Please! Please! Help me! I'm overwhelmed! Prerequisites

JentheRN05, RN · Sep 12, 2005

Here's my suggestions.

1. Read the material first

2. go back through the material and highlight what you feel is important

3. Start a notebook of notes that you highlighted

4. keep the notebook for the duration of your schooling. You wouldn't believe how much this helped me.

Now important things about studying (I graduated with honors, but what works for me may not work for you)

1. Study no more than 35 minutes straight (any more and you are not digesting the information)

2. Take at least 10 - 15 minute break

3. Sit down and study again.

4. If you ever find you are highlighting every word, whether it be only 5 minutes into studying or 30 STOP, you are into overload and not choosing important items anymore.

When choosing a time and place to study

1. Designate a specific area for study. For no other reason do you go in this area except for to study. Reason being you set yourself in a study mode by walking into this area. Mine was in bed lying diagonal across the bed.

2. Figure out what time of day you are most alert, and use that time to study. If that time is spent at school, find your second most alert time.

Never give up on your dream - never give up on yourself - because if you want it bad enough - you will do it.

If you want further suggestions feel free to PM me. As I have alot more

Real Nice(RN) · Sep 12, 2005

This is my first semester in college and I am taking English 101, Anatomy & Physiology I, Anatomy & Physiology Lab,
and Psychology. English and Psychology is not hard, but A&P is killing me.
I would appreciate any tips or techniques on how to study and prepare for the midterm,quiz,and finals.
Any tips on how to study?
Where to study?
How many hours a day?
I am also having problems memorizing some of things in the chapters I've read. Do u know by personal experience if the professors are expecting u to remember everything from each chapter for the tests?
I'm not great in science but, I know I can do this!
I'm willing to sacrifice my time, because I want to earn good grades at the end of the semester! Tell me any of your personal way of studying that works for you or any techniques you know of please!!
Thank You So Much!!! :)

Hi! well I just want to share to you some of my techniques when I'm studying Anatomy and Physiology.

1.) Before you study give yourself a rest. Take a nap, that means 20 minutes only. But if you exceeded just continue to sleep. A rested mind and body is good for studying.

2.) While studying have something to chew. Like chips or cookies but be sure that you concentrate more in your lesson than finishing your food. Chewing helps you to remember and absorb faster what you are reading.

3.) make Mnemonics for you to remember your lesson. For example....

O-hhh

T-o

T-ouch

A-nd

F-eel

A

G-irls

V-ag***

A-hhh

H-eaven

There you have the 12 cranial nerves!

4.) In between studying pamper yourself with a rest or break time.

5.) Don't you know that reading an article or your lesson for 7-10 times helps you to remember most of what you read....

6.) Have fun studying! don't pressure yourself...

7.) The best time to read is before going to sleep. Why? because the brain registers mostly all of you have read and studied before you slept. Our brain is like the computer!

well I hope that could help you... For this techniques surely helped me when I was still in college... God bless in your exams...

JentheRN05, RN · Sep 12, 2005

Best thing to chew is peppermint gum - REMEMBER to also chew peppermint gum while taking the tests too, it jogs your memory!!!

z's playa · Sep 12, 2005

Best thing to chew is peppermint gum - REMEMBER to also chew peppermint gum while taking the tests too, it jogs your memory!!!

Really? Cool :)

Z

grinnurse, RN · Sep 12, 2005

This is how I studied for A&P:

1. flashcards handwritten by me made from lecture notes as well as from the book.

2. study group that was as dedicated to passing with good grades as I was. This one is a little tricky. Keep the group to no more than 4-5, have someone designated as the one who keeps you on track for the session. We would study on our own and then meet 1-2 times per week and always the day before an exam.

3. mneumonics-the sillier the better, hence the previous example for the cranial nerves. Or make up funny songs if you can.

4. I would study for approx 1 hour then take 15 minute break (set the timer on the oven).

5. Definately study when you are at your peak. I am a morning person so I would usually get up about 4 a.m. and study a good 3 hours b/f kids woke up

6. Lab portion was fun. Anything that I could do with my dtr. Used washable markers and labeled her body for bones, blood vessel, muscles etc. She can still stand in anatomical position and remembers most of the bones in her body teeheehee!!

7. Figure out how you learn best............ie, reading, writing, talking it out, drawing it out etc.

Hope some of this will help you in your quest to conquer A&P

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Sep 12, 2005

The problem I had in school was that I had three very small kids (a year and under) when I was starting the work you're doing now. So what helped me was to get as much out of class as I could cause there wasn't much time at home to study it.

Make it meaningful to you. Think of a situation where the information could be applyed.

Paint a picture of the information in your head. And if it helps draw it on paper also. Sometimes people are such visual learners that they need to see more pictures to make sense of what they are learning.

sweet_april04 · Sep 12, 2005

Thank you all for taking the time out to reply to my post. I really appreciate it!

All those personal experiences, tips, opinions,and comments were all very helpful information and it will be beneficial to me and my studies!!

Thanks Again to everyone!!

nursingismydream · Sep 12, 2005

These are the tips that I used in A&P and still do in my nursing classes.

1) Read the assignments before class. Then when you get home rewrite your notes and go back to the text for anything you need further information on. A lot of times an instructor will only touch on something in class, but expect you to know it in depth for tests (example: renal subcircuit).

2) Spend a little time everyday rereading notes and working on flash cards. That way you are not cramming for exams and nerves don't get the best of you. If you have to run the kids to practice, take these things with you. My notes and books go everywhere with me.

3) The place you choose for studying should be distraction free. I agree with a previous poster that time of day is important too. I am not a morning person, therefore, my best studying is done at night.

4) Proper nutrition, sleep, and exercise go a long way.

5) If something starts to frustrate you, move on or put it away for a while. Frustration can be a stumbling block. Ask questions of any tutors and instructors. And remember, no question is stupid. Also take advantage of open lab times.

6) I could never use mneumonics. I found that they confused me. I just spent a little time everyday working on memorizing and bought one of those skeletons for the door in my bedroom (you know, the ones they sell at Halloween). Bought some of those mini post-it notes and made labels with them (they come in different colors, so you can assign certain colors to different systems and such.). Then if I came into my room or something I would use the post its to label things where they were. When I finished I stuck them on an index card and placed them on my dresser so I could start all over again.

Now I am not an Honors student, but I do well. I have three small children and until a week ago was working every weekend (and was a full-time student). These are the things that helped me, along with being extremely organized. Good luck to you. And remember to relax also!!!! All work and no play can result in burn-out.

Nikkik163 · Sep 12, 2005

This is my first semester in college and I am taking English 101, Anatomy & Physiology I, Anatomy & Physiology Lab,
and Psychology. English and Psychology is not hard, but A&P is killing me.
I would appreciate any tips or techniques on how to study and prepare for the midterm,quiz,and finals.
Any tips on how to study?
Where to study?
How many hours a day?
I am also having problems memorizing some of things in the chapters I've read. Do u know by personal experience if the professors are expecting u to remember everything from each chapter for the tests?
I'm not great in science but, I know I can do this!
I'm willing to sacrifice my time, because I want to earn good grades at the end of the semester! Tell me any of your personal way of studying that works for you or any techniques you know of please!!
Thank You So Much!!! :)

Hi-

I took Anatomy and Phys separately....here are a few tips that really helped me:

For anatomy: go the the lab a lot......just memorize everything....going there lots will help!!!

For phys: the tests are very difficult and there is a lot of info to remember. If you do not think you can memorize everything......memorize what you can and KNOW IT WELL!!!!! This helps a lot. Wear a scented lotion while you study and wear the same lotion when you take the test. Also...I always will read through my notes once more before I go to bed the night before a test and I wake up early and read through them again. Good luck!

major_undecided · Sep 13, 2005

Hey I feel your pain. I just took A&P 121 and 122 both in the summer!! It is a year long thing and I did it in 14 weeks. I don't know how but I did. We were not expected to remember everything. I had a hard time studying with working 35+ hours a week, my sisters new baby in the house and my brothers 1 year old getting ready to move away and I wanted to spend time with her and on top of that it is SUMMER!!! Believe me I gave the kids next door playing loudly in there pool lots of dirty looks!! haha I get distracted EASY too. My best tips:

1. Study at school as much as you can, on my days off of work I stayed at school from 8am-6pm some days till 10pm. --Crazy I know but thats what worked for me best! Outside of school i didn't get much alone time to study.

2. Study with classmates they help out when you don't understand something.

3. Chew gum, keeps things flowing and helped with the distractions.

4. Tell everyone around you (this was the hardest for me, I am a social butterfly) SORRY but I won't be able to hang out all summer!! --Yeah its that important to me.

Yeah I had a lot of friends that thought I was like sooo mad at them but when they seen how important it was to me even my work let up a little me.

Looking back now I wonder how I did it. It was the hardest classes I had taken this far. And I did really well I surprized myself! Would I do it again? Give up another summer?? Was it worth it? YES, YES, and YES!!!!

Good luck!! Have fun it was a great class I loved what I learned.

Mommy TeleRN, RN · Sep 14, 2005

Here are my A&P tips..I was fortunate to made A's in both.

I took my lab book, scanned the pages that had "parts" to memorize, and then on the software I "cut" the labels so that they were blank pics. I made 2 copies of each pic. One I would hand label (helped me remember the name) and then I would put back to back in sheet protector. I would practice labeling the blank one with a dry erase. My teacher loved it and I made her copies to put on the student website for other students.

If you have a buddy you can each scan half to save time. I could do a section in about 1.5 hrs.

Also, see if you can take a digital camera into lab and snap pics of all the models. Our teacher did this and we could print them out in color, then label all the parts. Big help because sometimes the models don't really look like the pic in the book.

Those 2 things helps tremendously!

Also, I have two younger children. I would point things out on their bodies, tell them the names, and they'd help me find a silly way to remember it! It sounded crazy..but it WORKED! for instance, antecubital... "mommy, think of an ice cube in your elbow... and ants crawling on it" etc. And guess what...they can name TONS of body parts now! LOL

Mommy