Anatomy and Physiology?

[shane20]

There are two year long anatomy courses that are taught at my college. I was wondering which one was sufficient for the application for most PA schools. The first one is Anatomy and Physiology 141 and 142. Although it's only a 100 level course it's probably three times as hard as my general biology course and it covered all of the organ systems. I was wondering if that's acceptable for PA schools because I can't imagine that PA schools would require the upper level course because of the difficulty. At least at my school, the only people who take the advanced anatomy and physiology class are Kinesiology majors because it's a requirement and a few pre-med students. I know at USC, they require the upper level anatomy and physiology course but I was curious about other colleges? I think I'm going to be a microbiology major and it'd be really tough to fit the upper level anatomy course into my schedule and still be able to graduate in 4 years.

[briepm]

I was wondering if that's acceptable for PA schools because I can't imagine that PA schools would require the upper level course because of the difficulty.

 

Ha... and single tear... This line of thinking is so sadly wrong... You are expected to know things to the EXTREME depth in PA school. You should never, ever think PA school wouldn't want you to do something because it's too difficult... **laughs bitterly**

 

That being said, half of the people in my class took the "regular" A&P and half took advanced A&P because they were undergraduate PA majors (my school has a 5 year option). The biggest complaint that I hear among those that didn't have the advanced is that they wish they'd had a better background. However, I don't think that those with the advanced A&P are doing that much better, but that's because it's really hard.

 

So, to attempt to make a point. General A&P is fine, and should fill the requirement of any PA school you apply to. In the end you might wish you had taken a more advanced course, but they'll present all of the material that you need to know once you're in PA school. It's all a matter of managing the stress. You can stress more now to avoid AS MUCH stress later, or you can stress less now and REALLY stress later.

[SopranoKris]

Check to see if your school shows the equivalent course transfer credit on their website. I know CMU will display the actual course number from other colleges if you are transferring within the state of Michigan. For example, I had to complete BIOL 201 (Anatomy) and BIOL 202 (Physiology) at the local community college to qualify. I could have taken A&P 145, but it would not have been accepted. So, check with your intended institution to make sure you're on the right track. Rule of thumb: better to be over-prepared than under!

[Guest]

You are better off taking the hardest A&P class you can find. If you don't, you will suffer in PA school. We learn things in extreme detail and just having superficial 100 level anatomy probably won't cut it, unless the professor happens to be difficult.

[KCMA79]

The OP needs to do a little more research into what PAs do.

[Guest]

100 level anatomy is like learning "this is an orange." PA school anatomy is like learning "this is an orange and here is what its skin made of, here is what underneath the skin. The septa between the orange segments are covered by such and such membrane. To the left of segment 1 is this segment 2. To the right of segment 2 is segment 3. In the front it's one thing and in the back it's another. Here are the orange's vessels and here is how they run in the front and in the back, and around, etc etc.... Now find all these segments on an MRI image and tell me the positional relationships between them."