Which class to take?

Nursing Students General Students

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I only have A&P II left to take next semseter, but in order to get financial aid (which I need) I have to have so many hours. So basically I need to pick up 1 extra class. I have a previous bachelors, so I don't need anything toward my major. I was thinking of taking intro to human pathophysiology or Fundametals of Disease Process. I just want to take something that will be helpful once I get in nursing school. Or maybe Med. Terminology? What do you guys think? I will be taking it online if that alters your opinion on anything. Thanks for the advice! :heartbeat

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Med. Terminology would be a great class to take online. Patho would help you a ton but I don't know that I would want to take that one online. Then again... I'm kind of old school and would rather listen to the lecture in the class room where I can interact with the instructor. Patho isn't as much memorization as A&P and starts you down the critical thinking path. (at least it does in our program) My vote would be for Med terminology.

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What about a language class geared towards health professions? The local community college offers spanish for health care workers, and it's basically spanish 101 and 102 but the vocabulary focuses on health related words.

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Medical Terminology is INVALUABLE in the nursing field!!! It was a pre-requiste before I could even get into Nursing School. That would be the course to take!

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

My vote is for medical terminology.

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Medical Terminology is INVALUABLE in the nursing field!!! It was a pre-requiste before I could even get into Nursing School. That would be the course to take!

I would also go with medical terminology. I wish I had taken it before I started nursing school but it was not a prerequisite for my program and I couldn't fit it into my schedule anywhere. It was very annoying the first couple months when I had to look up the definition of words that I needed to know but didn't.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Of the choices you listed, I would pick Medical Terminology because it is the type of class best suited for an online format. The other choices would also be valuable, but might not be as good taken online. Don't add stress to you life if you don't need to.

Another way to go would be to take a course "just for fun" that might help improve the quality of your life now or down the road. Such a course might actually be of more benefit to you in the long run and this might be your best chance to take it. There are workbooks, and self-study courses on medical terminology you could have on your shelf as a reference (or to read over a holiday break) should you need some help with terminology later. But this is your one of the few chances you will ever have to just take a course for fun and enjoy the learning. That's what I would probably choose.

A third option would be to take a class that relates to a particular patient population that interests you -- such as children, the elderly, a certain ethnic group or disability population, etc. Such a coures would be enjoyable while also giving you a foundation for expertise with that population in the future. Personally, I would also prefer this choice of a medical terminology class.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

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If you don't know anything then medical terminology would help. It would've helped many in my class.

Beyond that, if you have yet to take AP II why not just take that? Can you not take it online from another college or something and just be done with it?

That said, either one of the other courses would be good. If they don't have prereqs of the A&P set then go ahead and pick one.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

I have to definately vote for patho hence teh name but really i have learned so much in that class it relates to everything..At my school its a tough professor so that may have prejudiced me to the class as well :) medical terminology may be easier to pursue online though but i guess i would say the other because i think in a and p, micro, patho and other pre-req's you already learn so much medical terminology..i don't know really it surprisingly wasnt a pre-req for me

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Specializes in NICU.

I also agree that medical terminology would be the smartest. First of all, it will probably be the easiest - allowing you the time to focus on a&p. Next, the information is definitely important - taking med term just to fulfill credit requirements saved me in patho and pharm.

Won't you take patho later? Usually a&p has to be done before you take patho, unless this is a more general class?

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Med. Terminology it is! Thanks guys! I appreciate the advice. :redpinkhe

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