Starting Micro Tomorrow...oh gosh...

pinklady_951 · Jan 16, 2012

This is the last class I have to finish before transferring to a BSN program in the fall
So I want to know, for those of you that have taken Microbiology already, what you thought about it. What did you like. Did you find it easy or difficult? What were the labs like and what study tips for it do you have?
thanks :-)

Oh the joys of Micro. Micro is tough. For me, it was the hardest class I ever took and the only class I ever dropped. The first time I took it over a 16 week semester, but I wasn't being a good student. Micro is the only class I've ever truly had to study my tail off for. I dropped it because of other personal things going on and I knew I wouldn't earn a competitive grade.

I retook it in the 6- week summer intercession. It was just as hard, but I was determined to conquer it. I ended up with an A. It was the only class I was taking and I'm also a single mother of a 1 1/2 year old. I was in class from 8-1 and studied with a study group until about 3 or 4 everyday. When I got home, I would start studying again when my daughter went to bed from about 10 pm to 1 am.

Some tips that got my through it were: buy a white board and doodle pictures, notes, etc. to test yourself on (different colors help me remember), tape record the lectures and listen to them often (in the car, when you're resting, etc. ), vocalize with a study group- hearing it out loud helps, and I think the major difference for me was to be focused, but also appreciate the material. It was also my last pre-req before I applied to Nursing school and I needed an A. Once I just focused on the course instead of the pressure to get into Nursing school, it was like an epiphany.

You can do it! (Sorry for the novel ) lol

leenak · Jan 16, 2012

I loved Micro and I actually thought it was kind of an easy class. There is a lot to learn but I found it helped to go through the book, paying especial attention to the vocabulary and answer all the questions in the book for the chapter. The tough part I thought was in lab where reality does not always match the ideals in the lab book.

aachavez · Jan 16, 2012

There is alot to learn, but so far I'm really enjoying it. The lecture portion is online, and we do the labs on campus with the rest of our class. Our particular section is really unorganized, and its frustrating, but the material is really interesting. We've done some interesting labs as well, preparing slides, growing some cultures and comparing under the microscope. I've been making flashcards on quizlet.com, and its helping along with all my other classes as well.

pinayluv78 · Jan 18, 2012

I start micro tomorrow too. I'm also taking physio & nutrition. I'm scared as hell! LOL But I had anatomy, chemistry & stats last semester & managed all As so, here's hoping I can take it all on! Good luck with your courses this semester! :)

felheart · Jan 18, 2012

I'm currently taking micro this winter sem(6 weeks) and I love it especially the lab part. Right now we are doing acid fast,capsule,endospore and gram staining. I find it difficult to locate some bacteria in the microscope, though I must say that I'm good in inoculation. Later this pm we are doing our first unknown bacteria and do a bunch of staining....i hope I get S.epidirmidis.

mamaxmaria · Jan 18, 2012

Thank you all so much for you responses! I start on friday, I think I'm going to invest in A LOT of index card because they seemed to really help me in A&P 1 and 2

leenak · Jan 18, 2012

Did you have your first class?! :)

One thing I took away from the class is to learn how to describe things. You will be doing various tests in the lab, what do they show you? Visual tests will show you shape, size, formation, etc. Other tests will show you motility while chemical tests will show you characteristics of the bacteria itself.

You will also be doing various stains and tests on bacteria, what does the stain/test mean in terms of the bacteria itself? The Gram stain is a critical stain so know it forwards and backwards and why a bacteria would give you a positive test and why a bacteria would give you a negative test. You will also have other tests and you will need to know why a certain bacteria would respond to a certain test.

Overall, I thought it was a fun class and I really liked being a bacteria detective where we were given multiple bacteria mixed in a single broth and had to separate out the bacteria and determine what each of them were. It probably sounds harder than it is but it will all come together. I remember being nervous the first week but once you start getting into it, its fun.

2mint · Jan 19, 2012

In our class, we had our power pt. presentation lectures in advance so during lectures, students rarely participated.

But I love lab, learned a lot and we were kept busy--two words: time flies.

The hardest part was really the diseases: causes, signs, symptoms, cures, gram type, etc. And identifying pathogens during lab exams was hard too.

The exams are broken down to: 2/5 multiple choice; 1/5 T&F and fill-ins; 2/5 essays (e.g. explain the Kreb cycle; the DNA replication process; stages of malaria; etc).

(I took micro and physio the same semester so the 1st month and half or so you'd learn pretty much the same stuff from both classes).

leenak · Jan 19, 2012

Our tests were similar, 2/5 essay, 1/5 fill in the blank and 2/5 multiple choice. So definitely be able to describe things such as how you do a Gram stain and why you are doing each step. This will most likely be on your first test as it is one of the basic stains in the class.

Although it comes later in the semester, I thought how antibiotics affected the bacteria to take a bit to commit to memory. Our teacher expected us to know each of the 5 pathways and be able to list an antibiotic for each. I knew penicillin because that is the easy one but took me a couple days of going over that to get it down. Viruses and antivirals seemed a bit easier to remember.

MusicEMT · Jan 19, 2012

Microbiology was my fav class soo far.. (still have to take physio this semester). Its a very lab intensive class, which i love because im a hands on type of guy. The microscope will be your best friend the whole semester so become very familiar with it. DRAW DRAW DRAW everything! Concepts arn't too hard, its a combination of memorization like anatomy and how those concepts work like physio... Memorizing the bacteria names were a lot easier than i would have imagined, it might seem daunting when you first see the name but after you write it out a few times you'll get the hang of it, like Escherichia coli (yumm).. for our final project our teacher gave us a broth of unknown bacteria and through metabolic/motility/etc tests we had to identify what it was. it was very fun actually. you come out with a new awareness of whats around and on you when you finish the class its really astounding.

gReeNTwin1, BSN, RN · Jan 19, 2012

I'm in micro right now and I have to say, I'm not finding it hard at all. Well, my professor makes it seem so interesting, and she always gives us interesting facts on day to day things too concerning bacteria. I'm really loving this class, and my professor is awesome!!! Best wishes to you!