Someone please tell me how to survive A&P (and other questions)

rickelli · Oct 14, 2009

Anatomy and Physiology is a hard class but can be managed. It is a lot of memorizing and studying. I took both A&P I and II in the summer back to back and I did fine so don't worry you will do fine. Find someone in class to study with and stay over whenever you can in lab and practice. If your a good student and care about your grades then you will do good. It is the students who do the least amount of studying that don't do so well. Good Luck

brittany_micah · Oct 14, 2009

I have to say I am guilty for some of those freaking out posts/comments. I took A&P 2 years ago and failed horribly! I didn't understand the time I needed to put into it, I thought I could squeak by and was sadly mistaken. I am taking it over this semester and making straight A's. Don't get scared! Don't psych yourself out. I did that and wish I hadn't now. I upset myself for nothing. Just take good notes when you are in class. As soon as I get out of class I come home and type/review them. Then our teachers give us study guides 1 wk prior to class and review non stop until the test. I use flash cards, have anyone test me, even my 4 year old, I study, study, study! But I try not to panic.

Also try to have self confidence going in. Everytime I sit down for a test I repeat, I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! I say it everytime I start having doubts (that's just something I do for me!) Everyone is different. The only other piece of advice I have is, while reading ahead is good, I dont know if I would just sit down and read the first 3 chapters. I dont know how your teachers are, but mine do not teach in order of the book. We went from chapter 1, to 23, back to 2, then to 5. We have been everywhere and it's only been a few weeks. Anyways. Good Luck!! Let us know how you do :)

nohika · Oct 14, 2009

The nice thing is is that several teachers have posted past syllabi online, so we know where they're going to start. So I can at least become familiar with the material beforehand. I have trouble with the self-confidence thing. xD I'm quite a shy person and not super-confident in myself. Also, it seems, with the nursing classes, I'm running into a lot more annoying people/idiots, including a 24-year-old who acts like she's 15. Is this just part of what I'll encounter as I go further in school, or do you think the immature people will be weeded out by A&P?

I really do understand the "squeak by without studying" thing because I tried that my third (officially freshman) year of college and ended up with a 1.84 GPA. Whoops. So I'm just worried about being able to handle everything, but thank you both for your great advice and keep it comin'! I hope you do awesome this time around too!

brittany_micah · Oct 14, 2009

Thats great if you can get your hands on a syllabus! Smart thinking :) I am really shy too and dont have much confidence either, but I'm starting to come around. I really understand the immature thing. Most of my class is right outta high school girls, which I have nothing against if they act their age. I am 24, I have 2 very small children and dont have time to gossip, complain, and screw around in class. I have to pay close attention and grasp every detail so I can understand it. I think that it will def. weed a bunch of people out! It will in my class, they are already dropping like flies. But it increases my odds of getting into the program.

I am not one to share my grades with people, I dont think it's any of anyone's business but my own. After my first test the same girls were whispering and pointing at me, saying that I must have cheated or was just kissing up to the teacher. Neither is true! Just keep your eyes on the goal :)

rickelli · Oct 14, 2009

Try to get over the shyness because in nursing school you need to be able to have friends in class that you can study with. You will see these other students all the time so it will help you emotionally and academically to find a few that you can pal up with. I am starting the nursing program next week and have already made some friends in my class who will hopefully be my study partners too. You will notice in your pre-reqs that the same students are in many of the classes because they ultimately have the same goal as you. I spent 3 semesters with a girl who I met in Anatomy 1 and we went through anatomy 2 and micro as well. I think most of the students who get to nursing are pretty smart and the others end up failing or deciding that nursing isn't for them. just dont pair up with the young imature ones. good Luck

barleynhopsBSN · Oct 15, 2009

I use I-procrastinate and ICal with the Itouch to keep up organized. There are also helpful programs for the iTouch for memorizing anatomy terms and creating flashcards available on the itunes store. Another time management skill you may want to try is making lists with what you need to do every day and every week. Prioritize your classes as assignments are do etc. Check with your advisor at school, they may have a list of the pre-reqs required for each nursing school in your area.

SockMonkey.ecb · Oct 15, 2009

The key to A/P is to take it one body system at a time. Then, for each body system, develop a set of notecards to copy details. On one side, write a question, like you are writing a test on the material you learned. Use different color markers to make these questions. (My micro prof suggested this as color helps your brain remember the question and answer more efficiently.) Write the answers on the back of the card. You might have a HUGE stack. That's ok. Then go through your cards and quiz yourself, pulling out the cards that you know. Many people make the mistake of false confidence when they know "almost all" of the cards. Spend your time learning what you DON'T know. Oh, and one last thing. It's helpful to make your notecards the same day as lecture. Then you aren't spending your pre-test days making notecards, instead you are learning them and making your stack smaller and smaller! Don't forget to save these cards for your final! :) Good luck!

QuarterLife88, MSN, RN, NP · Oct 15, 2009

I have an A&P right now (along with chemistry that also has a lab), and the first day I walked into class, I was scared out of my mind. I kept reading/hearing horror stories. It's not that bad. I mean, it's HARD, don't get me wrong. I have to study at least an hour everyday to keep up and keep my grades where I want them, but one hour a day - is that so bad? Not really, considering I don't work either. Sometimes I do more, especially before a test, and right now that we are doing bones I've upped it to about 2-3 hours a day, but it's doable, and you can make it fun. Nothing more fun than getting an A:yeah:

Sometimes I use other resources as well, such as youtube, and even wiki. Sometimes you just need to read the same thing worded differently, to make it click.

There are some people in my class, who also want to get into nursing, yet they come to class so unprepared, it's mind boggling. I have one girl about my age (Im 21) always asking me what diagrams are going to be on the next test, what sections we need to know, etc. The day of the test I spoon-feeding her the material on those chapters. Im not sure how she did on the test, but I don't think it was well. I think she's almost adverse to studying because that's all I ever hear her complain about, and she never bothers to read the book either to supplement our notes (which are basically a skeleton of the info for the test).

Yeah, so just keep up in class, study everyday when you get home, then you never have to cram, and the stress comes off a little.

Good luck! :up:

ConnorsMama · Oct 15, 2009

A&P is not THAT hard. It does require work, but if you put the time in, you will do fine!

I got an A in A/P 1 and a B in A/P 2. My suggestions are similar to the above: try to read the material you will be going over in class before you go, and after lecture review your notes. I ALWAYS used notecards...a lot of Anatomy is memorization...be sure to save them for the final! :)

Also..there are some great websites out there. A favorite of mine is http://anatowiki.wetpaint.com/ . It has the body divided into systems, notes, notecards you can print, diagrams, videos, etc. Also, your book may have a website that has additional information...our book's website actually has MP3's you can download to your Ipod.

For some of the memorization...there are mnemonics you can either make up yourself or there are tons of websites...just google "medical mnemonics." An example of a mnemonic is...the order of airflow: Mouth Pharnyx Larnyx Trachea...so you remember "Mouthy People are Loud Talkers" These are great when you need to remember the order of things.

Most of all...relax! If you prepare, you will do fine. And you want to do well so you have a good foundation for nursing school. I wish you all the best! :)

greeniebean · Oct 16, 2009

For my itouch I LOVE speed bones! It's fun and it really drills in the bones for you.

Student4_life · Oct 19, 2009

As far as the 24 hour schedule thing goes make on using microsoft office excell, there is one that is monday-friday that I used as a template and extended it to be Monday-Sunday (I like sunday to be the last day of the week, not the first). You can also use excell to list all the pre-reqs for the colleges you are looking to attend. I assume that you are going to apply to fourish schools (me too) so place your schools on the top of the paper with your #1 on the left. Then go down the paper listing all the pre-reqs for that school and shade the cells in green, then list the classes for the other schools in the same fashion, being sure to put the BIO107 Req for school number 2 nest to the BIO107 req for school number 1. Any req already met should be shaded in green, any partial in yellow, and any not met in red. Then on the far right make a composite list that will allow you to allpy to the most schools, this will be the list you use to set up classes.

All that was alot of words for a little picture so here is an example:

JHU---- UMB---- CUA--- GWU Composite

BIO 107 BIO 107 BIO107 BIO107 BIO107

MA 110 ---------MA110 MA110 MA110

MA 115 MA115 ---------MA115 MA115

HU101 -------------------------------

---------------------------------------101 is its better

---------------------------------------not to take it

==============================unless accepted

I walked in with a table like this and knocked my councilors socks off, he was floored with the plan and thought I had gotten it off line. And it really helped me calm down about all the different preqs.