took Bio/Chem courses 7 years ago, will A/P/micro be harder for me as a result?

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hi - I am a career changer, wanted to go into nursing as a second career and plan on starting my first nursing pre-reqs this summer. I took pre-med bio and chem courses (no O chem) in 2002 before I started curriculum for my first career degree. thus, I wasn't planning to re-take bio and chem; rather, i was going to enroll in anatomy this summer.

however, reading the blogs i see that since chem and micro are related (maybe bio also), i might struggle alot with A/P and micro. does anyone think that re-taking bio and chem classes before starting A/P/micro is worth the temporary time setback in postponing anatomy & micro? thanks!

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I took chem and bio a lot more than 7 years ago. I think you'll be fine. There were even a couple of kids (I'm old enough to call them that) in my A and P class who had not even had a chemistry course.

Tom

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MAYBE Bio, but no way chem. Thats a huge maybe, if you are a decent student, its unnecessary.

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Specializes in (none).

I agree with the posts above...no need to take those classes over again. You'll just be creating more work for yourself.

I've never had a Chem class and I did pretty well in Anatomy, Phsy & Micro. But for the love of God, don't take Anatomy & Micro in the same semester.

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You should be fine. Just get one of those review books if you feel you need it. Or keep a shortcut to sparknotes.com on your desktop. I love that site for quickie reviews.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

I took Bio and Chem in high school over 25 years ago. Because I got a B- or better (straight A's in each), my college accepted those as meeting the pre-reqs for Anatomy and Physiology, and I didn't have to take the college-level courses.

Even though it had been AGES since I'd taken the pre-reqs, I ended up with an A+ in both Anatomy (last semester) and Physiology (this semester). Part of that is just due to the fact that I've always been an A student, but part of that is also due to the fact that -- even though I've forgotten way more than I remembered about chemistry -- I did at least have a remedial understanding of polar/non-polar, acid/base, ion exchange, etc.

The people that struggled the most with Physiology were the people who had never taken Chem at all. Rather than spending all the time and money to re-take your courses, you might be better off spending $20 on a "Chemistry for Dummies" type book for a refresher.... heck, you can probably just borrow it from the library, browse through it, and be done with it!

And from one career-changer to another, good luck to you!

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I agree with everyone else; you'll do fine. I hadn't taken Chemistry in 10 years but I did great in A&P 1 and 2.

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My Bio and Chem classes were at least 10 years before I took A&P and Micro. There was no problem with that whatsoever. Whatever Chem you need will be covered in a chapter in the A&P and Micro book (and honestly, you probably won't even cover that chapter in class under the assumption you have had Chem already -- but at least all the chem you will need is right in front of you to review if necessary). You shouldn't have any trouble at all! Good luck!

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Specializes in Hospice, ER.

I took bio about 20 yrs ago and chem about 5 years ago and had no problems. Good luck!

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