Easy Way to Learn Microbiology for Boards

Microbiology is not an easy subject for most of the pre-nursing students. Recently I have heard that many students put more hours to study for microbiology than anatomy or physiology, but still they are worried about if they can get a good grade or even pass the class! Today, I want to share some tips to ace microbiology!! With these tips, you will smile to see an "A" on your microbiology at the end of semester!!

When I took microbiology, I could not wait to finish it sooooo bad. Lol In my college microbiology was 5 units class, so I had 1 hour 30 minutes lecture and almost 2 hours lab twice a week. It means that 3 hours lecture and 4 hours lab every week. Wow!! No wonder I had either exam, quiz or due almost every week … If you would like to see what I exactly went through on microbiology, check out:

• SPRING 2019 LAPUP：MICROBIOLOGY

However, I liked microbiology a lot and I was able to get an A+!! Yes, microbiology is a tough class, but it is NOT impossible to ace it!

7 tips to study microbiology for pre-nursing students

1. Choose right professor's class for microbiology

THIS!!!!!

You might think it's obvious, but it's very important to choose the professor who are willing to help you.

Like I mentioned in previous post, you would need a lot of help from professor on microbiology, especially in lab part. In lab part, you need to proceed biochemical test and read the results. It could be challenging sometimes because the process might be complicated and results is from LIVING bacteria. Often times you would see something that are not seen in the text book.

Our microbiology professor was willing to help us. I could always go to see her and make sure I am on the right track to read the results, which is very helpful to keep correct knowledge and not to mess up unknown projects.

Plus, microbiology is a lot as a whole subject, so it would be simply nice to have the professors who are willing to teach you.

I personally use Rate My Professors to see how the professors are like before register any classes. You could also ask your classmates or friends if they have any recommendation on microbiology professor.

One of my friend told me that his microbiology professor did not really explain the process of biochemical test nor be helpful during the lab session.

I can easily imagine how hard for him to go through microbiology with that professor.

2. Check syllabus thoroughly and know your goal

Once you get a syllabus, check the points you would really need to get an A. You might think "Of course!", but surprisingly many students do not do this until before final exam!!!! Please do it once you get a syllabus!

Often times 90% is the least line to get an A. But sometimes it's not a case (my microbiology needed 89.5% for A for example), so make sure the points you need and set a goal.

When you set a goal, don't forget the extra credit. For example, your class is total of 1,000 points (100%) and 90% for A. If the professor gives you total of 30 points extra credit opportunity, then your goal to get an A is 870 points.

I personally like to set a goal of 95% so I would be still on the right track in case I miss some points.

3. Know important date such as quiz, exam, homework and paper due date

There will be a lot of due date on microbiology.

My microbiology class had more than 20 due dates! Needless to say, I knew that if I miss any of those due dates, I could lose some (or sometimes entire) points 🙁

So, I double checked those dates and put them in the planner in advance so I know what to do by when! It might sound simple but trust me, I saw many students mixing up or missing those due dates.

I personally like using frixion pen to write on planner. With the frixion pen, you can write like a gel pen but it is erasable. So I put all the due dates with frixion pen first and whenever they are changed I just simply erase it and add new due date.

4. Take notes or record the lecture

Show up on every single lectures and take notes! I recommend that you take notes on everything the professor writes on the board. Yes, EVERYTHING!!!!

Most of microbiology professors are very detail oriented (I guess it's nature of this study). They remember what they put on the board and set the exams from their notes.

Some of you maybe think "Well, but there are powerpoint slides and that would be enough". NOOOOOO!!!! Powerpoint is not enough!!!! They are just a summary version of the notes! So take notes on EVERYTHING!!!!

What if the professor does not really write on the board?? Then, I recommend that you record his/her lecture so you can review while studying! Recording works well to those who are not completely comfortable with English. You can download any recording application from your cell phone for free. Do not forget to ask permission to record the lecture though!

5. Use table and pictures to understand the concepts well

In order to understand the concepts, summarizing the information in one place by using tables and pictures works for me! Microbiology is hard because the amount of information is a lot and often time they are scattered here and there.

So I used tables and pictures! They helped me simplify and understand the concepts. Here is the example from my note. I made these note to prepare for exams by reviewing my lecture notes!

• 

  Use table to compare fungi, protozoa and helminth

In the lecture note, the information above was found in separated pages. By placing those information in one place with table, it will be much easier for me to understand!

• 

  Use pictures to understand 2 different types of Animal virus entry process! (Receptor mediated endocytosis and fusion)

I personally like using tables because it allows me to compare information and makes it easier for me to understand & remember the concepts!

6. Know key aspects of each biochemical tests

As for lab part, there are some important aspects to remember when it comes to biochemical tests. You should know …

・Test name
・Components of media
・Regents added to the media
・Positive reaction and WHY it happens (process of positive reaction)
・Identify positive/negative reaction from appearance

Let's see one of my note!

・Test name = Catalase test
・Components of media = NA
・Regents added to the media = Hydrogen perioxide
・Positive reaction and WHY it happens (process of positive reaction) = Catalase catalyze hydrogen perioxide in to H2O and Os. Thus, O2 gas bubbles are seen.
・Identify positive/negative reaction from appearance = Bubbles for positive, nothing for negative.

I personally believe that it is very important to know WHY the positive results are seen so that you do not just simply memorize the aspects but you do understand the concepts of each tests!

You can download the form that I have been using to organize biochemical tests from here!

7. Study hard on general biology and chemistry

It might be kinda too late but if you have not taken biology and chemistry yet, I strongly recommend that you take them seriously because a lot of concepts are overlapping in microbiology!

For example, you will still see metabolism such as glycolysis, Krebs cycle, electron transport chain and fermentation in microbiology!

Chemical structures or formulas would also help you during lab!

7 tips to study microbiology for pre-nursing students

Phew!!!! It was a lot!!! hahaha That is all the tips that I learned through microbiology.

It was a lot of work, but I truly enjoyed microbiology class and gained new knowledge. It was super cool to see those tiny tiny bacteria made such a big colony and it was fun when I did great job on Gram stain!

If you want to know the summary of my microbiology class, please head to: SPRING 2019 LAPUP：MICROBIOLOGY

I hope it helps! Feel free to drop a comment if you have any questions!!

What is your tips about studying microbiology?

Learn more tips while in nursing school!!

・5 WAYS I SAVED AND MADE EXTRA MONEY WHILE IN PRE-NURSING/NURSING SCHOOL

bridgessainest.blogspot.com

Source: https://msnursingjourney.com/tips-to-study-microbiology-for-pre-nursing-students/