Failed first pathophysiology exam

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jun 13, 2018

Do you have the study guide for the book by chance? I'm not sure which textbook you're using
My current college uses Porth's essentials of patho, the study guide, and prepU to go along with it and I feel like this prepared me. The study guide doesn't go into super deep detail but I feel like it helps guide my reading and understanding of some of the heavier chapters.

Yeah, our book has a study guide sold separately, which I bought, and I personally think it goes into super detail. We don't have any other kind of program other than the Elsevier that might be what you would use as PrepU. He has power points which I print in color and some people have said they just study the power points and not read the book. One person I know claims that; she made an 88 in the class. A girl I spoke to yesterday said she made a 90; she said the same thing she studies the power points and doesn't read the book. A friend of mine in the class made a low B and says the same; she doesn't open the book and just studies the power points. So I shall try that. I did that for my A&P class and I got A's, but I worked with a tutor the whole time and I would study the stuff by myself after meeting the tutor.

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jun 15, 2018

Was there a way you guys knew when to not read something that you didn't need to?

Wiggly Litchi · Jun 15, 2018

Ish - I tend to use the powerpoints as a guide for my reading - I'll skim the other stuff in the chapter, but I only really close read the stuff that is mentioned in the powerpoint.

I find that if I study the powerpoint first and get an idea of what's going on, the book fills in the blanks for me on trickier concepts.

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jun 16, 2018

Ish - I tend to use the powerpoints as a guide for my reading - I'll skim the other stuff in the chapter, but I only really close read the stuff that is mentioned in the powerpoint.
I find that if I study the powerpoint first and get an idea of what's going on, the book fills in the blanks for me on trickier concepts.

Is your instructor an eye surgeon? Mine is and likes to ask weird surgeon questions like instead of saying erythropoietin, he'll instead use a word like erythopoinapathy or something like that. The words he uses are words I've never seen before and I am one who can't remember what the questions were like on exams.

Wiggly Litchi · Jun 16, 2018

Is your instructor an eye surgeon? Mine is and likes to ask weird surgeon questions like instead of saying erythropoietin, he'll instead use a word like erythopoinapathy or something like that. The words he uses are words I've never seen before and I am one who can't remember what the questions were like on exams.

Naw, I think she's got her doctorate in pharmacology. Her questions can be grueling though as they're mostly essay questions.

It might be worth tagging a copy of Medical Terminology Made Incredibly Easy if you're having trouble with the wording. Have you tried talking to your instructor? They might have some resources that could help you catch up on the vocabulary if it's tripping you up.

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jun 16, 2018

Naw, I think she's got her doctorate in pharmacology. Her questions can be grueling though as they're mostly essay questions.
It might be worth tagging a copy of Medical Terminology Made Incredibly Easy if you're having trouble with the wording. Have you tried talking to your instructor? They might have some resources that could help you catch up on the vocabulary if it's tripping you up.

I've talked to him asking if he knew of any websites that he bases his test questions off of and he said no. No books, no nothing. His expansion of knowledge is widespread. He's crazy. It's nothing like A&P and I wish it was. In some way, I kind of felt like I was answering questions in a medical terminology class than a pathophysiology class.

Regina_Phalange, BSN · Jun 17, 2018

I know you said you don't want to use Quizlet, but it is a fantastic resource if you know how to use it properly!! I have gotten all A's in all my nursing classes, including patho, due in large to Quizlet. I search for each chapter individually. For example, if I was assigned chapter 18 Reproductive Disorders, I will put exactly that into the search bar "chapter 18 Reproductive Disorders" if I needed to narrow it down more, I'd add the authors name in. You get practice questions for every chapter that way and it really helps to focus your attention on the major stuff. Good luck, it gets better once you find your groove!

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jun 17, 2018

I search for each chapter individually. For example, if I was assigned chapter 18 Reproductive Disorders, I will put exactly that into the search bar "chapter 18 Reproductive Disorders" if I needed to narrow it down more, I'd add the authors name in. You get practice questions for every chapter that way and it really helps to focus your attention on the major stuff. Good luck, it gets better once you find your groove!

I'll have to look into doing that. I recently did that with course hero but that was for an untimed, online quiz. And the quiz, imo, had nothing to do with what the exams looked like. I'm just like "WHAT.THE.****"...

Also, I'm usually good about that kind of stuff where I can look up stuff using unique keywords. But I'll definitely try your way. Hopefully, I can get practice where different terminology is used and might not be in the book, but means the same.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2018

I guarantee you that everyone has failed a test at least once in their life. It happens. Try to move on and ACE your next test!

Well, you are wrong. I have never failed an exam. I don't consider that any big deal, though. I agree that one bad exam is merely a blip on the radar that can certainly be overcome.

missmollie, ADN, BSN, RN · Jun 18, 2018

You know you are finished studying if you can teach the topic. Break it up into sections, then study until you absolutely know it. Then teach it. I used to talk it out at home and I would try to teach my husband or to my then 6 year old, going through each progressive step of a disease process until I knew I had it down. If you can teach it, then you understand it.

Also, khanacademy.org is AMAZING. Their videos will help you retain information. I would sometimes watch these videos four or five times until I knew it by heart. Graduated with a 3.8 GPA, so not too shabby!

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jun 19, 2018

You know you are finished studying if you can teach the topic. Break it up into sections, then study until you absolutely know it. Then teach it. I used to talk it out at home and I would try to teach my husband or to my then 6 year old, going through each progressive step of a disease process until I knew I had it down. If you can teach it, then you understand it.
Also, khanacademy.org is AMAZING. Their videos will help you retain information. I would sometimes watch these videos four or five times until I knew it by heart. Graduated with a 3.8 GPA, so not too shabby!

I've encouraged couples to do that. I guess because their S/O doesn't have the patience to be able to listen to a carpet bomb of jargon, they just tell them "when I tell you something, just say yes or ok". I'm a little slow when I try to read about something. There have been times when I would confuse myself or get mixed up with something. I'm still trying to investigate it. There were two things that I read and the information as to their cause or something mixed me up and made me think, is one a subtype of the other or totally different? The symptoms are identical, yet I think they might be separate diseases? I have had my moments where I could link a few things such as deep vein thrombosis is a precursor to pulmonary embolism and brain aneurysm and a brain aneursym is a precursor to pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, which kind of didn't make sense, but kind of did because it starts with the clot and once the clot that was a thrombus breaks off to become an embolus or thromboembolus travels throughout the blood stream until it cannot fit into a vessel.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2018

I've encouraged couples to do that. I guess because their S/O doesn't have the patience to be able to listen to a carpet bomb of jargon, they just tell them "when I tell you something, just say yes or ok". I'm a little slow when I try to read about something. There have been times when I would confuse myself or get mixed up with something. I'm still trying to investigate it. There were two things that I read and the information as to their cause or something mixed me up and made me think, is one a subtype of the other or totally different? The symptoms are identical, yet I think they might be separate diseases? I have had my moments where I could link a few things such as deep vein thrombosis is a precursor to pulmonary embolism and brain aneurysm and a brain aneursym is a precursor to pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, which kind of didn't make sense, but kind of did because it starts with the clot and once the clot that was a thrombus breaks off to become an embolus or thromboembolus travels throughout the blood stream until it cannot fit into a vessel.

No, that doesn't make sense.