Micro Rant!!

I was in the same place this time last semester - cursing Micro and my $*%*hole teacher. Gram stains were the bane of my existence! After multiple attempts, the very first one I got to take was on my lab midterm - honest! But then .. as the semester went on and I got too exhausted to be mad at how hard it was ... it got better. Viruses are fascinating to me. How can this non-living thing cause so much harm? I ended up loving the lab. Once we learned all the tests and techniques and they set us loose on our biological unknown and I had 4 weeks of class working through it on my own, deciding what tests to run, etc., I adored it.

You can do this. Maybe you'll even end up loving it as much as I did? Okay, or maybe not

Maybe it is good for me that we arent going to do any staining. I like Micro ok, but it is NOT my favorite by any means. I will be glad when this semester if over with.

I somehow managed to pull an A out of my a$$ in Micro last semester. Everything is still very fresh in my mind (I think I was traumatized:rotfl: ).

If there is ANYTHING I can help you with, let me know. I have my big fat Micro book right here. Really, I'd love to help.......because I know I'll be asking for help from you guys in the future.

My professor recommended this website to use as a study tool and I loved it! http://www.bact.wisc.edu/

Try it out! It might help.

Have you gotten to the dna replication of a bacterial cell yet?:uhoh21: Omg, that was a killer for me.

Yell, and I'll help you out!! :wink2:

I haven't taken it yet, but I sympathize. I feel bad for all of you taking Micro with other classes as those science courses with labs are exhausting. I have always felt they should be worth 6 credits versus 4.

awwww I am so sorry you feel this way. This really shows a prof can make or break a class. Micro was my most FAVORITE class EVER!!! It was sooo interesting and fun!

You probably already know this but gram - is pink and gram + is purple... sometimes they have similar looks to them but the + will always have specks that almost look blue (from one of the stains you use)

Another suggestion go to google images or yahoo and do a search for whatever you dont understand and start comparing pics to one another. I did this (because there just wasnt enough time to see them in lab to learn anything) and I easily passed.

Good luck to you and hopefully it gets better!

I appreciate the help!! And trust me--for you Micro Lovers, I'll be asking for help! My teacher will NOT help at all and it's so frustrating. Some of the stuff I've looked for isn't on the web and I can't tell anything about Bergey's manual...the teacher said just deal with it! UGH! Some of the work she assigns is ridiculous. She will not give us assignments from the micro book but stuff she pulls up from her collection of other micro texts. And her handouts honestly take hours...I'm talking like 20+ hours to do. Then her lab. UGH. She either totally changes the lab assignments from the book or gives us stuff to do in them that we've never seen. For example, b. subtilis growth in a slant and a broth. We've not done that so how am I to know?!?! And forget finding a good pic on the net. I've googled more microbes than anyone in my group and still can't find this stuff.

By the way, thanks for the website link..going there now. Any other will be appreciated.

Ok..off for studying. Tuesday is my micro test, Monday is my A&P II test. ACK!

I love my micro class, but I'm with you on the gram stains.... I honestly cannot tell the difference between pink and purple, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not color blind! My lab partner is so confident and claims to see the differences so clearly. I'm glad to know other people have the same problem, I thought it was just me!

I can't tell bacilli or cocci and I have a teacher who will only laugh and not help!! How can I learn with no help????

Once again the reason I mentioned many times when my kids were in college to ASK around about the best teachers -- not the EASIEST, the BEST INSTRUCTORS....he or she can make all the difference in whether a class is a success or not....

I always hated science classes, but had to take them to get in to nursing school...I found it strange that micro and chemistry were two of the classes I enjoyed the most!!

The thing is, I am going to a small satellite school--the main campus is about an hour away and there are no other professors. Thankfully some of my friends are micronuts...I'll so be calling them!

The thing is, I am going to a small satellite school--the main campus is about an hour away and there are no other professors. Thankfully some of my friends are micronuts...I'll so be calling them!

Well, there you have it....good you have other resources....hopefully you'll get instructor evaluations to fill out....then you can mention your issues....

Best wishes...

I somehow managed to pull an A out of my a$$ in Micro last semester. Everything is still very fresh in my mind (I think I was traumatized:rotfl: ).

If there is ANYTHING I can help you with, let me know. I have my big fat Micro book right here. Really, I'd love to help.......because I know I'll be asking for help from you guys in the future.

My professor recommended this website to use as a study tool and I loved it! http://www.bact.wisc.edu/

Try it out! It might help.

Have you gotten to the dna replication of a bacterial cell yet?:uhoh21: Omg, that was a killer for me.

Yell, and I'll help you out!! :wink2:

Oh yes that is the unit we are working on now, most certainly the killer unit, I am looking forward for it to be over and move on to fun stuff. I am one of the nerds thats loving micro but will state I have an AWESOME teacher! I am sorry for those of you struggling, just read read and read again, it helps me to write things down and learn the vocab!

and as far as the OP and not needing micro in nursing i disagree, you will use micro A LOT. I worked in ICU for a while not as a nurse however if I learned one thing its that I know most of the bugs and microbes that are mentioned in micro now from working there, also learned about gram staining as it was an extremely comon test performed. My sister is in the hospital now with a rare bacterial bone in fection thankfully her nurse knows enough micro to advocate for her because her doctors are fools.

I haven't taken it yet, but I sympathize. I feel bad for all of you taking Micro with other classes as those science courses with labs are exhausting. I have always felt they should be worth 6 credits versus 4.

Mine are worth 5 each, I am taking AP2 and micro it is very exhausting so much work, but it keeps me out of trouble hehee.