Microbiology

[pco8]

Any tips on how to handle this class? I heard it's suppose to be very difficult and I'm taking 2 other classes this semester. I'm a little nervous about this class but excited about my new career path that this is all leading to.

[akilah530]

Hi,

I have not taken it yet, however I am taking next quarter along with two other classes, one of them being Patho...God help us!

[Soida]

Honestly I would worry about Patho much more than I would worry about Micro..

Micro does deal with all sorts of bacteria, and other microbes, but I think this was one of my favorite classes. We got to do a lot of interesting things in the Lab portion. The hands on activity was really neat.

Patho was much more demanding because it dealt with much more diverse content.

I thought that Micro was a lot like my early Bio class, so it wasn't completely foreign to me.

[RyleeMendez]

I took micro with two other classes. It's not too bad. The content is relevant to nursing so it can keep your attention. Good luck!

[Boxer Mama]

Micro ended up being one of my favorite classes so far. I really enjoyed the labs and working with the bacteria. I made lots of notecards and took them everywhere with me. Since I had already taken both my A&P classes, along with biology course, I found that I was familiar with some of the material already. Good luck!

[lolads85]

I took micro with A&P 2, Stats and Nutrition and that was a load no one should ever have to do! Micro, while it requires ALOT of studying, is very forward and almost fun. I preferred Anatomy much more but expect to make a serious amount notecards.

[umbdude, MSN, APRN]

I don't think Micro is that much harder than other classes. For me, the beginning was intimidating because I had no science background and all these bacteria names were thrown around. But once I got used to them it became much better. The hard part is memorizing so much information.

I made "charts" of the bacteria and diseases of organ systems. I took some time to categorize and group them in ways that make the most sense to me and is consistent with how my professor taught (he used his own notes rather than the textbook). For example, I made the chart of diseases by organ system level -> type of infection (bacterial, viral, fungal, other) -> then diseases. I found that much easier than using flash cards, but that's just my personal preference.

It is a really fun class and I think you'll enjoy if you like to go into nursing. I'd learned so much in that class...definitely one of my favorites.

[PurplePRN]

I really enjoyed Micro. I took A&P 1 at the same time. It was fun making slides and learning things like how bacteria are destroyed by antibiotics. Hopefully, you'll get to swab and culture areas of your school like we did, that was gross and interesting. LOL! Microbiology is just a scary word. You will prob really enjoy the class.

[i♥words]

For me, micro was easier than both A&Ps. It built off of A&P because we discussed how microorganisms affect each organ system. The whole semester is talk of bacteria, parasites, fungi, and all the fascinating diseases they cause. I enjoyed it!

[Taffey]

For me, it was much easier than A&P. I also found it to be a little bit more interesting. Good luck

[shamrokks, ADN, ASN, RN]

I'm scheduled to take Micro with two of my nursing classes but I think I can move it to an earlier semester. This is the one suggested course that I did not take before starting my bridge program for my RN. I too am looking for study tips for this class. I know on Youtube there are some study suggestion videos for different classes. You might want to try there. I have just started browsing these so I don't have any specific ones to suggest at this time. Good luck.

[hi616]

I made an excel spreadsheet listing every single microorganism my instructor mentioned in lab and lecture. Next to each microbe there was a column for Gram-reaction (+/-), shape (rod, coccus, etc.), environment/location found in (i.e., human skin, GI tract, soil), motility (motile/non-motile), respiration (i.e. is it an obligate aerobe, facultative anaerobe, etc.), disease microbe causes, and unusual characteristics.

If you don't understand what all of those things are yet, you will! My instructor really wanted us to know the characteristics of each microbe which is why a spreadsheet helped me. Some of her questions would be along the lines of "Which of the following microbes is commonly found on the human skin?" Understand the types of questions your instructor likes to ask before the first test and you can suit your studying to best fit the exam.

Good luck!