Physiology... How difficult??

maddiem · May 25, 2012

Anatomy and physiology is a very difficult class. But If you take it very seriously and study your butt off, you will be okay! I have taken both sections of A&P and I got an A in both of them. My advice to you is to not fall behind on your studying! Aim to study every day for at least 2-3 hours. On your busy days 1 hour. There is A LOT of info in this class that it critical to know for nursing school. A&P is a good class to get "practice" for what a class in nursing school may be like. Your commitment to it must be very high. If you study often, read the text, pay attention in lab, and take notes. You will be just fine! Some study tips that helped me was reviewing the chapter before class so following lecture is easier, using flash cards, and taking pictures of the models from lab to help you study at home. Also, start studying for a test a week in advanced!!! There were sooo many students in my class that would wait till the last day or two and they did not do well. Its almost impossible to "cram" for A&P, there is just too much info. It sounds scary, but if you really push your self, you can get an A! Good luck!

pinayluv78 · May 25, 2012

Personally, I think it was easier than Anatomy. Don't get me wrong, it was definately hard but I still managed an A in the class. It probably helped that I had her for Anatomy,too, so I W's already used to her teaching style. I think u will b fine. Good luck!

pinayluv78 · May 25, 2012

Oh, and don't forget to bring a recorder if it's allowed! I wouldn't have gotten by without it!

cubanrob · May 25, 2012

The previous poster hit the nail on the head and outlined the best way to reach an 'A'. So, Study, study more and when you are standing in line at the grocery store, whip out your flash cards and study some more.

mplovex · May 25, 2012

I really loved Physiology. I could understand and visualize it a whole lot better than Anatomy. I never prepared before taking the class. I wanted to be as relaxed as I could so I wasn't so stressed while taking the course. I took it over the summer in a 5 week course. It was extremely tough; we had an exam every week and lab quizzes 3 days a week. For my class, we would be lectured a new powerpoint (equivalent of one chapter) every day. I would just print out this powerpoint and go over it the night before it would be lectured. Slides with topics I didn't understand, I would mark with a star. During class the following day, the entire lecture just felt like a review for me of what I studied the night before. Whatever I marked with stars on my print out, I would really listen for during class when it was being lectured and ask questions if I needed to. Once I'd get home, I'd review those slides once more and anything I still felt unclear about, I would read that topic in the textbook. This way, I really engraved the chapter into my head 3 times (night before, during lecture, night after lecture). Then I'd continue to study for the next days lecture. When it came to exam time, all I had to do was review every single powerpoint. My professor gave us review sheets and I just used that to form questions with to study with. I ended up with an A in the class :) Index cards don't really work for me and supplemental books don't either. Just find a method that works for you & your ability to understand and process the information.

IndyElmer · May 25, 2012

As with many questions on All Nurses, I think the answer is "it depends." It depends a *lot* on the specific professor. My physiology class was intended for both those wanting to be research scientists and those who needed it for a health related major. The instructor taught it geared a bit more toward the research/science side of things rather than the health/application side. It was a fairly difficult class in that it was time consuming to study enough to get an A (but plenty of us did).

The reason I say "it depends" is the right answer (rather than just saying "it was hard, get ready to buckle down") is that my study group had access to A&P tests from another college and they were so easy compared to our exams that it was ridiculous. The answers didn't require any deep thinking / understanding of processes. They were almost entirely basic fact / term regurgitation with very low-grade (poor quality) "distractor" answers (whereas my exam questions and responses were written such that you had two or three facts that you had to know & understand how they fit into a process in order to be able to eliminate each incorrect answer that was cleverly disguised to appear right because it was at least partially correct). That's not to say that everyone who took the class at the other college thought it was easy or did well. But for those who wanted to get an A, it required significantly less studying.

I also took the same type of physiology many moons ago (using the same textbook in an older edition) and that professor actually required 1-2 page essays where we would explain various processes that had been discussed in class. Each essay was worth 15-25 points (depending on difficulty and number of facts he was expecting us to include) and there would usually be 25-30 points of mostly medium difficultly multiple choice questions with the occasional easy one tossed in.

So, the answer is, "it depends."