Epithelium Epiphany

Ok, so now things are getting a little rough in the tissue section of Anatomy and Physiology I.

The amount of tissue types is pretty daunting. It’s pretty easy to study and remember what’s what, but the problem with epithelium tissue is that the names are so incredibly similar. Check out this quick list for the basic epithelial tissue-types:

1. Simple Squamous Epithelium
2. Simple Cuboidal Epithelium
3. Simple Columnar Epithelium
4. Pseudostratified Columnar Epithelium
5. Stratified Squamous Epithelium
6. Stratified Cuboidal Epithelium
7. Stratified Columar Epithelium
8. Transitional Epithelium

Believe it or not, I think the transitional epithelium and the pseudostratified epithelium are the easiest the remember because they are different than the other six, which are super easy to confuse. It’s easy, however, to describe the structure of each of these epithelial tissues, because the name says it all; check this out:

• Simple means there’s only one layer of cells. We now know the numbers 1-3 are a single layer of cells.
• Stratified means there’s many layers of cells. We now know the numbers 5-7 have multiple layers of cells.
• Pseudostratified says it all. Pseudo means “fake”. Stratified means “many layers of cells”. So pseudostratified means that the cells have the appearance of having multiple layers, however, they do not. It has only one layer of stretched cells resembling a multiple layers.
• Squamous means that the cells are flat. We now know that 1 and 5 are flat.
• Cuboidal means cube-shaped. We now know that 2 and 6 are shaped like cubes.
• Columnar means rectangular-shaped. We now know that 3 and 7 have a rectangular, column-like shape.

Ok, so we know what each looks like. Now how in the world can I remember where each is located? And don’t even get me started on exocrine gland types….

Off the FlashCard Exchange, a great website with tons of flashcards to quiz yourself no matter where you are. Hope I can get this down!

Wish me luck!

Classes Have Started!

Class has started once again for me!

I just started my first Human Anatomy & Physiology class last night, and I have to say, it’s going to be pretty intense. BIO202 in 6 1/2 weeks is pretty insane. The class was 3 1/2 hours long, and there wasn’t a single moment we weren’t feverishly taking notes or listening to our instructor.

Our professor for this class is awesome. She has a Master’s Degree in Biology as well as Education. She actually does workshops to teach other teachers how to teach effectively. I lucked out with this teacher; one of the most difficult classes to ace and I get an instructor who can effectively teach and have me actually retain the information without the need to study a ridiculous amount.

Yeah, I’m a guy, and I’m in the nursing program. You’d think that wouldn’t be something new by now, but I still got a few snickers from a EMS personnel and a PA transfer. Very funny, because when the instructor asked me how I decided on my major I said, “Well I did want to be a PA, but I decided that I’d rather go into the NP program since I’d rather be at the top of the board of nursing than at the bottom of the board of medicine.” Mr. PA was not amused.

Still doing that ridiculous Fundamentals of College Study class. Almost completed the entire syllabus already; just waiting to turn in the work. Cake. Absolute cake.