrolled in A&P I now and it is my only class and it is definitely a struggle.

Jules A, MSN · Sep 25, 2008

I did it over the summer and got an A.

MZTwin · Sep 25, 2008

Greetings FutureNurseSaga,

I would like to second what Fallon said. Although everyone's situation is unique, I wouldn't suggest taking A&P over the winter or any other condensed format if it's not just a refresher. However, I do agree with Jules in that if you study hard enough it is possible to get an A. The problem is that, although you may get an A, it's a strong possibility that you won't retain most of the information. Currently I'm at UMAB taking PathoPharmacology, which is a 5 credit class, and the rest of the first semester courses. The majority of people in my class are having problems understanding the material in PathoPharm, primarily because of the amount of information we are given on top of needing to remember A&P. In my opinion, which you can take with a grain of salt, us students try to "knock out" the pre-reqs a little too quickly and don't really understand the material to the extent that we need to make our subsequent classes easier. Although everyone always says this, nursing school is hard and it's a LOT of information. It not rocket science per se, but they give you so much information at once it becomes hard to catch it all. My suggestion is to take it slower if you can and truly put the time in to understand the concepts, however sometimes that's not always possible.

Good Luck,

MZTwin

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Oct 8, 2008

I did it over the summer too at HCC and got an A

Blueorchid, ASN, RN · Oct 8, 2008

As an HCC student myself (this is my last semester, I start UMB in January ) I agree wholeheartedly with MZTwin. Looking back at AAP I it seems like a fairly easy course compared to AAP II and the sheer scope of what you have to learn.

However if AAP I is your first introduction to the study of the human body it can also be a real knock out. Knowing that everyone is different there are clearly some people who can take the course over the summer or winter and do smashingly. But knowing the grading system at HCC I can also tell you the amount of information you need to know for the lab practicals really can't be fully studied within the span of a few weeks. The very first practical you have to memorize most of the bones in the human body along with particular features on each (condyles, fossa, etc) and it takes alot of time...the second one delves into the muscles and the origin insertion and action of each (invest in flash cards...). If you don't do well on the first, the muscles can sneak up on you very easily.

What teachers at HCC don't like to tell you is that in the shortened semesters they tend to skip over "unimportant" sections of the course material. They have to, its cramming several months worth of information into weeks. And while it may not be important to the class as a whole, it's those extra tidbits (case studies are a perfect example) that you miss out on while covering material at warp speed that really make you understand things more than two months after you've taken it.

Is it possible to do the course in the winter? Sure. But are you going to take the time every day during the holidays to sit down and learn the information? Well that's something you have to answer.

Hope this helps

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Oct 13, 2008

I took AP 2 over the summer. Got an A... in my opinion ap2 is much easier.