My second year of college started this past Monday. I’m having trouble affording my books this year, as in i don’t have any money for them. I have to take out a loan (thank God my mom’s handling that). We’re taking out enough money for this semester’s books and next.
Besides money, I believe I’ve already said in another post, that I’ve settled on a major: Nursing. Right now I’m trying to complete the requisites. I’m struggling with which classes I’m going to take next semester though, b/c I can fit all of my pre-req’s into this one year. The only problem is that it’s mandatory for me to take both Human Anatomy & Physiology I AND II. The only thing is that if I take both of those classes in one semester (next semester, not this one that I’m currently in), will I be setting myself up for GPA suicide lol. Right now I’m actually getting a head start on learning the bones of the skeleton. I’m working on the axial skeleton. I think I’m doing a pretty good job, especially when it comes to the spine: There are 33 vertebrae and they make up the Cervical Curve, Thoracic Curve, Lumbar Vertebae, Sacral, and Coccyx. The Cervical Curve has 7 bones located in the neck, called simply C1-C7. The first vertebrae is called the Atlas and the second, the Axis. The Thoracic Curve consists of the vertebrae called T1-T12. The Lumbar consists of five vertebrae called L1-L5. The Sacral Vertebrae are considered to be one bone. Initially they are five separate bones, but from the late teens they start (slowly I assume) fusing together, so that by the ages of 25 or 26, most people’s are fused. The Coccyx is located at the very end of the vertebral column, and is a vestigial bone that we still use. I know the cheeks are the zygota, the eyes are the orbits, the forehead is the frontal bone, followed by the parietal and occipital all the way in the back. The jaw is the mandible (I have the free 3D4Medical app of the human face on my mom’s iPad and there are pre-made pins on the face, and the part of the mandible very much near to the teeth is apparently called the alveolar process of the mandible). And a bunch more things, and some things that I still can’t remember but am still working on. I don’t think (at this point) that learning the names of the bones is going to be hard (don’t quote me, I always reserve the right to change my mind lol). I think it’s going to be the tissues and how our internal organs function separately and as a whole and all the veins and capillaries and arteries and stuff.
I know that I’ve found syllabuses on AP I&II online. I found a great one by Columbia University for their AP II class for this semester, so now I have an idea of what people are learning, so I have an idea of what is learned in AP II. As for taking both I & II in the same semester, we’ll see LOL. Plus I have to study for the TEAS test so that I can get in.
I still don’t know if I’m going to ever go to medical school (LOL I love how I flip flop all the time). Right now I feel like I’ve found something that fits me more. I want to be a nurse, but after undergrad, I want to go on to become a nurse practitioner. I want to work in the NICU. Now if only I could find a program in my state lol. I keep wondering can I do it, but go the pediatrics route, because Hopkins has a program for that. But the thing is that you have to be certified by this board that is specifically for neonatology and I’m wondering would pediatrics prepare me for that, or would they even accept a pediatrics MSN, and want you to have specifically done a neonatolgy program. I’ll figure it out, but if they’re looking for you to have specifically done a program targeted at you being proficient at being a NNP (Neonatal Nurse Practitioner). If they’re looking for those specific programs then it’s looking like I’ll be state hopping (not too far, most likely NYC), but I’m greatly hoping to stay in my state, b/c it’s a hellavu lot cheaper (although I would love to live in NYC).
Anyone have any info on this? It would be greatly appreciated 🙂
ShoLux 