How to pass Anatomy and physiology ?

zenman · May 13, 2005

earthlovers123 said:
Hello,
I am male student nurse.
I am taking anatomy and physiology II this summer.
I really need to pass this course to be able to take nursing class in fall 05
I desperately need advice in study techniques, and strategies to pass this course
I would really appreciate all your wonderful suggestions

Read the material before class. Anything you hear the teacher say that you didn't read in the book, write it down. Spend most of the time just listening...which you can do if you read before hand. Also before class highlight important points in the book with a highlighter. I also just highlight as the teacher talks instead of writing notes. If you are trying to write down everything you will miss something. After class or the day after review your notes. By now you have gone over the material at least 3 times. Don't cram before a test.

expatnurse · May 13, 2005

earthlovers123 said:
Hello,
I am male student nurse.
I am taking anatomy and physiology II this summer.
I really need to pass this course to be able to take nursing class in fall 05
I desperately need advice in study techniques, and strategies to pass this course
I would really appreciate all your wonderful suggestions

I am someone with learning differences and this is what I did and I have always said if people studied the way I did everone would pass. I passed with a 85% ready. 1. Read the material before you go to class. 2. Take notes in class and listen and ask questions when you are unclear. 3. Have questions ready when you walk into class about things you did not understand when reading and if these points aren't made clear to you ask even if needed at the end of class. 4. Reread the information once you get home. 5. Rewrite your notes from class. 6. Make a review sheet with the information and be quized over it along and along. 7. Try to make the information real to yourself for example think about the what your own body is doing when you eat the sandwich and how the digestive system works. 8. Get with a study group. 9. Reread the information again. 10. Relax in the knowledge that you know know the information and when you go into class you are able to keep pace with the topic being discussed. After all these steps are followed you will not need luck you know it. and people make there own luck.

babyktchr, BSN, RN · May 13, 2005

A&P was my greatest challenge, and my greatest love in nursing school. It takes constant study time to really "get it" I really have nothing more to add to the great advice that has already been given, other than to really keep ahead of the game here. You are taking this course during the summer and its probably abbreviated, so it is going to be intense. Keep reviewing all of the time.

Much luck to you.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · May 13, 2005

Make flash cards and use them in every spare moment you have. Even done in a relaxed way the repetition is really important. Nemonics for anything you can figure them out for. Those 2 things more than anything else enabled me to get a 4.0 even with micro and psych during the short intense summer quarter.

It is just a darn shame I cannot remember any of now though! Good luck - you can do it.

Achoo!, LPN · May 13, 2005

Alot of the books have the important information in diagrams and tables. I did most of my studying off of those and the quizzes at the back of each chapter. Also if your book comes with a CD it has quizzes and diagrams which help also.

ryanfocker · May 13, 2005

there is two different things to study for 1. anatomy 2. physilogy

anatomy is simply the names of parts of the body.

physiology is how things work

for the anatomy, it is simply rote memorization. flash cards and pnuemonic devices are the best way, hands down. i can still recite my pneumonic devices with ease.

physiology is all form and function. think function and you can understand everything else. spleen-filter.....red pulp, white pulp are there for filtering.....whate do they filter? use an easy pneumonic device....

studying isn't about remembering, i can't say that enough times. studying isn't about remembering. your brain is powerful enough to remember details of your childhood 80 years prior.

studying is about RECALL. testing is about recall. read a page, close your eyes, and with your eyes closed recall it. keep doing it until you can recall all your notes.

and most important, stay calm and believe in yourself. i sprinter runs fastest when relaxed. you can't do a thing with negative self image. i aced all my prereqs using this advice, i always believe i can get an A. and i breathe deep and stay calm.

CathRN · May 13, 2005

I can't add anything to the other posters. I used all the above recommendations. I received all A's in my pre-req's and nursing school courses. Just keep it up and most of all Good Luck and keep us posted.

hikernurse · May 13, 2005

Hi.

I'm a female nursing student :). Sorry, I couldn't resist.

The other suggestions were great, the only thing I can think to add is don't try to do it all at once. I used flash cards more than anything (I bought a professional set to recognize muscles because that was my hardest area); I put everything on them. It took forever to write them out, but that was helpful, too. I would spend maybe 10-20 minutes at a time reviewing them, but I did it many times a day. That worked better than a marathon session. Good luck! One system at a time, it's really not as bad as you'd think.

Hoosiernurse, ADN, RN · May 13, 2005

I just passed my first anatomy and phys with a squeaker A....ONE POINT! WHEW! My methods were to make flash cards, attend study sessions with other students and learn some of their techiniques for learning, make up rhymes for the first letters of some parts, or even stories about some articulating parts, some students tape recorded the teacher. I did my reading in the beginning, but before long it became obvious that all tests were being taken strictly from the notes in class...so of course I took TONS of them. By the middle of class almost none of the information was being taken directly from the book. That's another thing to learn, how your teacher teaches the class. If she says she's not using the book much, concentrate on the notes and what is said in class and use the book to clarify things. I make a lot of drawings of things that I need to learn, so I can see how they work.

In the beginning, we were blowing tests badly because she would give us a test over three chapters. There was so much in each chapter that there was no way to keep it straight. We asked her if we could have tests more often, with fewer questions, over each chapter, and she agreed. It saved my grade, I am sure.

And I agree, DON'T cram. It doesn't work, because the mind needs time to take in so much information and if you don't give it that time, it will not stay in there for recall on a test.

Good luck!

Cara

Ex130Load · May 13, 2005

Just had my last nursing final. Late in the game, a friend recommended and I tried a palm-sized tape recorder, $65(?)+ Sony. Nothing is missed. Lectures can be repeated. Mine used mini-tapes and I opted for 90-minute tapes, depending on speed selected. At my school, we 'most always received PwrPt slides prior to class, downloaded and printed them, and they formed the basis of our notes. Recording came in handy as I could review slides at home on the computer and fill in information holes on printed notes. Don't use the auto voice record mode because the recorder delays recording until the recorder registers a pre-determined audio level--first parts of sentences can be lost. Always have extra tapes and batteries on hand!!! Monitor power levels. Monitor tape remaining during lectures--lost 15 minutes of lecture because I didn't realize I had used the entire side and the recorder stopped. Sit closer to the teacher for increased audibility. My recorder had settings for various environments--dictation (up close), meeting (20-40? Feet away), and lecture (in one of our auditoriums).

Some faculty is dead against being recorded. I've only had one throughout my bachelor career--she had a bad experience... everything is recorded. I taped surreptitiously just for my use and didn't let others know what I was doing. My recorder has a bright red light to inform you and everyone else it's powered and in use. A small piece of electrical tape covered the light nicely. I liked this particular teacher, she had valid reasons from her perspective, and I had mine. She threw out a lot of stuff not on PwrPt, spoke fast, and I wouldn't be allowed to repeat another nursing class...

In my A & P class, we sometimes studied disease/conditions related to anatomical systems--GI: ulcerative colitis, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome, etc. We also did that in nursing school. Some symptoms, treatments, and in nursing classes--nursing diagnoses make it difficulty for my learning style to assimilate info and be able to differentiate between superficially similar disease/conditions. I took 12 x 18 drawing paper, vertically taped together as many as needed, lengthwise or widthwise as appropriate, and drew appropriately sized columns listing: the disease/condition name, susceptible population, symptoms, treatment, drugs used, nursing diagnoses, etc. This method crucial to adult health... the second time in nursing school. It allowed me to visually compare and contrast everything in one place. This viewed needed info in a small, more concise format as opposed to seeing the same info scattered over 45 text pages or 20 pages of notes. I could more easily remember drug treatments for tachycardia, supratachycardia, atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, etc. by their visual location on my 4-page foldout on cardiac dysrhythmias. Several us of successfully employed that style of info packaging, a method recommended by a faculty member whose primary job was to assist struggle students. I think her PhD was in education...

Use flash cards to learn or review things like cranial nerves. You're on the shuttle bus, have a med appointment, have a few minutes to review/study but can't write or read, etc. What are the normal ranges of potassium, magnesium, sodium, urine specific gravity , etc in the body? Flash cards are a handy review method for these and other topics. Many students can do well without these additionally time-consuming methods; I hope you're one of them. If you ain't and find yourself struggling, think about these suggestions earlier rather than sooner. I could repeat A & P as much as needed, not so adult health.

Good luck

GrnHonu99, RN · May 13, 2005

Hi!

I am currently in AP2 (halfway) and finished AP1 last quarter, so far A's;)

here are a few tips:i know some of them are the same tips already mentioned

1.)read the material before class

2.)notecards are really helpful

3.)comprehension is key...dont just memorize, its much easier to remember things if you understand how they work....

4.)here is a webiste that REALLY helped me: http://www.mhhe.com/saladin3

click on "student edition"

click on "study partner"

click on "essential study partner" -it should open in a new window

this takes you through the WHOLE anatomy course..its so helpful, you go through and its like having your own little lecture and there are interactive slides too...

also when you first go to the website and click "student edition" at that page you can also go down to the bottom and choose a chapter-there are also quizzes there as well as crosswords and notecards...good luck!