How did you study for A&P?

Neywel120 · Sep 5, 2016

QUOTE=SierraMoon;9174525]This is a great time of year for this. Go down to Big Lots or Walmart and buy a halloween skeleton. They can be surprising detailed. I named mine Elvis. He's around 18 inches or two feet tall. Carried him around with me and named off bones. I still use him for decoration. Cost maybe 20 bucks.

I also printed off pics and replaced the labels with numbers. Made an answer key and quizzed myself.

Smart idea I'm going to try this!

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Sep 6, 2016

You need to read the chapters before lecture. If the lecture is on the musculoskeletal system, then you need to read that chapter before the lecture, not after.

You will probably feel like you don't understand what you're reading, but as you hear the lecture, everything will click and come together. If you don't read before class you don't know enough to be able to ask the right questions.

mrphil79 · Sep 7, 2016

I loved A&P. They were HARD classes, but I loved what I was learning - so that helped.

The advice I have is how to deal with a distractable instructor...

95 times out of 100, if you have an instructor (in any subject) that gets off topic, it's because he/she just likes to talk. This is actually usually really easy to work with for a serious student, because they can be swayed to talk about whatever topic you happen to throw at them.

SO, if it's going off in a odd direction, raise your hand and ask a question that'll get things going in the right direction again. You'll be shocked how well this will probably work.

And the metaphors, if you don't get it, you gotta speak up.

Instructors that use metaphors a lot are doing it because they are trying to make the material easier for you to understand, not because they are weird and have 73 cats to get home to and don't know how to teach. Raise your hand, say "I'm sorry, can you clarify..." (or any one of 100 variations on that sentiment. You can also throw your own metaphor back at the instructor - if you don't get the subject, your metaphor will suck and the instructor will try to explain it differently.

While you have classified him as someone who doesn't teach very well, I think you actually have someone who really wants student involvement (questions, responses, etc...), and based on the abundance of metaphors, he's someone who truly wants his students to understand it rather than just cram and regurgitate the information on a test sheet - and if nobody is speaking up or offering alternate metaphors, he's just assuming what he is saying makes sense to everyone.

But you gotta read the stuff before the lecture so you at least have some kind of foundation to build on in class, otherwise you're wasting his time and yours.

Long story short - this sounds like an instructor/professor who will be pee his pants excited to have student involvement and topical conversation during the class. Take advantage of that, because it's GREAT to have if you really want to understand A&P.

mrphil79 · Sep 7, 2016

You need to read the chapters before lecture. If the lecture is on the musculoskeletal system, then you need to read that chapter before the lecture, not after.
You will probably feel like you don't understand what you're reading, but as you hear the lecture, everything will click and come together.
If you don't read before class you don't know enough to be able to ask the right questions.

This 100% is correct.

MrChicagoRN, RN · Sep 8, 2016

You need to read the chapters before lecture. If the lecture is on the musculoskeletal system, then you need to read that chapter before the lecture, not after.
You will probably feel like you don't understand what you're reading, but as you hear the lecture, everything will click and come together. If you don't read before class you don't know enough to be able to ask the right questions.

What worked for me was that in addition to reading before the class, before reading the chapter itself, I'd read the 2-3 page review at the end of the chapter. It kind of planted a seed of what the high points were that I should focus on when I read the chapter itself.

Meeshie · Sep 8, 2016

I used a coloring book. You can get A&P coloring books on amazon. It was surprisingly helpful to me.

snowy_owl · Sep 9, 2016

...Also, try explaining to friends/family/your dog/cat how the heart works (or kidney, whatever organ you're studying). Saying it out loud helped me a lot.
You've got this! Study hard! :)

My Aussie is currently hearing all about the nervous system. He may be bored but it is helpful to me.

I love all the advice here..so much I never thought of :facepalm: but will be putting into practice.

Spanky2014 · Sep 9, 2016

I recorded my lectures and used a smart pen. I went to the instructor and asked what I should focus on. I also asked if he could tell me what to focus on during the exam. I also took pics of the slides in the microscope to study at home and made screen slides. I spoke to the professor and asked who in his classes is doing well that I could pair up with. Also google your professor and see if others wrote about his exams meaning if he tested as he taught or where there surprises.

Just a few ideas

PrnAdnST · Sep 10, 2016

I recorded my lectures and used a smart pen. I went to the instructor and asked what I should focus on. I also asked if he could tell me what to focus on during the exam. I also took pics of the slides in the microscope to study at home and made screen slides. I spoke to the professor and asked who in his classes is doing well that I could pair up with. Also google your professor and see if others wrote about his exams meaning if he tested as he taught or where there surprises.
Just a few ideas

I used a smart pen too, listened to it over and over. I still use my pen for my nursing classes. Best thing I ever bought for school.

I was also lucky to have my instructors have video online lectures and I would listen and follow in my book with my highlighter at least 3 times to understand some of the content they were trying to explain.

I printed out the slides they had for our A&P Lab class and bought page protectors and a dry erase pen and used those to learn. We also had models in Lab and our library to learn with. We would work in a study group to learn the models they tested us on. I made concept maps and drew pictures and used colored paper, pens, made flashcards, an app for flashcards on my phone.

Repetition, repetition, repetition...

The better you study in A&P, the more you will understand your nursing classes. Good luck!

thegameisthick · Sep 10, 2016

TBH taking good notes is the best advice. The way I studied for all my sciences was to cram. I got a 4.0 in all my sciences. The key to successful cramming is good notes. That can be a problem with crappy teachers, however. Rate My Professors is your friend. Also, study groups are only good for lab portions. for lecture, others are a distraction.

BrendanO, MSN, RN · Sep 10, 2016

I'd agree with the folks who said to read the chapters before the lecture. That's true for any subject, not just A&P. Get the little post-it flags to mark areas that you don't understand in the textbook, and if those questions aren't answered in the lecture, ask about them either in class or during office hours. Anatomy is really mostly memorization, physiology less so. Knowing the location of the olecranon, or what the perineurium is aren't things you can reason out based on evidence; you just need to know them. There are TONS of free resources online for anatomy. You can get multiple different A&P lectures on iTunesU or youtube and listen to them while you're walking, etc. Depending on how much histology your class involves, making flash cards of tissue types from google images (and not just so you can recognize them overall, but you need to be able to explain the cell types, arrangements, functions, etc) can be helpful; make multiple cards for each type so you are forced to recognize five different pictures of elastic cartilage, not just one.

Does your textbook have questions at the end of the chapters? Can you answer those questions on your own? Many texts also have "learning objectives" at the start of the chapters. Definitely look at those and see if you meet the objectives after reading the chapter.

I'm curious, when you said you ended a 3 hour lecture and didn't LEARN anything, did you mean that you didn't UNDERSTAND anything that was taught, or you didn't learn anything new? If you're not understanding anything, go talk to the professor. They are often open to feedback about how they're teaching, particularly if they see students who aren't getting anything out of lectures. Just be respectful when you approach a professor.

KiusLady, ASN, RN · Sep 12, 2016

I'm taking *Essentials* of A&P this semester as a pre-req for the real deal (because I heard A&P 1 & 2 are so tough).

The nice thing is I love this stuff and took a much simpler version back in art school over 15 years ago. Having that pre-knowledge has helped, but there is still a *lot* to memorize!

I'm kind of bummed we don't need to know how to spell things in this class as it'll promote laziness as things get tougher (all tests & quizzes will be multiple choice), so I've been taking the time to write things out.

Because I *can* draw, I'll sketch out a quick, rough form and label the hell out of it; starting with the points I know already and then carefully copying out of the book things I don't. I pay close attention to spelling because it'll be important later.

While driving, I run through the body parts we're learning that week; making mental notes of the ones I can't remember to look up later.

I rattle off vocab to my niece and husband.

In Karate class, if I have an opportunity to play with a fellow classmate, I'll throw light kicks or punches, identifying the parts of the body I'm hitting.

It's all rote learning, but it builds upon itself since the naming conversions have purpose.

Again, I *love* this stuff so I'm happy filling free moments with review.

PS - I am loving that Halloween skeleton idea! Might have to go out and get one! :)