I'm super stressed right now. Classes started on the 21st and I have my Anatomy and Physiology class on Mondays and Wednesdays. It's only been a week (in regard to the class) and we've only gone over one chapter and I'm already so overwhelmed with information. Our first lab test is on the 6th and will be on 3 chapters. I'm kind of freaking out because I've yet to wrap my head around the one chapter we've done and we're moving on to another chapter or two next week.
What's the best way to actually study this? I've been out of school since I graduated in 2009 and apparently my study skills are a bit more rusty than I thought and the ones I used in high school aren't necessarily helping me in this case. There's so many body parts and things to learn and my professor says this isn't even the hard part (she said the nervous system is)! Any advice would greatly help. I feel like I'm drowning here.
My easy memorization tip: If you have a blank practice form for labeling anatomical terms, copy it or put it in a page protector and write with a dry erase marker and practice the crap out of it this weekend. I would do it 10-15 times so you know you really have the terms down. I personally never found flashcards helpful for AP but I am a visual and kinetic learner so the "muscle memory" of filling in blank practice sheets was useful for me. You can also look up blank practice forms online if you didn't receive anything like this. Try it a couple times and see if you think it will be helpful to you!
Also, to keep yourself from being overwhelmed, after every class take half an hour to review what needs to be learned by next week, the week after, and for your next test. Make a study plan! Then take your class / book notes and compile them (hopefully you're using loose leaf, it's the easiest for this) into study packets. (Notes relevant to one topic or chapter section in each packet, no more than ten pages of notes) Take a packet with you and review as you're able to- between classes, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, etc. Even five minutes of review can be helpful.
I also find it helpful to write my own practice tests / quizzes from these packets - two rounds of review there, one as you write it and one as you take it - before every exam. Every little bit counts! This should be your focus class this semester, and you'll probably need to dedicate between 12-20 hours each week if you have no background in medical terminology. Depends on how quickly you pick things up! When I got to microbiology and AP II I found it best to spend about 2 hours each week making and taking practice tests and quizzes. Got at least a 90 on each test so I must have been doing something right for my brain!
These are all really great suggestions! My professor does give us lecture and lab study guides that I've been reading over. I've been taking all my notes in a notebook though, so I guess I'll need to get some loose leaf paper! I definitely want to try the method you mentioned with the page protector to try to learn some of the things I'm going to have to label for my lab exam! That'll be on my study plan for the weekend and beyond. Thanks so much for that! I also learn by seeing and doing, so that will be a perfect way for me to study.
You can definitely use a notebook and maybe just pull out the note pages but I found using loose leaf and a binder way easier to organize my notes into study packets (I used some of those binder dividers with the pockets but not really necessary, just an extra thing to separate chapters / sections), along with the lab packets and study sheets and everything else.
I agree with previous commenters; A&P is a lot of work but you CAN do it. I don't think anyone has ever taken that course without feeling overwhelmed at some point. But using various study aids, constantly rewriting and re-reading your notes, coloring books, etc all really do help keep you sane. Don't beat yourself up if there are certain concepts that don't click right away. Some things like cellular respiration and the cardiac cycle took me a long time to understand. I just kept at it even when I wanted to scream! But very soon you'll look back and be amazed at how much you have learned from this class. I still can't believe I memorized all those bones and blood vessels!
Thanks so much for all your advice, everyone! I've been studying my notes and diagrams. My boyfriend even let me use him as a diagram by letting me put sticky notes on him to name the medical terms for certain body parts I have to learn. I think I may be slowly grasping what I need to! Your words are super encouraging and I greatly appreciate them!
I probably should have read all the other replies first as i'm probably going to be repeating what someone else said. A&P l&ll was ALOT of information. I took it in an accelerated program which made it even worse. The fact that I was so interested in it made it a little better. I carried my index cards and notes with me everywhere! I would look over them waiting in a drive thru, barber shop while my boys were getting their haircut, before church started, breaks at work..I could keep going but i'm sure you get my point lol. I also used a correlation method. I would some how relate some of the terms(foreign words) with things in my life. I would make it sound funny, for example sternocleidomastoid the first time I saw that i thought, now who, what when where and how!? My teacher was also really strict on spelling (graduate teacher). I chose a country person for this one and I would say it like I was born and raised in Alabama and proud of it sternooocleidooomastoid lol!! I know it sounds weird but it worked for me. My point is find something that woks for you it can even involve something physical. People would laugh with me and my tactics but THEY WORKED. I even downloaded different games from my app store. I would say don't skip around in your studies without knowing the majority of it. I did better in knowing for sure I had at least 85-90% without a doubt versus vaguely knowing 100%. I still remember so much from my classes. My favorite so far.
Get the coloring book. Use the online practice opportunities. Ask for help. Pair up with a classmate and quiz each other. Take one step at a time. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
I aced a and p...it really is memorization though. Def flash cards and repitition. Memorize the cards and then write it out from memory. Just before exams read over cards and write things out. Also try to relax. You can't learn if you are stressing yourself. I've only applied to nursing school. If this is freaking you out...you have to consider what patient care will be like. When you are actually giving meds and caring for someone it's a lot of work and def going to have its stressors.
So I made some flash cards for the information I'd learned in chapter 1 on Quizlet and when I took the little practice test option it has and the fill in the blank exercises, I was actually surprised at all the stuff I actually knew. I didn't think I'd know of any of it, but I was flowing through it pretty easily. I'm definitely going to look into getting a coloring book. Do any of you have one? If so, what's the name of it so that I can look it up and get one for myself? As far as stress goes, I'm mostly stressing about getting an A in this class (as well as my other prereqs) since it's the class that carried the highest point value and I need as many points I can get in case I don't score as high I'd like to on the TEAS test and since I don't have a job or volunteer hours in healthcare (this is mostly because dialysis conflicts with me schedule majority of the time). But everyone's right! I seriously need to chill out and get a study game plan together so that I can tackle this class. I definitely think I can do it if I work hard enough! But sheesh, if I think THIS is hard and already causing me to wonder if I'm even smart enough to be a nurse, then I have no idea how I'm going to survive in CNRA school if and/or when I get in! Haha
Don't talk down to yourself. You have to stay encouraged. If this is really what you want...to be a nurse...then you will find a way to push yourself. Stay focused...get in your niche...and don't give it up!
You were correct when you wrote "It's like learning a foreign language!" For me, it was very, very much like learning a foreign language! I am a very good student, usually 1st in any class...and I will be totally honest with the you, the first time I took A&P it kicked my butt! (as in, it is still the only C on my college transcripts). Like you, I took it during my first semester back in school after many years away. In hindsight, that was a bad idea but I wanted to get through my prerequisites quickly and I needed A&P I ASAP because it was needed before I could take other classes. After I barely passed it, I gave up on a nursing career (I went into another field then came back to nursing nearly 20 years later...got an A in A&P then!).
Videos and youtube help a lot - I also listen to audio of A&P as I fall asleep at night. There are lectures on itunes university too that you can listen to in the car.
It sounds like you have a really high study load in addition to A&P and that this is the first time you've taken classes in a while. I would consider dropping something - maybe English because it will require a lot of time and writing.
VictoriaxB
15 Posts
These are all really great suggestions! My professor does give us lecture and lab study guides that I've been reading over. I've been taking all my notes in a notebook though, so I guess I'll need to get some loose leaf paper! I definitely want to try the method you mentioned with the page protector to try to learn some of the things I'm going to have to label for my lab exam! That'll be on my study plan for the weekend and beyond. Thanks so much for that! I also learn by seeing and doing, so that will be a perfect way for me to study.