As a Pre Nursing student passing your science courses are super important. Acceptance into a Nursing Program is competitive so you want to score as high as possible to be a good candidate. Anatomy and Physiology is one of the courses everyone stresses over the most. Recently I have had a few people ask me how I passed/studied for Anatomy so I figured I would share my personal tips and how I passed. This post is specific to A and P but some of these can be applied to any course.

Stay Organized

The first thing you will notice with this course is that there is a lot of information. That is why it is usually broken up into two courses AP I and AP II. Staying organized is key when you have a course with an abundant amount of information. I organized my information by each exam. For example if Exam One contained Chapters 3-5, those chapters would be what I had in my folder at a time. Once I took the exam I clipped those chapters together and put them aside because I would need it again for my finals. A part of organization is utilizing a planner with all of your assignment dates, and important dates like exams.

Attend Lecture and Lab

This should go without saying but missing class can really set you back. Especially because Anatomy has so much information, you miss out on a lot of information even if you miss just one class. Save yourself the stress and don’t miss lecture or lab.

Tips for Lecture

Before Lecture: Reading chapters ahead of meeting for lecture is super beneficial. That way while your professor is lecturing you are familiar with the information and not completely lost. When I read before class I do not take any notes but I do highlight as I read the chapter.

During Lecture: Take notes as the professor goes through the powerpoint and chapter. Lecture notes are not meant to be lengthy, if you try to write word for word you will definitely miss information. Keep your notes short and focus on key things that the professor mentions.

After Lecture: Go through the chapter again this time read and take notes. Then combine your lecture notes and your notes from reading to create your study guide. This repetition can help the information stick. Try to do this as soon as soon as you can, while the information from lecture is still fresh in your brain. Your study guide should be neatly put together, using colors makes it prettier and makes me actually want to study.

The main thing to remember with lecture (the physiology) is understanding the why. Once you understand the functions and why or how it works you will do well in the course. Try not to just memorize but actually understand the functions.

Lab Tips

The craziest part is that although this is technically one course, how you study for lecture is completely different than you would for lab. Lab is more memorization than anything else. Being able to identify the different parts of the body.
I found the best way to do this was by blowing up the different images of models and body parts. I printed two copies and labeled one and left the other blank. Leading up to my lab practicums I would go over the images repeatedly until I could identify each part. While studying I would also write the names of each part, until I could spell it correctly. For my lab course accurate spelling was important.

Use Additional Resources

Whether you feel like you’re doing well or struggling I highly suggest using other resources to help you with this course. Attend open labs and any tutoring sessions your professor has. Utilize office hours to ask any questions that you had. Go to lab and use the models when studying, not just your images.

I also found the Anatomy Coloring Book very helpful. It even went along with the chapters so navigating and incorporating it as a study tool was easy.

I passed my course with an A and my science GPA for nursing school application is a 4.0. These are just things that worked well for me and I hope it helps you as well.

This course can be overwhelming and stressful but you can get through it!