Pre-class study ideas for A&P?

leenak · May 19, 2012

You can start reading your book and answering questions at the back of the chapter. I bought a coloring book but I never touched it.

IndyElmer · May 19, 2012

There are a lot of anatomy terms and structures that you can start learning so that when your class starts, you just have to learn a bit more anatomy plus the physiology part. (I find that trying to speed read through and self-teach doesn't help me much, but learning keywords, structures, etc. can be a nice start.)

Since some schools skip histology, I'd go from anatomy terms (superficial/deep, distal/proximal, transverse/sagittal/coronal, caudal/pedal, etc.) straight to bones.

Jessily · May 19, 2012

Thank you for the info! I definitely think that learning terms ahead of time will ease the pressure during the course. I've enjoyed the coloring book so far. I have been photo copying the pages so I can color again later if I need to.

country73 · May 19, 2012

I have already taken A&P 1 and 2, the best suggestion I can give you is to go ahead and email the teacher you are going to be taking it with, and ask what book you need, and buy it! I would also ask the teacher what the first chapter will be and being to study that information. If you don't know what teacher you have yet, find another student at your school who has taken the class. The first chapter I did in A&P 1 was over all of the cells, skin, and basic information. Become familiar with the medical terminology, and where everything in the body is located. We had chapters on bones, muscles, and organs just to name a few. Good Luck! :)

IndyElmer · May 19, 2012

I have already taken A&P 1 and 2, the best suggestion I can give you is to go ahead and email the teacher you are going to be taking it with, and ask what book you need, and buy it! I would also ask the teacher what the first chapter will be and being to study that information. If you don't know what teacher you have yet, find another student at your school who has taken the class. The first chapter I did in A&P 1 was over all of the cells, skin, and basic information. Become familiar with the medical terminology, and where everything in the body is located. We had chapters on bones, muscles, and organs just to name a few. Good Luck! :)

Some instructors even provide lists of structures you need to learn. (My instructor did not.)

cally527, RN · May 19, 2012

There is a lot of memorization and terminology that you need to learn. I would work on that. Things such as Basic Anatomical Terminology (body positions, directional terms, planes, body cavities.)

Then I would move onto learning the bones, the major muscles (deltoid, latissimus dorsi, gastrocnemius, biceps brachii, triceps brachii) Finally, I would suggest learning the cranial nerves.

The anatomical terminology will make it alot easier for you to understand the material. The skeleton is not hard but there are a lot of bones to memorize. The muscles, again there are a lot to memorize. Finally the cranial nerves are kinda hard if you are trying to memorize the 12 cranial nerve names, their number, their location and their function! Learning their names and numbers now will make it much easier for you later on

maddiem · May 20, 2012

For A&P 1 I would review the anatomical positions, anatomical terms (inferior/superior, distal/proximal, superficial/deep), names of bones and main parts, names of organs and general functions, muscle names, cranial nerves...If you have a basic understanding of these concepts you will have a good head start and it will help you focus more on the big important stuff rather than learning the little stuff. Good luck!

Boxer Mama · May 20, 2012

I agree to email your teacher and see what he/she is going to cover. I know in A&P I we did not cover any of the biology chapters and just had a packet on the info. But, I know students in another class where they spent a few weeks on those chapters. Start making notecards with terms (I carried mine everywhere). Positional terms are a good place to start and then you cannot go wrong with starting to learn the bones (you know that will be covered). Good luck this summer!

IndyElmer · May 20, 2012

I agree to email your teacher and see what he/she is going to cover. I know in A&P I we did not cover any of the biology chapters and just had a packet on the info. But, I know students in another class where they spent a few weeks on those chapters.

So true that the intro part varies by instructor! The first time I took anatomy 15 years ago, we didn't do ANY histology or the intro biology chapters. This time when I took it to make it current for applying to nursing school, we covered histology and intro biology chapters in excruciating detail.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 20, 2012

Try this fun site! Whack-A-Bone

Exhaustipated, ADN, BSN · May 22, 2012

During A&P I, the things that had me in a panic were bones and muscles (and muscle functions), although, I admit, the bones were easier than the muscles. The only disadvantage to trying to get a jump on things (the muscles in particular) is unless you know precisely what is to be covered or what you need to know, you'll be flying blind. For instance, we had a particular list of muscles (and muscle functions) we needed to know. For that reason, I agree with others who suggested contacting your instructor.

Alternatively, your class may be like mine -- we had a lecture notes booklet and a lab manual we were required to purchase from the bookstore which contained the lists of bones and muscles we were required to know (along with everything else).