Taking A&P in spring ~ any advice?

A great advice I got from a RN buddy is to manage your schedule so that you spend AT LEAST 15-20 hrs a week on the material. A&P is like a new language. The terms, definitions, and jargon they use is going to confuse the hell out of you, so you should spend a lot of time trying to understand and digest the material.

Another advice is to utilize the resources the teacher provides. If they give study guides then disect the heck out it. Make sure you can describe the structure and function of whatever the study guide provides. For example, if the study guide has a question about muscle tissue then you should be able to explain the three types in the body (skeletal, cardiac, and smooth), physical description (striated or non-striated), and what they do (movement of bone, authorythmicity, movement of substances). Also, if the book has a cd or an online interactive guide like wileyplus or something, utilize it as much as possible. The pictures and diagrams are really helpful for visual learners. There are also narrated portions that help out verbal learners. Those things are designed to help you memorize and familiarize yourself to the complex A&P material.

Finally, form a study group, but make sure the people in your group are passionate about understanding the information. It's really good to have peers to talk to because at times they may clarify things that you might be iffy about and vice versa. When you explain things to them you are actually learning. You are consciously reflecting the info that you know about the material to another person...but make sure it's the correct information from the books and from the professors

I'm taking A&P I now. It is not the monster that I thought it would be. Yes, it is alot of information, but most of it is pretty basic and straightforward. Some of the physio stuff can get pretty complicated, though. But, for those, on-line animations really help.

Utilize the resources that come with your book. Labeling assignments, coloring books, practice quizzes, tutorials, videos, quizlet has some really cool online flashcards....there's a ton of stuff out there. Use it!

Good luck and have fun! It's an awesome class.

Make flash cards on regular note cards and go through them a couple times a day. Read each chapter and take extra notes. This class takes a little more time to prepare for the tests than other classes. It's not difficult, you just have to study more. You can do it. (:

Oh, and YouTube can be your best friend if you are a visual learner!

I'm in the middle of A&P II right now and like the PP said, it requires many, many hours per week in addition to the regular class schedule for me to stay afloat. If you've worked in healthcare for a while or have some crazy knowledge of the human body and biology already, it may not be such a beast but being completely new to me, it definitely is very much like learning a new language (what a great way to explain that btw). Also, in my experience, it seems that the answers are in the details. In other words, you don't just need to know how this does that and what this organ is, you have to know all of the enzymes, hormones, valves, yadayada that make it do that so there is a lot of reading (and for me reading again and again and again to let it sink in). You Tube has helped alot with the visual aspect of learning what is where, you can pause, take notes, rewatch as many times as you need. Flash cards are also a big help, you can buy them but so far I have just made my own.

My best advice is to avoid reading or listening to "OMG, A&P is so hard!!!" type of threads or conversations! It's not the easy class I have ever taken but there are plenty of people who do well and even enjoy it. You can be one of them! Find what works for you and stick with it. For me, it was notecards, a lot of drawing to help me conceptualize the processes and having an awesome study buddy.

Just study effectively and you'll be fine!!

Don't just learn it for one semester. I'm amazed at how many nursing students forgot A&P. Start learning the bones and muscles, and terminology that will give a great head start. It's a huge time commitment but its not that bad. Don't let anyone psych you out and enjoy the class!!

I agree with studentnurseCT. Don't try to learn only what you need to learn to pass, because this information is actually very important and helpful once you start nursing classes. It is very hard to understand certain nursing concepts if you don't understand how the body works. I learned that the hard way!

Hey Take your digital camera with you to class and you can use it to take photographs of the models that youcan practice labeling later. You can also hold the lens right up to the microscope eye piece and take a picture of the microscopic images too, you can practice labeling them and you can even have flash cards printed out of all your pictures too. )