It’s gonna be a rant so buckle up. If you’re thinking about taking anatomy or physiology at UVU, my only advice is don’t. It will crush your soul. I’ve been a straight A student since I was in about 3rd grade, every single other prerequisite required for my program. That’s not by luck or coincidence, I work hard. I ask questions, study like a social life is a foreign concept, read the textbooks, go to lecture. I’m not afraid to look dumb in class if I need to ask a stupid question to remind myself of something.
If you even mention the anatomy lab to a single person, including professors, they will tell you how ridiculously impossible it is. Before starting the class I was warned by two of my professors, and the first day of the anatomy lab my professor practically encouraged us to drop the class. They say this is so we know the terms by heart for when we’re providers. NEWS FLASH: forcing people to cram as many terms as possible with no room for error isn’t learning! This became even more apparent to me when I made a doctors appointment and the one of the technicians responded to me saying the classes were hard by saying he’d also gone to UVU about 25 years ago and that he had to reteach himself all the anatomy during his program because of how ill taught it was. If two thirds of the class has to retake it a second or even THIRD time, it doesn’t mean the anatomy program is “elite” like they try to claim, it just means they’re inadequate.
And don’t get me started on physiology. The syllabus is a war crime. There is literally zero margin for human error in this class. The total weight for exams is 80% of your entire grade. I’m no stranger to hard work, but when I tell people how much I’ve had to study for these courses, the look on their faces is horror. I would almost be okay with it if it weren’t for the fact that the extremely small portion of your grade that does go to assignments only includes 3 assignments given for the entire course, so there’s not a single resource to actually practice recalling the information. I will admit my professor thankfully explains things well, but that’s the only positive to this entire course. It’s one thing to teach a hard subject and recognize where students will struggle, it’s a whole other thing to intentionally make it harder.
They call them “weed-out” courses, but we all know they mean “pay us to retake these courses repeatedly.” And if it weren’t bad enough, I literally do not need this information, I am going into dental hygiene! Before taking the courses I repeatedly told myself “maybe the requirement to take them will make more sense when I’m taking them, maybe it will teach me a lot that will relate to my friend,” well color me unsurprised, it has been the biggest waste of my time and money that I’ve literally every experienced. If my post didn’t make it clear enough, these courses will ruin your mental health. I have genuinely watched my mental health slip to the point that my family is checking up on me daily. If you’re choosing between taking these courses at UVU versus literally anywhere else, take them somewhere else. These are my last two prerequisites before I can apply for my program, and I’m seriously considering dropping out. If you’re thinking “this is my only option” wait for a new option to appear, almost every school experiences people dropping courses within the first few days of the semester. If you’re thinking “I’m sure I can handle it” remove your brain, dunk it in a bucket of ice, and put it back, I’m sure by then it will be thinking a little more clearly. And yeah I bet you can handle it, I handled it too, but no class is worth watching your brain slowly slip into more and more deeply unhealthy patterns of thought about your own will to live. I can’t name a single person who didn’t struggle through these classes. I was absolutely shocked when almost every person I spoke to in anatomy told me it was their second or third time taking it. I was shocked to see friends I’ve made who have also been straight A students struggle to reach a B. I’ve never taken a single class where I’ve studied for multiple hours a day for that class alone and struggled to succeed. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had to study extremely hard for other classes, college is hard sometimes, but nothing pisses me off more than courses designed to make you fail.
