My university offers anatomy and physiology as separate courses. I am on my last year of pre-reqs and I have three science courses left (anatomy, physiology, and microbiology). This upcoming fall I enrolled in both anatomy (3 credits) and physiology (3 credits). I've been receiving advice to take anatomy first semester and physiology second. While I agree that would be my best option, I'd really like to knock out two science pre-reqs this fall. Micro isn't offered in the fall so taking anatomy and micro isn't an option.
I'm an A student and I work really, really hard but I'm struggling to decide if this is a terrible idea.
What do you think? I'm willing to put in the effort to succeed in both classes.
I took anatomy and phys (both with labs) as separate classes simultaneously in one semester, and it worked out very well. However, my classes were with the same teacher (who was great), and although the classes weren't integrated (because some people in each class were not taking the other) he tried to teach us the anatomy for a system prior to covering the physiology. He wasn't always able to synch thing up, but he was at least aware of what we'd covered in anatomy when giving the related phys lecture. If you are taking these courses with different teachers, I think it would be more challenging -- it's definitely helpful to know the anatomy before learning the physiology, and you may not have that luxury if different teachers are teaching the material.
If you can dedicate the time, I think it's definitely do-able. I loved being able to get it done in one semester, and like I said, my teacher was awesome. But keep in mind that the content might not synch up if you have different teachers, and that could make it more challenging than it would otherwise be.
Check with your school. Ours has separate anatomy class that is required before you're allowed to enroll in physiology.
Think about it: your physiology professor is going to assume you already know anatomy when explaining function. How will you understand the physiology of the heart if you don't know the anatomy? It will be quite difficult.
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space monster
38 Posts
I took anatomy and phys (both with labs) as separate classes simultaneously in one semester, and it worked out very well. However, my classes were with the same teacher (who was great), and although the classes weren't integrated (because some people in each class were not taking the other) he tried to teach us the anatomy for a system prior to covering the physiology. He wasn't always able to synch thing up, but he was at least aware of what we'd covered in anatomy when giving the related phys lecture. If you are taking these courses with different teachers, I think it would be more challenging -- it's definitely helpful to know the anatomy before learning the physiology, and you may not have that luxury if different teachers are teaching the material.
If you can dedicate the time, I think it's definitely do-able. I loved being able to get it done in one semester, and like I said, my teacher was awesome. But keep in mind that the content might not synch up if you have different teachers, and that could make it more challenging than it would otherwise be.