Was it hard for any of you to learn the organ systems & functions?

Jody7818 · Nov 21, 2010

To me...Human A&P is very interesting. Therefore, I didn't mind the studying that's required to get an A in the classes. If you're facsinated like myself, then you shouldn't have a problem doing well in these classes. Our instructors at our college recommend studying 3 hours per day. It sounds a bit much, but they weren't lying. One instructor actually told me to take the Human A&P courses all by themselves. And this is will actually vary from school to school. I showed my wife the work required in my Human A&P classes, and she said it was insane. She took her classes several years ago at a different college. She said it was a challenge for her, but it was nothing like our classes. But you know...sometimes a challenge isn't a bad thing. It pushes you...right?

As far as studying goes, I studied about 2 to 3 times a day at 1 hour intervals. The next day, I would review what I studied the previous day. I simply kept doing this cycle until test day. It's amazing how the new and foreign information will stick like glue to your brain if you keep studying like this. It's also amazing how much you forget if you begin missing studying days. So try not to get behind. Also, it helps if you can study material before class starts so that everything will not be foreign to you. Another thing, don't forget to study for the lab exams. These are generally pure memorization of anatomy. I know several people who did amazingly well on the lecture tests, but did terrible on the lab exams because they didn't study much for them. Youtube was a big help for me when it came to the more complicated parts of the course.

Good luck to you...don't get discouraged when the pressure is on.

JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP · Nov 21, 2010

I think it's great that you're pre-studying even before registering for the class. That's what I did; I must have read the A&P textbook at least 3 times before class started and got A's in all my pre-reqs. It's a lot to learn and you will probably forget a lot of it, but constant repetition is what keeps it fresh in your mind. You keep coming across the same material in different contexts which helps keep it fresh in your mind. You learn it once in A&P, then in patho, then in pharm and in your clinical nursing courses.

Don't be alarmed if you find yourself forgetting stuff.. that's normal. I keep going back to my A&P textbook to refresh whenever I need to remember the basics. For example I had a hard time remembering the different parts of the nervous system and the ascending or descending pathways... but when you have a patient with a stroke or spinal cord injury then suddenly these pathways become relevant and hang together. Good luck, and be prepared to review, review, review -- you can never study too much A&P.

azcna · Nov 21, 2010

That's great that you are studying ahead of time, there is so much to learn!

After my first official anatomy test most people, including myself got a very low grade. Everyone was shocked at how difficult it was. My prof told me that this is very normal for first anatomy tests. After you realize that you really do need to study way more than other classes you are taking, you will be fine. There is so much memorization to be done. What I have found, however, is that if you can successfully memorize ALL the bones it will help you with the other systems. Many arteries, veins, nerves, and muscles are named after what bones they are near.

Anatomy is such a great class because it is so applicable to nursing and healthcare. Knowing how the body works is just absolutely amazing. There are so many things that the body is doing simultaneously to maintain homeostasis that it is just mindboggling :)