Academics, so far

So, I figured I would describe a little about what classes I'm taking this semester, and a bit about how they're going, what is being studied etc. I guess you could say I'm enjoying all of the classes on some level, but I'm not thrilled with what I perceive as a lack of organization at times with some of the instructors.

Anatomy & Physiology
The bulk of my time this semester is being spent on Anatomy & Physiology I. This class is wild. The workload is unbelievable, but I love the information. The focus so far has been on Chemistry (Biochemical stuff, primarily) and an indepth understanding of the cell, cell membranes, molecular transport into and out of cells, genetic code, protein synthesis, etc...stuff like that. It's been nearly 20 years since I touched any of this stuff in high school, and I can't stop wishing I had paid more attention back then. I have my first major exam on Monday. A "pretest" earlier this week gave us a hint of what's to come, and I got 10 out of 10 on that, so that was a bit comforting for a few minutes, until the teacher was proud to tell us that if we had gotten a single one of these 10 wrong, we were doing something extremely wrong, and not to expect such "gimme" kind of questions on Monday's real test. Oh well, ego back in check. The instructor is AMAZING. I really love her.

Nursing 101
As the name implies, this is really an "Intro to Nursing" course. So far we have been focusing on ethics issues, standards, legal implications, the nursing process, etc. Big picture stuff, none of which has yet involved learning about patient care per se. It's more about setting up the framework. It's interesting, to a degree. I think this class will be better when we actually start learning about real nursing "stuff."

Nursing Lab
This is the skills lab section that we have each week, where we learn actual techniques that we'll be using during our clinical rotations at Beth Israel Hospital. (Starts tomorrow morning at 7:45, in fact.) Things like blood pressure, respirations, temperature, radial pulses, bed bathing (yuck), etc. I really like my clinical instructor. There are four, and I think I got the pick of the litter. She's terrific...smart and demanding, but very laid back, in a way. There is a weekly exam, testing us on the previous week's skills.

Developmental Psychology
This is a psychology course that is taught by a Pace University instructor at our location. I have to say, this is probably my least enjoyable subject matter, but the actual class time itself isn't too bad. I find the teacher very interesting....an older woman from the Netherlands who married a Korean while studying here many years ago at NYU. Her last name is Van Der Groot-Kim. Go figure. Anyway, you can't help but like her. She's got a peculiar and charming way about her.

Math for Medications
This is a course that is all about exactly what the name implies...how to figure out proper dosages of medications, and how to properly fill doctors' orders. I actually got lucky with this class and became eligible to take a CD-enhanced version of this course. What does that mean? In a nutshell, I don't have to show up for class anymore, other than for the midterm and the final. I can do all the work on my own at home with electronic resources the instructor has provided.

So, that's a brief summary, in case anyone was wondering 'What does someone actually study in nursing school?" I'll check back soon!