Surviving and PASSING A&P

WKredz5 · Aug 11, 2011

I'd say... build your life around studying your notes and flash cards. That's what I'm TRYING to do... but man putting in the effort is hard.

AL1992 · Aug 11, 2011

Read the book, take notes during class, and make sure you understand the material...Stay mentally tough!! I learned this first-hand taking Physio this summer(almost done!) and it is truly a lot of effort! I study 4 hours daily and constantly review but I have an A!!! Stay motivated and you'll do great!

Iridescent Orchid, CNA, LPN · Aug 11, 2011

I'm in the same boat you are! I have A&P and Psychology left to take, which is in another 2 weeks!

Honestly, I'm scared to death of A&P. I haven't had a class this demanding since High School, and from the looks of it, I wouldn't even say those classes were as demanding as A&P is painted to be.

My study tip is to study your heart out...kind of seclude yourself from much of a social life and bury your head in your book and notes/index cards for a bit.

It's a smart move to go ahead and actually attend a classroom setting for this class. That's already going to make it a little less stressful for you. I couldn't imagine how lost I'd be if I took it online, or even hybrid. I'm a visual learner, but don't have the time to draw and label everything in every chapter we go over, so I've purchased quite a few supplemental learning materials/books. I'm glad I broke my bank just a little to get them too!

I purchased A&P for Dummies, and the workbook to go along with it! I've peaked in the book...great summaries and explanations. I'm not sure if I'll even use the workbook or not though. I also got Kaplan Medical's Anatomy Flash Cards. Great steal! I paid $24, but if you look around, I'm sure you might be able to find a better deal. I seen them on Amazon for $18-$25. They are going to help me out a lot! I constantly study using index/flash cards.

Coloring Books. My parents thought I sounded crazy, "coloring books in college? You already have Dummy books..." (they were joking of course!)....but there's been a lot of talk about these books! I purchased Kaplan's 4th Edition Anatomy Coloring Book and Kapit's Physiology Coloring Book. I'm going to go ahead and tell you, my local bookstores wanted around $25-$30 for the Kaplan Coloring Book...I got it for $14 on Amazon and the Kapit Physiology one was around $12. I've been coloring and labeling the Introduction chapter for the past couple of days....LOVE IT. Being visual, I believe the time I have to spend on coloring organs, quadrants, cells, tissues, muscles, bones, etc. will definitely help me memorize where they are located. The notes on the sides are really helpful too!

We're both about to embark on a demanding course, but I know we both can do it! Good luck! :)

bayli1 · Aug 11, 2011

I enjoyed A&P but it will consume alot of time studying. There is alot of memorization involved. Review what you learn everyday and make lots of copies of the things you need to label such as muscles bones, etc. I used sooooo much laser toner that quarter but it really helped to get it into my head. I started out with the notecards but I never really got into those, most of my friends use em tho=) Good luck and study hard :yeah:

staceym · Aug 11, 2011

A&P is completely doable.

1. Have the right attitude. You can totally dominate this class, all it takes is confidence and putting in the time and effort.

2. Read the chapter before class. Take notes. Write down questions you may have.

3. Take good notes in class. Try to sit in the front (so you can't get distracted) and make friends with people in class who may help you out or possibly be interested in forming a study group.

4. After class, read over your notes and rewrite them if possible. The biggest thing with A&P is REPETITION. You need to commit to spending good time daily on re-reading your notes, looking at pictures, making a TON of notecards, color in an anatomy coloring book, etc. Take advantage of time inbetween classes, while sitting in the car, etc.

5. Talk to your teacher if you are not understanding a certain process, term, whatever. Communication is great (especially if you're class is under 50 students) and your teacher is the expert on the subject so he/she is the best person to ask. Google things too if that helps you also.

6. Enjoy it! A&P is absolutely fascinating... how the body works is plain amazing and intricate but if you put the time and effort in that it deserves (and you deserve for that A), you will pass and hopefully pass with flying colors.

Hope this helps!

darling2014 · Aug 12, 2011

Hello everyone!
I'm finishing up pre-reqs for the nursing program and one of the classes I have left is Bio 141 (A&P)
I took the class last semester as hyrbrid (half online half in class) and was lost ! So this semester I am taking it fully in class! Could someone PLEASE give me some study tips, help books, words of encouragement or just all around HELP for passing this class and getting thru it without quitting.
Thanks! :)

Hmmm.. Words of encouragement..I guess attitude is important. If you are genuinely interested in the science of the body that is a good motivator. One thing I did to help retain the visual stuff, like ID'ing bone, muscle, cell, etc. parts, was to make copies of pictures and white out the labels, then make copies of those, and print out several, then write the labels on several times. My lab partner would make these amazing sheets that she would paste the pictures on, then label with letters or numbers everything in the picture and write out the list next to it. She would quiz herself with those, and she always did really well on lab tests. Another thing is, they may tell you to read chapters twice. They're not kidding. I am amazed at the things I missed the first time when rereading a chapter. Biological science classes are not like other classes, there are so many little details. And don't get behind. Let your friends go to that movie without you for now. Best of luck to you! (Although it's about hard work not luck;))

mynameisjay · Aug 14, 2011

Read religiously, take extensive notes, and notecards, notecards, and more notecards!!! A&P requires ALOT of memorization and nothing helps like flipping through notecards and testing yourself.

Good luck!!!!

jennylouwho · Aug 15, 2011

Find out what your professor expects. Ours the first day of class said that her exams were from her notes, we were to use to book for back up reference. I studies her notes religiously. Rewrite the notes the same day if possible, and if you have questions, talk with other classmates or ask the professor. Sometimes when I would reread my notes I'd be missing something, but filling it in with their responses usually cleared things up for me. I made note cards too. Lots of them. I took those with me everywhere. I was the geek studying my notes while in the preschool pick up line for my daughter. But, hey, I got an A in one and a B (just missed an A) in the other, so it's completely doable.

libra's girl · Aug 15, 2011

there is a great iphone app... flashcards++ It's a great app, cheap and you can type and import your cards from an excel program, or just make them from the phone. It keeps track of cards that are hardest for you and retests. It takes a bit of effort to get the ball rolling, but worth it. You can even add pics and audio to your cards.

SarahAne · Aug 15, 2011

I carried an A all through A&P 1 and A&P 2.... partly because I LOVED IT. It helps to really try to make intuitive sense of things. Also, making up stupid little ways to help you remember. IE: I've remembered since Highschool bio that the collarbone is the clavical because it rhymes with classical and i'd picture a violin on a body in my mind where the collarbone is.

I only used flashcards for the muscular system but I know that they're very helpful for most people.

I got on different websites and studied, my textbook had a great website. I also put a muscular system app on my iphone and used it every chance I could.

Ask a lot of questions. Try to really make sense of it, not just listen and memorize, particularly the lecture part, which is typically more the physiology portion and lab is the anatomy portion.

Good LUCK!!

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Aug 18, 2011

Thanks for all of the A&P tips! My class starts in less than a week and the syllabus was posted online tonight and I'm feeling excited and anxious. You guys were so helpful!