How did you study for A&P?

ChipotleNurse · Sep 3, 2016

A&P I & II is different from any class I've taken before because I feel like I can't just learn by simply paying attention in lecture/lab. Partly because there is so much information given to you all at once, and also because the class is all about memorization. Unfortunately, everyone's studying habits are different, so what may work for me may not be suitable for you. One tough part of A&P is you really have to figure out a routine on how to study, and that usually takes a couple weeks into the class to finalize.

However, I'll share my stay habits in hopes that they will help you out.

1) I go to lecture and pay as much attention as I can, and take as much notes as I can. I may not fully understand what the professor is saying or what I am writing now, but hopefully I can piece is all in my head later when I study. To save myself time, I print out the powerpoints in notes form, and I just take notes there.

2) Drill, drill, drill this material into your head. After all, what the point of understanding the material if you can't memorize it for the test. Study everyday if you have to, even if it's just 1 hour of looking at the material each day, but I find that repeated exposure to the material helps it stick.

3) use the diagrams, pictures, charts and etc. in your book. Visuals are so important in A&P because half the time, you are tested by looking at something, and identifying it.

4) I'm not such fan of flashcards, but I use quizlet. I think it's an awesome, online, paperless alternative. This also helps with the constant exposure, especially since you can use quizlet on your phone.

5) use mnemonics and silly memorization tricks to help you remember things. I always find that the dirtier the mnemonic the easier it is for me to remember (sorry not sorry lol í ½í¸‚)

Zooey72 · Sep 3, 2016

Bad profs can be overcome with youtube. Find out what the prof wants you to learn, and than go to youtube and find someone who can explain it in a way you can understand. Be sure to get from your profs what it is you are resp. to learn, but after that get info from recorded lectures on youtube. Be very specific about the info you are looking for, because some guy on you tube may think that the most important part of a system is "X", while your prof may think it is "Y". I fell into that trap with the endocrine system thinking that the hormones I learned online would be the ones that would be asked on the test because there was so much more info on certain ones rather than others. The test came around and I missed a couple of questions because I did not tailor my studying to the prof the way I should have.

Zooey72 · Sep 3, 2016

Oh, and one other thing with lab. Use your phone to take pictures of the 'props' that the prof is going to use. Go home, print those pictures out and label them. Drill yourself on the labeled pictures because they will be EXACTLY what the prof uses for the test. Why learn from some generic thing you find online when you can be learning from the exact 'prop' you will be tested on.

Do not take pictures of the cadavers, they will throw you out of class.

Neywel120 · Sep 4, 2016

Thank you everyone these are all helpful tips!

busybeeSN · Sep 4, 2016

There are so many wonderful youtube videos out there. Watch them. I had a wonderful professor and I still went outside of that and used lots of online information. Also consider hiring a tutor. A&P is really interesting, just relax and remember its all just a process of how our bodies function. There's steps to everything. I personally hate reading the book until I at least have an idea of what's being said. Whatever chapter your working on watch some youtube videos on that area and then try reading the book.

busybeeSN · Sep 4, 2016

Also for the anatomy side, buy a laminator, magic eraser and some dry erase markers. Laminate pictures of whatever you're trying to memorize and write, erase, write, erase right on the part that you're trying to memorize. I thought lab was easy and this is what I did.

pebblebeach, BSN, RN · Sep 4, 2016

The Khan Academy channel on YouTube was a LIFESAVER to me for A&P. Also, both physically writing the flashcards out in addition to Quizlet -- I know, flashcards are time-consuming but they've always worked for me.

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! :)

Zooey72 · Sep 4, 2016

And learn the citric acid cycle from day one in A&P1; it will make all your pre-reqs easier. For some reason it has been decreed that it is so important it needs to be taught in A&P 1&2 along with micro. If you familiar with it in A&P 1 it won't be as big of a pain to recall when they test you on it 2 more times. It is better to know it well being tested the first time, rather than doing badly on the tests and having to figure it out later in A&P 2. If I make it to 100 years old and can't even remember my own name, I will still remember that.

Meesh21 · Sep 5, 2016

I know exactly what you are going through! I took my A&P courses last school year and I struggled a lot in the beginning because my professor was such a scatter brain. It was so frustrating because I would go to class and review the notes but it wouldn't stick with me because of how he taught. So what I did (and recommend) is to read the chapters BEFORE going to lecture. It helped me immensely because when I would go into class I already had a feel about what was going to be taught. Another thing is YouTube anything that you don't understand. Sometimes hearing it from someone else in a different way will stick better then hearing it from your professor.

When it comes to labs I would suggest FLASH CARDS. That is how i got through my labs. Of course I read the lab book, but for me to really understand and pass labs I had to use flash cards. Our lab tests were either you know it or you don't because you had to write the answer down instead of multiple choice.

If i can get through A&P anyone can. If you don't get the score that you want on your first exam you will just have to readjust how you study. Everyone has different ways of studying so you just have to find the best way that works for you. A&P was probably my hardest pre req that I took because I had to learn a different way to study. You can do it!!!! :up:

Neywel120 · Sep 5, 2016

And learn the citric acid cycle from day one in A&P1; it will make all your pre-reqs easier. For some reason it has been decreed that it is so important it needs to be taught in A&P 1&2 along with micro. If you familiar with it in A&P 1 it won't be as big of a pain to recall when they test you on it 2 more times. It is better to know it well being tested the first time, rather than doing badly on the tests and having to figure it out later in A&P 2. If I make it to 100 years old and can't even remember my own name, I will still remember that.

Good thing I took Micro before A&P and already now the citric acid cycle :)

SierraMoon, ADN, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2016

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.