GCU FNP & ACNP Patho Advice

[DavidRNNV]

In looking over the postings for FNP and ACNP at GCU, I'm seeing similar ones to the ones I found almost 2 years ago when I enrolled. Seems like everything is pre-patho and then comments drop off completely. Probably because it is such a hard class, there are so few functional neurons available after you are done! So I thought I would put something to help those looking. For me, I'm an ACNP student (we have FNP stuff too, so I don't think it is any different) and I'm in Advanced Pharm now and almost done, next class is Assessment and then clinicals. I got a B+ in Patho, because I bombed the 1st test – a number of us did in our class. Hopefully, the info below will prevent you from going through this horror!

(FYI – a lot of the info below would apply for any patho class and some for any online NP class regardless of the university. Also, I didn't put anything about group projects – that is a completely different beast and it is the same issue in every class-lazy group members! Bottomline - find good classmates and stick with them! )

For Pathophysiology the textbook is horrible! So there is NO Confusion the book I'm referring to is: Pathophysiology: The Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults and Children, 7e, by McCance and Huethe” it has 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon, but I think it is bogus. When I gave it a detailed two star review, immediately (within a few days) it was flooded with a dozen 5 star reviews that had little or no detail! Very peculiar! I use to really trust Amazon reviews – not so much anymore. Anyway….

The text is more like an encyclopedia than a textbook (1725 pages not including the index). Which might be a good thing, but it is very poorly written. Reading it is like ditch digging…very boring, monotonous, and labor intensive! It not only jumps around topics, but will change how it references different topics. Almost as if the authors had students add multiple paragraphs to a topic, but they didn't make sure it flows with the rest of the topic, just cut and paste and move on. This makes many of the chapters very choppy and disorganized! There are typos throughout and there is waaaay to much detail! If you need it for a class rent it or get the e-book. At least with the e-book you can reference things quickly and use it as a reference book.

Do you need it for the class? Not really. Why? Because diseases don't change from textbook to textbook-Just how they are presented. And McCance and Huethe do a very poor job presenting! What about the tests? Although open book, they are not an exact match for the textbook. That is, if you read a question on the test, the phrase is NOT in the textbook similar to the test. I didn't know how useful it was recognizing phrases this way until I took Patho! I had the e-book for the open book, which helped cut search time in half, but still very, very few phase matches to search or to key your memory. I'm guessing they get the questions from a test bank on the different diseases, so, again, because diseases don't change between textbooks - not sure you really need the text. But I definitely understand the security factor in having it. What to do?

I recommend 4 things when taking patho (for any program) 1) get Robbins Basic Pathology, it is 900 pages and very well written. It has the same information and A LOT easier to read than the GCU assigned book!

2) YouTube – I really miss having old school” lectures to help bring things together and/or prime me for the reading, so I supplement with YouTube lectures – I like MEDCRAM – detailed, but not overly so, well explained and easy to listen to. Also, professorfink has some good videos on youtube as well. Same as MEDCRAM – easy to listen to, well explained, but his videos are longer. They are filmed in an actual classroom, so usually about an hour or a little more. (FYI – He is teaching dentist, but EVERYTHING is the same! Don't get hung up on it! He's Excellent!) Those are the two I use regularly, but find one or two that you are comfortable with and cover most patho topics.

3) Most important for Patho! Try to study before the class starts! I wanted to do this and didn't – Procrastination! I REALLY wish I did SOME studying – pulmonary, cardiac and renal diseases would have made things much better!

4) Have an active system – and try to work it out before you get too far into the class…and try stick to it! Do what works best for you – watch a video, then read a chapter, etc. By "active system" I mean you can't just read the text or watch the videos, you NEED to interact with the materials! Making flash cards, taking notes on paper with your own pictures, or putting them directly into the book. Online classes don't have this intuitively (except for the DQs and papers), like old school” classes, but it is Very Much Needed! Especially if you want to absorb the information in a short period of time. Yes, it requires a little more effort up front, but it is much easier to review your own creation than text on a book or computer screen. And expect it will be much easier to review before boards. FYI – Highlighting doesn't count!

Hope this helps! (Remember #3 is the most important – don't procrastinate!)

David

[lwsoccjs]

Thanks for all the valuable information, but I would disagree about the 7th ed book you referenced. I had same requirement and actually read the entire book forward and back. Thought it had a lot of useful information and love the end of chapter reviews but to each their own.