BI112 Cell Biology for Health Occupations
This course is a prerequisite for the 200-level anatomy and physiology series as well as microbiology and serves as the entry point for students interested in health professions such as: nursing, radiology tech, dental hygiene, physical therapy, and others. This course is also a general education laboratory science course, and some students take it for this purpose even if they’re not pursuing a health occupation.
I’m not going to beat around the bush — this is a really challenging course. It covers a huge amount of complex information in a very short period of time. The course is designed to be completed even by students who have not taken any college-level science courses. However, the students who do particularly well in this class (and earn an “A” or a “B”) are students who:
- have taken college-level science courses before (and/or AP or IB high school science courses) in the last 5-10 years.
- have outstanding time management and study skills.
- are good at communicating (asking questions, working in groups).
- are able to take personal responsibility for their own success.
- come to class on-time and attend all classes.
If you have not taken college-level (or recent high school) science classes before it is still possible for you to do well, but only if you have great study and time management skills. If you do not, you are likely to get those skills during the class, but that may not happen early enough in the term to earn an “A” or a “B”.
The class moves extremely quickly, so it is very hard (impossible?) to catch up if you fall behind.
Expect to spend at least 15 hours studying outside of class (in addition to the 7 hrs/week you will spend in class). I highly recommend that you make a realistic study calendar around your other life responsibilities before the term begins, and that you form a study group during the first week of classes (and attend it regularly).
If you’re freaking out a little bit after reading this because you haven’t had much science experience, then it might be wise to delay your official prerequisites by a term and take BI101 instead. Email me or a BI101 instructor if you’re considering pursuing this route.