Members are discussing various topics related to Rio Hondo College's nursing program, including county criminal checks, course prerequisites, curriculum changes, commuting to campus, faculty quality, and creating a group chat or Facebook page for their cohort. There are also questions about TEAS scores, clinical paperwork submission, and the significance of having a bachelor's degree and high science GPA for acceptance into the program.
Thought I'd start this thread since I haven't seen one yet!
iCantDraw said:hey guys adn student here at rio, I don't want to scare anyone, but unless you are naturally smart, I would advise going somewhere else instead of rio, all of the old instructors have practically left this program due to reaching retirement age, and the new crop of professors here aren't the best. basic pharmacology was a nightmare because I had to self teach myself and I only barely passed by a fraction of a percentage. and its the same with OB, you will not have any time to relax at all once you get past med surg 1.
im currently taking advanced pharm and med surg 2 and its horrible, everything is basically self taught and the instructions don't really help you to prepare for the exams. I basically had to quit work because of how much studying is going into these two classes alone. It's an entirely new professor teaching this and its not great. don't let the great NCLEX scores fool you.
Do they provide powerpoint slides for each class? Are test materials based on powerpoints?
Also, are there any students in your cohort that are doing well and are not stressing over passing?
Can you include some of the professors last name so that I can look them up on ratemyprof? I start the program in a few weeks and I have no idea what I'm about to experience.
murse562 said:Do they provide powerpoint slides for each class? Are test materials based on powerpoints?
Also, are there any students in your cohort that are doing well and are not stressing over passing?
Can you include some of the professors last name so that I can look them up on ratemyprof? I start the program in a few weeks and I have no idea what I'm about to experience.
I want to preface this by saying that they completely overhauled the curriculum, which was the final straw for the old teachers to finally leave, who were amazing. Because if they had stayed, then they would need to read the entire book again and change how the way the class is taught and change the tests which takes a lot of time.
Because of this curriculum change, you guys will have a bit more challenging of a time then when I was a first year nursing student. Classes are more condensed and you guys will be having the new professors which aren't helpful tbh.
I'm not entirely sure if fundamentals and med-surg 1 will be all powerpoint to be honest, but what I can say is that OB, Pharm, and any class with huang is all from the book, and you basically have to read. and it was brutal.
Even the ones that are passing or naturally smart have all expressed stress because the studying is kinda insane even in nursing school standards.
Just look up "rio hondo class schedule" should be the first one on the Google search and you can look up the lists of professors that will be teaching your class.
shelby2135 said:Hi friends— I just got accepted to RHC ADN program beginning fall 2025. For those of you in the program now, are you able to share how it's going? What is your schedule like? Have you had classmates drop out? Any info + advice is greatly appreciated!!
Congrats on getting in! For the first semester, you'll first take Fundamentals & related clinical, Healthcare Participant & related clinical, and Pharmacology & lab. So far our clinical sites this semester was Rancho Los Amigos, Kaiser in Downey & Baldwin Park, and PIH in Whittier and Downey. This may change for your semester though. I think we've had 3 people drop out due to personal reasons, not passing med math exam, and not passing skills check off. My advice would be to really prepare yourself for Pharmacology. I feel like Funds and HP are pretty straightforward but Pharm is getting a lot of people. Expect to do a lot of self teaching. Class is not long and the professor usually speed reads her slides because on days there are group presentations or exams, she only has 10-15 min to go over 2-4 chapters worth of info. So make sure you record every lecture, she encourages it. Also, utilize each other! Study groups and sharing info/tips go a long way. If you wanted to prep over the Summer, the textbook we are using currently is "Pharmacology for Nurses, A Pathophysiologic Approach" by Adams, Holland, and Urban. There are free copies online that you can find. They'll probably use this textbook again but don't buy it just yet just in case they change the textbook on you LOL. Other than that, just use common sense and remember patient safety and HIIPA when at clinicals. I've been told that there were some third semester students that were dropped this Spring because they compromised patient safety. Also, not gonna lie, some professors are very blunt and can be a little rude IMO. They will encourage you to quit your job, question your dedication, encourage you to drop out if they don't like you/doubt you. Don't let this discourage you and keep going!! It's only four semesters and we can get through it together 🙂
bhjnkl said:Congrats on getting in! For the first semester, you'll first take Fundamentals & related clinical, Healthcare Participant & related clinical, and Pharmacology & lab. So far our clinical sites this semester was Rancho Los Amigos, Kaiser in Downey & Baldwin Park, and PIH in Whittier and Downey. This may change for your semester though. I think we've had 3 people drop out due to personal reasons, not passing med math exam, and not passing skills check off. My advice would be to really prepare yourself for Pharmacology. I feel like Funds and HP are pretty straightforward but Pharm is getting a lot of people. Expect to do a lot of self teaching. Class is not long and the professor usually speed reads her slides because on days there are group presentations or exams, she only has 10-15 min to go over 2-4 chapters worth of info. So make sure you record every lecture, she encourages it. Also, utilize each other! Study groups and sharing info/tips go a long way. If you wanted to prep over the Summer, the textbook we are using currently is "Pharmacology for Nurses, A Pathophysiologic Approach" by Adams, Holland, and Urban. There are free copies online that you can find. They'll probably use this textbook again but don't buy it just yet just in case they change the textbook on you LOL. Other than that, just use common sense and remember patient safety and HIIPA when at clinicals. I've been told that there were some third semester students that were dropped this Spring because they compromised patient safety. Also, not gonna lie, some professors are very blunt and can be a little rude IMO. They will encourage you to quit your job, question your dedication, encourage you to drop out if they don't like you/doubt you. Don't let this discourage you and keep going!! It's only four semesters and we can get through it together 🙂
Thank you so much for this information! I also got in for the Fall semester and this is incredibly helpful and great insight. I wish you the best in this program, I'm sure with a lot of effort we can succeed! 🙂
iCantDraw
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the biggest factor for this school is having a bachelor's degree and really high science pre-req GPA. The TEAS probably ranks a close 2nd.