Is it true that patho, pharm, and adv assessment are weed-out classes?

[nursejl1]

Some students are saying that advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology, and advanced health assessments are challenging and schools use those to weed-out students? Has that been true for your class? Any tips on how to prepare for them? Thank you!

[PMHNP to be]

I don't think they are weed out classes per se, but they do require more time and effort than your general nursing classes. As others have said, they provide the foundation upon which you will base your APN knowledge, so they must be taken seriously. If you take them seriously and put the required effort into them, you will be just fine. I have taken 2 of the 3 and I did well. No worries...

[NucRN]

Patho, pharm and Heath assessment is built into my program, although the school does allow a student to take it ahead of time. I definitely would rather take these ahead of time. Taking pharm and physiology II right now. Physiology is the hardest of the three courses. Health assessment was very similar to the course for the RN program. Physiology mainly covers info at the cellular level. So if you are good with cellular biology, then patho won't be so bad.