Failed A&P: Need Study Advice for Lecture Part

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jul 5, 2015

Take the lecture part in person also. You said you did well on the lab which was in person. I would assume what was covered in lab was what was covered in lecture that week. My lab was just basically look up close and personal with the organs, bones, muscles. We dissected and identified. If you can do it lab, you should be able to do it in the lecture part.

I have only taken one class online. It was college algebra. I barely pulled a B out of it. I do much better in a in person class so I can ask my questions directly when they pop up.

walktheline · Jul 5, 2015

No plans to take class "in class." I have always taken online and hybrid classes and made As and Bs. Unfortunately, class is out of sync with lab because of start date/holidays/breaks throwing off subject matter. Example: lab subject still bones, at least another 2 weeks before bone test, but Lecture has already moved on to muscles...

What I am really looking for are study techniques... Should I read entire chapter then go back and take notes or take notes during readings? I already do flash cards, which I like but would prefer a less time-consuming method. Am I only looking at bold type entries when I read? Should I also include answering questions at end of chapter, etc. Stuff like this will really help me...Thanks!

malamud69, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2015

Make your own flashcards. Buy index cards in bulk and go to town

ixchel · Jul 5, 2015

Most body systems have common pattern. The initial chapters with cells, tissues and chem won't follow the pattern, but the organs/body systems will.

Focus on:

1. Cellular level: what makes these cells unique? What are their parts? How are they "born"? How do they "die"? How do they work individually? How do they work together?

2. Tissue level: Same questions

3. Organ level: what is the function of the organ? What makes it work? How does it interact with other organs?

4. System level: What are this system's homeostatic processes? What regulates them? How does this system affect other systems?

That is a very basic outline, but if you know these things, you should be able to be successful on tests. I strongly suggest face to face classes, as others have suggested. It's a lot of content rather quickly, and hearing it spoken by someone else may help.

Also, I understand you want a quicker method of studying, but this isn't really a class you can study more quickly. It is also the most relevant, most foundational class you will have for all that is to come. This class tends to weed out those who aren't willing to put in the time and effort. Don't be that person!

Purple_roses · Jul 5, 2015

No plans to take class "in class." I have always taken online and hybrid classes and made As and Bs. Unfortunately, class is out of sync with lab because of start date/holidays/breaks throwing off subject matter. Example: lab subject still bones, at least another 2 weeks before bone test, but Lecture has already moved on to muscles...
What I am really looking for are study techniques... Should I read entire chapter then go back and take notes or take notes during readings? I already do flash cards, which I like but would prefer a less time-consuming method. Am I only looking at bold type entries when I read? Should I also include answering questions at end of chapter, etc. Stuff like this will really help me...Thanks!

I've bolded a major red flag. "Less time consuming" is not going to improve your grades. If flashcards worked for you, I would recommend Quizlet, as it takes less time to create the flashcards and you don't run the risk of losing them. Take notes on lecture, take notes on your reading, study the lecture material soon after the lecture--this helped me nail down the information. Others have done well by going through anatomy coloring books. I myself looked for apps that went through details of every single body system. One thing is for sure though: a good grade takes lots and lots of time-consuming studying.

walktheline · Jul 5, 2015

Thanks everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it! Ironically, I have also been checking out A&P study videos posted by nursing and pre-med/med students on YouTube, and the one thing the posters have in common is their belief that A&P is all about memorization, and once you get past it into your program, then you start to concentrate on understanding relationships and functions. The nursing students and RNs on YouTube said you will end up going back over it in MedSurg anyway...

ixchel · Jul 5, 2015

Thanks everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it! Ironically, I have also been checking out A&P study videos posted by nursing and pre-med/med students on YouTube, and the one thing the posters have in common is their belief that A&P is all about memorization, and once you get past it into your program, then you start to concentrate on understanding relationships and functions. The nursing students and RNs on YouTube said you will end up going back over it in MedSurg anyway...

That is true. All of this will be reinforced time and time again over your next few years. Micro will revisit the immune system, patho will revisit each system addressing dysfunction, med/surg will revisit most systems, maternity will revisit reproductive organs, psych will revisit the neurotransmitters and some hormones. By the time you graduate, yes, you will have this all down. But you still have to get this down. A&P is memorization. You have to have it memorized to apply it.

Purple_roses · Jul 5, 2015

Thanks everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it! Ironically, I have also been checking out A&P study videos posted by nursing and pre-med/med students on YouTube, and the one thing the posters have in common is their belief that A&P is all about memorization, and once you get past it into your program, then you start to concentrate on understanding relationships and functions. The nursing students and RNs on YouTube said you will end up going back over it in MedSurg anyway...

You're welcome! Youtube videos and Google Images were also very helpful for me. It helps you picture those complicated definitions you're reading in your book.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jul 5, 2015

Thanks everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it! Ironically, I have also been checking out A&P study videos posted by nursing and pre-med/med students on YouTube, and the one thing the posters have in common is their belief that A&P is all about memorization, and once you get past it into your program, then you start to concentrate on understanding relationships and functions. The nursing students and RNs on YouTube said you will end up going back over it in MedSurg anyway...

That is true. You will go over it in MedSurg. But you need to have a fundamental understanding of it. Your nursing instructors are going to expect that you already know this stuff. They are going to want to teach you nursing interventions and the patho of the diseases. We had many weeks in MedSurg where some people had no idea about the Physiology of the body and asked so many questions related to Physiology, that we could not get to the nursing part of medsurg. It actually prompted our program to change some things in that dept. It was more than frustrating.

Also realize that at most schools the A&P classes are extremely heavily weighted when deciding whether or not you get in the program to begin with. My school went on a points system where A&P I and II were given the most points. Some schools simply look at prereq grades, and some do a cumulative GPA. And depending on the program you will need it for the entrance exam. I took the Teas. About half of the science was A&P, there was also some chem, and some life science.

A&P is about memorization. I used Quizlet a lot. I also would walk around my house and pretend I was teaching it to someone. That helped immensely. But if you don't understand how neurons work and diffusion works, etc, you are not going to understand how the disease process works and what all is affected in the body. It's not just I will get through and pass because we will review it in MedSurg. If you don't understand osmolarity of cells and the relationships with sodium and potassium, you could hang the wrong back of solution. Doctors can make mistakes when writing orders and you have to understand these things so if the wrong thing is written you can clarify to the doctor. A&P is your foundation for nursing. I have had MedSurg I and II so far. I will do Advanced MedSurg in the spring. So you will come in contact with these subject matters probably hourly on the job.

blackribbon · Jul 6, 2015

If you want to prepare for nursing school, study until you understand the information enough to think your way through a test question. If you are depending on raw memorization, then you will be relearning the stuff when you get to nursing school. The hardest thing about nursing school for me was changing how I studied....I could memorize and guess my way through a lot of the prerequisite classes and still make As but when I hit nursing school, I realized that people's very lives or comfort level may depend whether or not I really understand how the pancreas works and where exactly it is located in the human body. Do yourself a favor and don't look for a "time saving" way to learn A&P. Save the time by cutting corners in history or that humanity elective you are required to have. Learn you A&P well. You won't regret investing the time when you are studying for your NCLEX.