Fuming Mad

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OMG. I just got home from taking my A&P I lab exam. I hope to heaven that I passed. :sniff: I really don't know how I did, but I know that I didn't do nearly as great as I have done on the lecture exams (I got 2 A's and a B with only one more lecture exam to go).

It was multiple choice, sort of. I thought...GREAT! Multiple Choice! Awesome! I can do that! The exam covered IDing tissue cell types (name, location, function) via microscope, IDing bones and their different parts, and articulations. Ok. I know the bones pretty well. I have a great booklet that came with my A&P text that has fantastic labeled pictures of the bones. I know the tissue cell types and the articulations. BUT THIS TEST WAS AWFUL! I swear they asked me everything that I didn't know. :eek:

Multiple choice...I'm thinking a, b, c, d, e...something like that, since that was what our lecture exams consisted of. But Noooooo! They just listed ALL OF THE BONES/BONE PARTS and we had to pick from the list. I am talking a list of 30-50 bones at a time. Give me a break! And they would just have a bone sitting there & the question would be...what is the name of what is marked (it would have a piece of blue tape on part of the bone or something along those lines). Ok. I know the bones. Put a skeleton in front of me and I could label them and probably get 95% of all the bones and their parts correct. Put a bone by itself & I am lost. Ok, not completely lost, I can pretty well figure out a femur from a humerus, but...gimme a break! When are any of us just going to see a femur sitting around by itself. "Oh...sorry miss so-and-so...is this your femurI just found lying in the hallway?" :angryfire

Ok...I'm just venting. I really shouldn't cry over it...it's over. Nothing I can do about it now. Just hope I passed it & move on. :rolleyes:

Specializes in IMCU/Telemetry.
Originally posted by rnnurse2be

Ours was a bone sitting on a table, you COULD NOT TOUCH it, and a blank line on your sheet. Where ever the arrow pointed on the bone is what you were to answer. For the cadaver, we had pins, again, no touching.... Same with the slides.

Our instructor explained the reason for this. The first people through pick up the subject matter and take the sticker off to get a better look. when they put it back, it's not quiet in the same spot. the first few people are right, but everyone else is lookkng at the wrong spot, therefore, wrong answer.

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I'm so glad that I'm through with my A&P class. We did the whole cat thing for our clinical tests. I never thought leg muscles were so hard until A&P I practicum #2. She had these cats legs in positions that wasn't humanly possible. I had never studied so much in my life for A&P II stuff. I ate,slept and breathed A&P. My poor husband would help me as much as he could, but you can only do so much when you are not in the medical field. My advice is to pass the classes and don't look back! :)

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Did your A&P teacher not tell you it was going to be like that? We were warned from day one how difficult it was going to be. We were allowed to touch bones, just not "try them on". I hate bones. that did suck. The I hated was having to know the little processes and fossa names. grrr.. Knowing whether or not it was a right femur was ok.. but knowing all the the little landmarks sucked. I was glad I learned them this summer though! ;)

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We had a blank peice of paper with numbers, and the bones had numbers and flags on them. We were only allowed to touch them with a wooden dowel rod. We were told this by the pro., so when I studied "daily" in the lab, I would put the bone in front of me while I touched it with the wooden dowel and say the name to myself. It worked out really well for me. I got a 96% on the test. I knew the hardest part would be the skull bones since we also had to know all of them inside and out, so I learned these first, then the rest came easy. I also had a difficult time with the vertabrae, when they were lying there seperately instead of all attatched to the string.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Case Management.

We had a quiz in A&P where the teacher disassembled the skeleton, put ALL the bones in a big bag, and pulled them out one at a time, held it up in front of the class and said, "What's this? Write it down." That was not good.

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Specializes in LTC & Private Duty Pediatrics.

All:

- For our lab exams - it's all total recall from memory.

- If you study for your lab exams in that manner (even if multiple choice lab exams), you will do a whole letter better grade wise.

- Essentially, I do a brain dump on the back of my lab exam. Takes be about 10 min to do it. And I still have enough time to get through the exam.

------------

- Am heading into A&P 101 Finals with "A" -- this is a 10 week accelerated program (versus 16 week program) -- I hold 2 jobs down (Java Programmer & Instructor) -- and still manage to find time to put in 3 to 4 hours per day studying.

- In my opinion, this is the amount of dedication you will need to put into an anatomy class.

- And this effort on your part towards your study-time, will greatly enhance your grades (as you won't need to depend on a multiple-choice exam for the answers -- you will know them from memory). And, if you study properly, you will know 40-60% of the questions that are going to be asked on the exam -- before going in.

- And that is the solution to your problem.

Hope it helps.

John Coxey

([email protected])

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AmyLiz.

I am sure you did fine! We have a mantra in our class, makes us all feel better...repeat prn "It's Okay". Now we don't always believe it but it keeps us from running out onto the expressway. (Our school is very very close to the freeway....)

And for your moment of levity: When we started A & P a young woman piped up from the back of the class in a very disgruntled tone......"Do we really have to know allllllllllll these bones?" I liked to die laughing......No honey just pick the ones you want to memorize!

You did fine!

Tres

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Hang in there Kiddo~ Even if oyu did fail THIS test....at least you know what to expect from now on.

Hope you did ok though!

Julie :)

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Thanks everyone. I'm feeling a lot better now. Just suffered from a bit of the post-tramatic-test-syndrome. :chuckle

Our instructor did tell us "sort of" what the test would be like...that we wouldn't be able to touch the bones, etc. I think the thing that irritated me most about this lab is that he really didn't teach us much. He didn't go over all of the bones we were required to know...just touched on the ones that are involved in the articulations & that was it. Then during the one and only lab class where we actually had an "experiment", he did it for us really fast & that was it. Seemed like he just wanted to go home every week rather than teach. Our lab time was from 6:30pm to 9:05pm and the latest we ever stayed was not quite 8:00pm.

I have been/did study a lot for this class. I've got an A in lecture so far (only one more exam & that's tomorrow night). I studied more for this class than I have probably ever studied for any other class because of the amount of information and the fact that I knew going into the class that it was going to be hard. I probably studied anywhere from 2-6 hours per day, depending on the day, etc. Just boggles my mind that I could get an A in the lecture & then do poorly on the lab exam. And of course if you're a nursing major and get below a C in the lab, you have to take the whole class over again regardless how you did in the lecture. That really irritates me! But, I'm not going to lose sleep over it right now. I know I will pass the class regardless and will be able to continue with A&P II next term. If I bombed the lab, I'll take A&P I again after I'm done with the series. And I'd better get an A then!

Tres...I'm adopting your mantra. "It's okay" :D (our campus is close to the freeway as well!)

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Well, I ended up with a 79% on the lab exam! That's a C...and that's passing for nursing majors! *phew!* I got an A on the last lecture exam as well and ended up with an A in the class, even after that 79 on the lab exam! YAY! I'm very happy...I get another 4.0 gpa this term!

Now, hopefully I can keep it up for next term. The instructor I will have for A&P II is notoriously AWFUL, so I'm going to try & study ahead before the term starts.

Thanks to all of you for your words of advice, comfort and encouragement! :kiss

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Congratulations on a perfect GPA!!!!

now go celebrate and do something nice for yourself! You deserve it!

Gator

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Specializes in med/surg & geriatrics.

All I can say is I thank God every day that A&P I & II are both behind me. I kept a headache and nervous stomach for two straight semesters. Especially at mid-term and finals! Now, it's time for the nursing classes and I will be experiencing those wonderful moments of anxiety again.

Ahhh- the joys of nursing school! :) Angi

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