Struggling: Anatomy & Physiology

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Evening, It is my second year in college majoring in Nursing. I am currently attending an community college. I've took Anatomy & Physiology but it was an introduction class. The class helped me prepare for A&P 1 but I had to drop A&P 1 because I'm still struggling with studying. My study skills are not great. My degree plan is being held back because of me struggling with A&P. Now I'm going to retake A&P 1 and I want to have my study skills 100%. So this is my plan, over the summer, I will read the chapters & create flash cards of the terms. I will look over the terms and the concept of A&P 1. I think this will help, right? How many hours would you guys recommend me to study each day? I'm thinking of studying 4 hours a day. I have a part time job so it's kind of difficult. I'm dyslexic so it's hard for me to learn but if I prepare myself a head of time I will have no problem. What are you guys thoughts? I need all the help I can get? Advice is good too!

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In addition to reading the chapters and making flash cards, you can also us anatomy and physiology interactive websites. To find sites recommended by past posters use the search tool in the top right hand of AN.

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I don't think there's a set number of hours you should study, just study until you "get" it. And while flash cards are good in some ways, it's even more important to understand the big picture. Don't just memorize, understand.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Flash cards saved my butt. Used them every spare second and took them everywhere. My non medical husband still remembers "smegma" 25 years later lol.

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I like to watch youtube videos when it came to understanding human anatomy. Definitely make sure you do all you can to understand the human body and how it works cause if you don't, you will just fall further behind in nursing school. It is not just memorization it is all about relation of one system to another. Good luck

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Don't give up! A&P can be tricky. Like the poster above said - videos are great! I also found that trying to apply some A&P to everyday life helps as well as teaching someone else about what you're learning - that right there was the key to success for me. Best of luck!

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

For me drawing diagrams and flow charts helped a lot with understanding A&P, just writing down terms and memorizing wasn't enough to really fix the information in my brain. I also used a variety of materials (instructor provided study guides/homework, questions in back of book, additional study guide from publisher, A&P coloring book, alternate A&P text from library, khan academy videos, etc.) to help myself look at the material in different ways - particularly areas that didn't make much sense to me. I find that the more context I have for a term or idea the easier it is for me to retain the information, so I'd find ways to link one topic or idea to another that I understood well. If I still didn't get something I'd ask classmates about their understanding or go to my instructor's office hours, or open-lab study time on campus. I ended up spending 20-30 hours a week outside of class on understanding the material which was hard to juggle with work, but it was worth it when I scored 100% on my final exam and walked out of the class with a 4.0.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

I like the coloring books that are available. Also regarding your dyslexia, do you having any learning aids you can use? My son found an overlay to be helpful. And I don't think there is a set time that is best. A study buddy is also great help.

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Specializes in Renal, Diabetic.

What worked for me during A & P was the interactive videos we got with the book, and YouTube. I also was able to print off pictures of the specific sites, placed them into a plastic cover that was clear and go to town with labeling them with a dry erase marker. That way, I didn't waste paper and I could label, check my answers, erase and repeat. I found that extremely helpful.

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Specializes in ICU, Postpartum, Onc, PACU.

Maybe study the 4 hours total a day, but break them up? I know I always needed to schedule breaks every 45 minutes or so unless I was "onto something" mentally or I would stop absorbing informations. I also have mild ADD so that worked better for me. I'd also walk around while studying my cards and I think that helped as well.

YouTube could be your best friend if you need another way of learning once in a while. You can see everything on there and the interactive websites suggested by others may help as well.

xo

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

Looks like you have some great advice here! I found a great little website called purposegames.com . I was able to make games out of information I was required to memorize (Bones, muscles, veins, arteries) By the time I made the game, I didn't even need it anymore. The fun part is when someone else plays your game and beats your high score, it encourages you to play it again. There is also a school that posts A LOT of study material online... I think it is Mesa Community College (MCC)... lots of free quizzes. I used their site as well as Khan Academy.

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Find a tutor, most community colleges offer them free.

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