hard class in the summer?

[CircadianRhythm]

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I'm a bit non-traditional so bare with me. I am a brand new EMT embarking on my pre-med journey. I am a bit older (23) and don't have the family/financial support that more traditional students have so I decided to go to paramedic school before finishing my pre-reqs and a bachelor degree. This is a backup plan for medical school, and to help pay for the rest of my undergraduate degree. Its all on me and I need a skillset that is somewhat recession proof.I found a good bachelor program that the paramedic AAS credits would transfer to.

Anyway the paramedic program requires two semesters of anatomy. I really want to start the medic program this fall to get the ball rolling so I'd have to take A&P 1 and 2 over the summer. Thing is I've never taken an upperlevel science course before. I took gen bio 1 and got a B in it forever ago, but I know anatomy will be much harder.

Do you think someone who is not tried and tested in harder science courses should take these courses over the summer? I'm fairly intelligent but have never taken a course that is based solely on memorization so I have no reference point. How many hours a week would I have to study to keep up? 40? 50?

I really want to do this but one of my EMT instructors who actually teaches anatomy at a university advised against it since I have jobs. But I'd be willing to leave one of them and just work over the weekends like 24 hours or so. One of my jobs there is a lot of downtime so I could even study there. Thanks for your time guys

 

[DrEnderW]

Is there any way to gauge what this class is like at your program? For example, A&P in my school was a moderate class at best and way easier than Bio II and II. Is it known for being challenging? Not many people study 50 hours a week taking 15 upper level science credits so I don't think it will require that much. I would try and speak with an advisor at school or the professor to get their opinion because it can be so variable.

Good luck!

 

[SomSom]

I'm in the exact same boat as you with the same goals. I test for my EMT-b in two weeks and then I start a paramedic program in July and I'm 22. I contemplated doing the same thing over the summer semester but from hearing about A&P from multiple people it's not a class you're going to want to take in a short semester; unless you know yourself well enough and know you're disciplined enough to take a crazy amount of time to study. Personally I talked to my advisor and she is allowing me to take A&P 1 and 2 concurrently with my paramedic courses over the next fall and spring semester, so there's a good option for you to take into consideration. I think the biggest thing about taking these as a predmed student is making sure you have high grades in your sciences, which is very unlikely if you take these types of classes in a minimester.