Tips, hints, and tricks for A&P class

[Lisa O]

I hope to be starting an intro to A&P class (crossing fingers since it is full). What do I need to help me with this class should I get lucky and get in? I have seen all kinds of nifty fun things like flash cards, coloring books, etc. I even accidently found out that there is a real A&P for Dummies book. I think I will start off with getting a small study group ASAP. I was wondering what some of you have found has really helped you during the class for retaining all that information, and for tests / quizzes. Thank you in advance

[scubanurse]

I found flash cards that I made rather than buying were really helpful for learning muscles, bones, nerves, and blood vessels. I don't know how in depth your program will go, but the act of writing out the muscles origin, insertions, and actions was really helpful in memorizing them. It sounds silly, but we also would draw on our bodies the muscles of the forearms and legs.

Coloring books help too... the princeton review one was pretty good and helpful. And just repetition. The more you look at the stuff, the better you'll be and don't wait till the night before the exam to study. Spend 30 minutes twice a day if you can reviewing the stuff.

Good luck!

[FireMedic65]

Study, study, study, study! Repetition!

[Eydawn]

I have to echo the repetition. Spend time with the material; that's the only way to get it to really stick with you. Don't just read the book- take active notes while you're reading, write out questions you want the answers to, go research those questions and write out the answers. Coloring things is good if you're a visual and kinesthetic learner.

Good luck! Working with classmates is a really good way to go, but make sure you spend enough time with the material on your own too, because others' confusion can mess you up if you're not certain in your knowledge.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[DwayneEMTP]

Study group is awesome! But be forewarned.

You will need to be responsible for the group. Prepare the materials, (I love flash cards as well) set the times, define the parameters for each session. You need to start it, and then you need to maintain it. If you wait for others to help you, you will be sorely disappointed. And you MUST, MUST, MUST have the cast iron ovaries to eliminate those that only want to participate at a minimal level or in the last few days before an exam. Surround yourself with winners, give the mediocre students a chance to become winners, and blow off the dead weight. That's vital. DO NOT FEEL THE NEED TO MOTHER THOSE THAT ARE UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO COMMIT THE TIME AND ENERGY NECESSARY TO SUCCEED AT THE LEVEL YOU DESIRE. (Can you tell that I think that that's a pretty important point?)

Also, break down the names of each of the anatomical terms that you learn and come to understand the word parts. You can memorize 12 gazillion names of muscles, bones, anatomical markers, etc, or you can learn a few dozen word parts and their rules that will allow you to simply state the likely name based on shape, location, and/or anatomical purpose.. It will make life SO much easier...trust me on this one.

Good luck girl. A&P classes are usually full, but there will almost certainly be openings in the first week after many find out that this class is actually going to be work. Keep your chin up.

Dwayne

[melclin]

White board sessions...they're fantastic. Either with friends or by yourself, you pick a topic, idea or set of things to remember and then you teach the person you're with (preferably someone for class so its useful for them. Also then they can ask questions and expose cracks in your knowledge) or even just pretend u have a class (I do this with disturbing frequency) and teach "them" the concept. Understanding the idea well enough to teach it raises the level of understanding you yourself have and it exposes weaknesses in your knowledge when you realise you thought you knew something but can't really explain it well when you "student" asks you too expand.

Also, because its interactive, its much easier to get through large amounts of material without blanking out like you do if you sit down to read a textbook, when you'd prefer to be doing something..anything..else.

You tube is an under utilized resource. If there is a concept you don't understand, plug it into youtube and there is a fairly good chance you'll find some wonderfully educational video that explains things better, or just differently (because often all you need is a slightly different perspective) and helps you to understand things much better. There are many videos for things like the development of an atherosclerotic plaque, cardiac electrical systems and mechanical function, muscle contractions and endocrine/biochemical topics. Basically anything that involves a dynamic process (something that occurs over time) is better described with a video than a picture in a text book.

Don't be afraid to ask guidance from wikipedia. Don't ever take anything it says as gospel truth, but I don't care what anyone says, it is a helpful tool for quickly gaining an brief and simple overview of topics related to what you're working on but that you don't necessarily need to know in detail and would require literally hours of pouring through text books to find and understand. The online Merck manual is also good for this, searchable through google, and can be taken as gospel truth as much as any textbook.

I have a copy of a number of helpful free e-books which are particularly useful because they are electronically searchable unlike their hard copy counterparts. PM me if you're interested and I'll figure out a way to get you a student copy.

[Kiwiology]

White board sessions...they're fantastic.

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