How to study for pathophysiology

[Bluebell.]

Hello all,

I am in patho right now, and I am extremely overwhelmed even though I just started. My background in physiology is weak because I have not had A&P in a few years. My professor places great emphasis on knowing the physiology behind the patho. diseases and such and not on memorizing the material. I did not plan on memorizing the material, but I cannot apply anything from physiology because, well, I do not remember anything anymore. Reviewing my A&P textbook is going to take up a huge amount of time and greatly increase my anxiety level.

So, how did/do you guys study for this class to give you an A or B? Also, do you guys have any old tests/practice questions you would be willing to share? I do better with practice questions, and the ones I found online (mostly for fluid and electrolytes so far) were not that great). Any help is greatly appreciated.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Your professor speaks from long experience and is exactly correct. You can never get a good working grasp of pathophysiology without a solid working understanding of normal physiology. There is no shortcut to that. You can't do that and it is completely irresponsible to think you can. You will have to go and learn the basics again, or you will be wasting your time in patho, fail the course, and then what?

Physiology and pathophysiology are definitely NOT courses you will pass and put out of your head, because after you take them and get into the nursing coursework they will be an integral part of the critical thinking process; your faculty will expect that you remember it. These books will be excellent reference for you when you start seeing real patients. This is unlike any other education you have ever had, trust me. Get the books, especially the physiology one. These are not jokes but real, useful references. Don't put it off until you're way behind. Free 2-day delivery for students from Amazon.

The Anatomy Coloring Book by Wynn Kapit and Lawrence M. Elson (Jul 5, 2001)

The Physiology Coloring Book (2nd Edition) by Wynn Kapit, Robert I. Macey and Esmail Meisami(Oct 3, 1999)

[krisiepoo]

In addition to what GrnTea wrote, I'd like to add you will be so amazed at what you actually remember, too, once you start learning it again. I had my "aha" nursing moment when I was able to teach a patient about how her new diagnoses all worked for and against each other. I sounded JUST LIKE A REAL NURSE and I hadn't studied these things in ages but it made sense when added together.

[Jenngirl34RN]

I will say that restudying your physiology may take a long time and may add to your stress but in the long run it will make your life SO much easier. In my class right now you can clearly tell the students who remember and understand their physiology from those who don't. Those who don't are really struggling to grasp the material. Knowing your physiology will also make understanding your pharmacology much easier as well, so that extra time spent reviewing will really be worth it.