College A&P

Foxbat

Foxbat

Forum Captain
Messages
377
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Looking at all other threads about college classes, I got curious.
I am trying to enroll in my university's nursing school's two semesters of A&P with lab. The thing is, the courses which are offered over the summer tend to be intensive, i. e. 6-week rather than 12-week. They get same credit as 12-week and I haven't heard them being looked down onto. However, reading to discussions here, it looks like in healthcare anything that implies "intensive"/"accelerated" is severely frowned upon.
Well, you can see what my question is... Should I wait few more semesters and get into longer classes, if available, or these would be OK?
Short disclaimer: I do not know yet if I am going to go to medic school but I figured out A&P will not hurt even if I stay EMT-B. I do have a few semesters of chemistry, physics, and mathematics and I do not have a problem with large workloads.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't know if I'd call taking a summer course accelerated. At my undergrad, normal 4 unit courses would meet either MWF for an hour a lecture or TuTh for an hour and a half with some courses having an hour long discussion (some, like O Chem, were optional while others, like physics, was required). For the 2 summer sessions at my undergrad the weekly course load was doubled. So a course might meet MWF for 2 hours or MTuWTh for an hour and a half each day. The key to making summer sessions work is not to over load yourself. Do not plan on taking 20 units over a summer session since the pace would make it be like taking 40 units.
 
College credit hours are measured very different than actual hours of training such as tech schools that offer EMS programs.

If you take 12 semester credits, you are expected to do the same amount of work regardless of how long the term is. In other words, they don't just measure the actual time you are in class or in a clinical. Each hour carries x amount of work expectation along with actual time.

For tech schools, it is measured by actual hours spent in class or on clinical.

Example: clinicals may be listed as 450 hours for a paramedic program.

For the college version, it may be listed as 4 semester hours per semester which may be 120 hours worth of contact time.

Colleges that do offer just the paramedic cert set the core class requirements around the state's minimum. Often they will not count the college A&P even if required to achieve the minimum since the "expected work" hours from a 4 semester credit class would be almost a third of the whole Paramedic program. 2 college A&P classes are worth almost the same as some medic mill programs.
 
JPINFV said:
I don't know if I'd call taking a summer course accelerated.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Measured apples to apples, a semester hour is a semester hour, no matter how long it took you to complete it. What we look down on here are those courses that are "accelerated" not only by cramming it into a shorter calendar period, but by cutting the content hours in half, as the "accelerated" paramedic programs tend to do.

4 credit hour summer course = 4 credit hour fall course

600 contact hour paramedic course ≠ 1800 contact hour paramedic course

Calendar length is irrelevant. It is credit and contact hours that we measure by. That said, some people can learn well in a fast-pace class that allows for very little study and digestion time. Some people -- including some very smart people -- cannot. More people cannot than can, so you need to be honest with yourself and evaluate your potential to excel in this setting, based upon past educational experiences.

Personally, I made a point of never taking important core sciences during summer semesters just to assure that I was able to digest and retain the maximum amount of information. I'd save the summer semesters for things like composition, communications, algebra, sociology, government, history, phys ed, etc...

It's not about the grade. It's about the knowledge. Just because you make an A doesn't mean you truly learned anything well, or will retain it. So again, be honest with yourself before deciding. If you're not sure, don't do it.

Good on you for thinking about this ahead of time. You're absolutely right, this is extremely valuable education for an EMT-B too. If A&P is taken before an EMT-B course, the results are a much better practitioner, and it should be a requirement.
 
I have talked to my advisor about summer courses and she recommended that I avoid taking more difficult classes and instead take Gen eds. that are going to be easier but I still need them. She said the summer courses are often taught so quiculy that you might not grasp all the information adequately. She said that for someone interested in medical school it would be much smarter to wait and take the class over a regular semester so I can really learn the material. Maybe you should do the same. Get that art or writing class out of the way and save the important stuff for the real semester.
 
Another option
A university normally offers via the biology department a biology elective with lab in Physiology and Human Anatomy (or vertebrate). This courses are normally 1 semester each and go in more depth than an A&P combined; however, they are normally upper electives. So they are expected to be harder.
 
Accelerated college courses usually have the same number of credit hours, but you attend classes more often/for longer at once. A 3 credit hour class is the same number of hours if the class takes 6 weeks or 6 months.

A&P involved a lot of info. If you did well in your previous science classes, are a good student, and can deal with a lot of reading and reviewing every day, then you may be able to be successful at the class.

If you are working full time, have kids or a demanding family life, and are generally pretty busy then an accelerated class may not be the best choice.
 
Agreed. I took O-Chem over a summer and it was brutal. Save A&P for a couple of regular semesters/quarters. After all, it's the foundation on which your EMS education is built.

By the way, this week is my final A&P lab for the quarter. It's been the best 10 credits I've ever taken.
 
I would strongly advise taking A&P during a regular semester. The pace is super fast even in the regular, full length course. Not sure how your course would be, but in mine, we had a serious 100+ question exam on everything from anatomical terms, directions, movements, histology, and the entire skeletal system about 3 weeks in to the class. Tomorrow, 3 weeks later, we have an exam covering all of the neuroanatomy and muscles. Can't even imagine it being possible to cover that much material faster adequately or without killing yourself with stress.

You have to spend a significant amount of time studying outside of class just to stay afloat, and you'll probably want to spend more time in lab than the bare minimum. I did a semester of combined A&P with lab a year ago, and I'm currently taking anatomy with lab. It's definitely my most difficult class and I'm no stranger to upper-division courses or lab sciences. It's also my favorite class by far.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I took A&P I once a week believe it or not during nighttime. It was Monday from 4-8PM, talk about getting hosed with alot of info. I made it out of there with a B. I still know what optic chiasma and periosteum are and what they do etc. The bones are lots of fun, alot more that 7th grade science class, we got to learn the difference between all of the different types of spinal cord bones and how there shapes/sizes are etc.
 
Thanks to everybody for responses.
I looked into my schedule but it looks like it would not be possible to take A&P during regular semester, so I signed up for I started to study from the A&P book in advance so hopefully it won't be too bad.
 
Just remain serious and give 100 percent effort, and you can benefit well from the course. But if you just go in looking to do no more than pass for the credits, you will take little from the course. Especially if it's a couple years down the line before you get into medic school. Always remember that someone's life may someday depend on what you are studying in class the day you don't feel like studying.
 
Another tip that has helped me -

I enjoy learning more if I do some independent studying of pathology related to whatever we're covering in class. It reminds me that I'm learning it for a reason, and makes it all more than just rote memorization.
 
Well, I started the class this week.
It turned out that taking it in summer has its advantages: the class has about 30 students, as opposed to ~200 students it has during spring and fall semesters. Which is nice.
I'll try to enroll in a pathophysiology class next year if possible.
 
I'm taking A&P 1 this semester, I wonder how all this is going to play out with my other courses and the Fire Academy. I guess we'll see, the teacher is supposed to be great though from what I've read.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top