What Was Your Hardest Topic In Anatomy and Physiology?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I just mentioned on another thread that the hardest class I ever took was Physiology (my school had two separate classes). Got me to thinking... what topic in each of these classes was the hardest for you to learn? For me:

Anatomy - Muscles of the arm and hand (Origins and inserts) :wacky:

Physiology - Kidney function / regulation of blood pressure :cry:

Just curious!

A&P 2-respiratory, urinary system/fluid & electrolyte balance, & reproductive systems

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I'm weird, I am better at understanding the more complicated ones...the respiratory system gave me problems lol

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

What still throws me is brain surface anatomy... The rest was relatively easy. Muscle physiology and their origin/insertion/action wasn't all that hard. In fact, that's necessary for some things. I happen to like exercise physiology... Endocrine is very important as hormones have effects pretty much everywhere. So is kidney function and what's absorbed and what's not. Certain drugs can have very specific effects upon the kidneys and what's reabsorbed or not.

What does Nursing School, Medical School, NP School, and even Paramedic School do with that information to one degree or another? They put that foundational information together in a certain way so that the end practitioner has an understanding of what's normal, what's not normal, and so the end practitioner is able to figure out how to fix the problem within the context of their field. The schools link the dots. I went through athletic trainer school, so I'm more keen on the exercise physiology end of things. I have a good understanding about how and why the body breaks, how to detect injury, and what needs to be done (or who to refer to) to deal with the problem. I had a great time on an ortho floor while in school. A quick read of the procedure and I had a very solid understanding of what was done and what the patient's limitations were.

Believe me, the stuff you learn in your prerequisites will help prepare you for Nursing School and you'll use the information after you graduate. It's not just "academic" stuff for the fun of it.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

No one is arguing that the information is vitally important to know as nurses. The topic is simply exploring what people found to be the most challenging in the context of A&P.

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Anatomy: The tissue and the brain

Physiology: Bone formation

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in contrast the endocrine was my absolute favorite! SO interesting!! I loved cardiovascular as well. I really like all the topics, some are just harder than others

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Pediatrics.

In A&P I, the foundation information (basically chemistry stuff) was and still is difficult for me to grasp. I still have to review it over and over. In A&P 2, the respiratory physiology went over my head!

I loved the cardiovascular and nervous systems!

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Everything but I love it..lol

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

The renal system was the hardest for me.

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Specializes in Critical care.

The endocrine system hands down

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I took A&PI last semester, and for me, the absolute worst thing was neuro. Now, I was fine with most of it... But the pathways... Good lord... Honestly, probably the most involved set of information I have ever tried to learn/memorize. I'd be just fine if I never had to look at a diagram of a neural pathway again.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed A&P.

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