Taking Anatomy and Physiology I and II this summer

[ba2957a]

Hey all,

Anatomy and Physiology at my school is broken up into two four credit classes A & P I and A & P II.

I'm thinking about taking both I & II during the summer. Each class is five weeks long and meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for four and a half hours.

Both classes consist of lecture and lab.

For those who have taken A & P before, am I better off taking it during a normal 15 week semester?

Is taking 8 credits of A & P during 10 weeks a bad idea?

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[235788]

It depends on the type of student you are.

If you are a go-getter the summer class will be fine.

Chances are you're taking the nursing student or kinesiology version of a&p, which was a joke when I took it.

 

[Lilmissviolin]

My A&P class is actually a LOT of reading, so I'm glad I am taking it over the regular semester. It all depends on how much free time you'll have.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

Well I never took it. The nursing students are ******ed at my school so of course they all make Cs or Ds. But in all honesty I have taken hard science classes before. It will take up 3/4 of your day and the other 1/4 is for eating and sleeping. If you can live with this, then take it. Good luck OP, I'm taking Physics over the summer.

 

[keyinhand]

I personally wouldn't do it. Summer semester is already shorter than a normal semester, and when you throw two half semester classes in on top of that it's a disaster. I attempted to do the same thing with Physics 1 and 2 last summer, and I ended up dropping a couple weeks in. I was spending 3 hours a day in class and then 5+ hours a day on homework. I just don't think the short classes allow you to really internalize the concepts.

 

[ljpm8224]

I think it's inadvisable mainly because they are such AWESOME classes that I wouldn't want to rush through. I enjoyed them so much, to me they were worth it to have a whole semester to savor the flavor. Save the summer for classes you hate and just have to get through

 

[DocGodfather]

If you're really good at rote memorization, and also have a lot of free time, then go for it. If you want to make A's, be prepared to study every single day throughout those 10-weeks.

 

[Morsetlis]

It'll probably be med-school pace, which will give you a taste of what's to come. Of course, it won't cover nearly as much material.

 

[ba2957a]

Thanks for all of your input!

This is the nursing student version of A & P.

A&P I
"Topics include histology, integumentary, skele- tal, muscular, nervous, endocrine systems, and special senses. For nursing students and those desiring two semesters of A&P only."
A&P II
Continuation of BIOL-203 and includes the cir- culatory, respiratory, digestive, urinary and re- productive systems.

I've got no other commitments this summer and I don't mind spending 5 hours a day memorizing/using flashcards.

A & P isn't a requirement for me. I'm interested in becoming a surgeon after med school so I'm really taking this class for fun.

It also stands to reason that if I can't handle 10 weeks of A & P designed for nursing students then I won't be able to handle med school.

Question for those who have already taken A & P, did the course help you while studying for the MCAT?

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

Unless you have to take it over summer, I wouldn't. Enjoy your summer. This is not going to prepare you for the pace of med school or give you a taste of what med school is like.

What you're going to learn in an A&P class is likely going to be very general and, for the most part, basic anyways (by that, I mean the class is unlikely to go into significant enough detail to actually be of much use for med school). So, if you're really, really interested, maybe read about some topics that interest you on the internet or something. I personally wouldn't waste money and my summer vacation for a course "just for fun."

Edit: Physiology did help me on the PS section of the MCAT (back in 2009), but the physio class I took in undergrad was an upper-level one that was similar in content to the one we have in med school (though definitely not as detailed or thorough). By that, I mean that it made extensive use of physiological equations. I don't think an A&P class will have that same amount of depth, so it's unlikely to be as useful.

 

[unhappytnt]

Hey all,

Anatomy and Physiology at my school is broken up into two four credit classes A & P I and A & P II.

I'm thinking about taking both I & II during the summer. Each class is five weeks long and meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for four and a half hours.

Both classes consist of lecture and lab.

For those who have taken A & P before, am I better off taking it during a normal 15 week semester?

Is taking 8 credits of A & P during 10 weeks a bad idea?

You'll be fine. Summer classes aren't that bad as the others make it sound like. I took Ochem lecture+lab and did just fine. Just try not to fall behind because since the "semester" is only 5 weeks long, playing catch up is not fun.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Unless you have to take it over summer, I wouldn't. Enjoy your summer. This is not going to prepare you for the pace of med school or give you a taste of what med school is like.

What you're going to learn in an A&P class is likely going to be very general and, for the most part, basic anyways (by that, I mean the class is unlikely to go into significant enough detail to actually be of much use for med school). So, if you're really, really interested, maybe read about some topics that interest you on the internet or something. I personally wouldn't waste money and my summer vacation for a course "just for fun."

Edit: Physiology did help me on the PS section of the MCAT (back in 2009), but the physio class I took in undergrad was an upper-level one that was similar in content to the one we have in med school (though definitely not as detailed or thorough). By that, I mean that it made extensive use of physiological equations. I don't think an A&P class will have that same amount of depth, so it's unlikely to be as useful.

Well, not to contradict you or anything, but in my case A&P 1 helped me out massively in all of my upper level physiology classes. You may not go as deep as an upper level class, but you'll certainly learn enough to make other physiology courses a lot less dense. I'm talking breezing through literally the first 3rd of a upper level of physiology.
That being said the lab portion is completely anatomy based, which is the only actually challenging part to be honest since it's pure memorization of a lot of crap you don't really want to learn. It's not going to be anywhere as intensive as a medical school anatomy class, but heck learning every bone in the body and the thousands of forama, tuberocities, etc markings, is going to pretty be a lot of man hours. I'd imagine if I were taking A&P1 in the summer I'd probably need to spend at the very least 2-3 hours a day just staring at a skeleton.

But in the end I don't think taking it over the summer is going to be that fun, the anatomy portion will kick your ass if you do not put in a lot of time.