BSC1086L, Anatomy and Physiology II Laboratory, is the laboratory course paired with BSC1086, Anatomy and Physiology II, and the second half of the anatomy and physiology laboratory sequence. Where the first term concentrated on structure — bones, muscles, nervous tissue — this one shifts decisively toward physiology: the organ systems that maintain the internal environment, and the measurements that reveal them working.
The University of West Florida describes "anatomical dissections and experimental physiology exercises that enhance understanding of human form and function," with "exercises parallel[ing] topics presented in the lecture series," and assesses a material and supply fee. The lecture course it accompanies "reviews basic anatomical/physiological attributes of endocrine, cardiopulmonary, digestive, reproductive and immune systems," and at UWF it "meets General Education requirement in Natural Sciences."
The character of the work changes noticeably between the two terms. Anatomy and Physiology I is dominated by identification — hundreds of structures to locate and name. This laboratory does that too, but adds a substantial measurement component: taking blood pressure, recording an electrocardiogram, measuring lung volumes with a spirometer, performing urinalysis, testing blood typing. Students who found the first term's memorisation load punishing frequently prefer this one; students who liked the definiteness of naming structures sometimes find physiology's variability frustrating.
BSC1086L is offered at approximately 3 Florida institutions as a separately numbered course and carries 1 credit. The companion guide on this site covers BSC1086C, the integrated form used at most Florida institutions, and the lecture content in full; the guide for BSC1085L covers the first half of the laboratory sequence.
This is the split form. Florida packages the course two ways — the integrated BSC1086C (the majority pattern, roughly 11 institutions) and the split BSC1086 + BSC1086L (UWF, Pasco-Hernando, the College of the Florida Keys). Under the split you must register for both numbers.
⚠ And at UWF the laboratory is again described as optional — the lecture entry states "Lab optional," and the laboratory as an "optional lab associated with course." As with the first term, this is a trap: essentially every nursing and allied health programme requires anatomy and physiology with laboratory, and a student who takes the lecture alone will find at application that the prerequisite does not count. Take the laboratory unless you have confirmed in writing that your intended programme does not require it.
Prerequisite note: UWF requires BSC1085/L — the first course and its laboratory — before BSC1086L. A student who skipped the optional first-term laboratory therefore cannot enrol in the second one without going back, which compounds the original mistake by a full term.
BSC1086L is a first- or second-year course taken concurrently with BSC1086, following BSC1085 and BSC1085L. It completes the anatomy and physiology sequence and is normally taken in the term immediately before or during application to an allied health programme. Microbiology (MCB2010 with laboratory) is typically taken alongside or after it as the other universal allied health prerequisite.
The University of West Florida requires BSC1085/L — the first course and its laboratory. That requirement is worth pausing on: because UWF describes the first-term laboratory as optional, a student who skipped it is blocked from the second-term laboratory and must go back and take it, losing a term. This is the clearest practical argument for treating the "optional" laboratory as mandatory.
Institutions commonly require a minimum grade of C in the first course, and health programme admission frequently requires B or better and limits repeat attempts. Check those rules before enrolling.
1 credit, with a weekly laboratory session of two to three hours — Pasco-Hernando publishes 30 laboratory hours for the first-term equivalent, and a three-hour weekly session (45 hours) is also common. A material and supply fee is assessed.
As with the first term, the credit value understates the work. Assessment is by laboratory practical — identifying tagged structures and interpreting data under time pressure — plus laboratory reports and data write-ups.
What changes from the first term: the memorisation load is somewhat lighter and the data interpretation load is heavier. Students need to be able to read a trace, calculate a derived value, and say what a measurement means physiologically rather than only name a structure. Practising with the actual data — recalculating lung capacities, re-reading ECG strips — is what works, and it is a different study method from the flashcard approach that carried students through term one.
Dissection continues. Sheep heart and kidney are near-universal; respiratory and digestive dissection is common. Preserved material has a strong odour and the work is hands-on. Raise objections or difficulties with the instructor at the start of term.
You will measure yourself and your classmates. Blood pressure, pulse, spirometry, reflexes and sometimes body composition are performed on people, which means physical contact and the disclosure of personal physiological data. Most students find this the most engaging part of the course, but students with anxiety about it, or with a condition they would rather not have surfaced, should speak to the instructor privately — accommodations are normal.
Blood and body fluid exercises carry real precautions. Where actual human samples are used, bloodborne pathogen training and strict protocol apply. Many institutions now use simulated blood and commercial preparations for exactly this reason. Follow the stated procedure; do not improvise.
Urinalysis uses samples. Institutions vary between simulated and actual specimens; where actual, the handling protocol is not optional.
BSC1086L is a 1000-level SCNS course and carries the statewide equivalency guarantee among Florida public institutions; it applies to the A.A. and A.S. The same three cautions as the first term apply and are worth repeating.
The laboratory is what health programmes require — prerequisite lists say "with laboratory," and holding BSC1086 alone does not satisfy them. The 1085/1086 and 2085/2086 sequences are different numbers and are not interchangeable for programmes that specify one. And health programmes frequently impose a currency requirement, so anatomy and physiology taken many years ago may need retaking — a real issue for returning students.
BSC1086 + BSC1086L (the split form) and BSC1086C (the integrated form, the Florida majority) are this course. The first half is BSC1085/BSC1085L/BSC1085C. The parallel majors-level sequence is BSC2085/BSC2085L/BSC2085C and BSC2086/BSC2086L/BSC2086C. Related allied health prerequisites: MCB2010/MCB2010L (microbiology), HUN2201 (nutrition), CHM1020-range chemistry, and APK2100C/APK2105C for exercise science programmes.
The second term shifts the balance from identification to measurement, and that changes where AI helps and where it does not.
Where AI helps. Explaining a physiological mechanism a second way is genuinely useful here — the baroreceptor reflex, the renin-angiotensin system, acid-base compensation and the cardiac conduction sequence are all concepts students commonly need explained differently before they land. Models also generate good practice questions, and they can help with the arithmetic of derived spirometry values.
Where AI fails, specifically in this laboratory. Models cannot read your data. An ECG trace, a spirometry recording, a urinalysis result and a blood smear are things you have in front of you, and interpreting them is the skill being assessed. Models also state physiological values and normal ranges incorrectly, which matters because the whole exercise is comparing a measurement against a reference. And they will produce a confident clinical interpretation of a described result without knowing whether the measurement was taken correctly — which, in a teaching laboratory, it frequently was not.
The habit worth building. The single most useful thing this laboratory teaches is scepticism about your own measurement. A blood pressure of 90/40 in a healthy classmate is far more likely to be a cuff placed wrong than a clinical finding. Asking "is this value plausible, and if not, what did I do wrong?" is the beginning of clinical judgement, and it is not a question a tool can answer for you.
The professional stakes. Everyone in this room is heading toward work where measurement error has consequences — a mis-taken blood pressure, a misread strip, a mislabelled specimen. The professions treat these as competencies rather than as coursework precisely because they are performed on people.
Academic integrity. Practical examinations are hands-on and closed-book, which settles most of the question. For laboratory reports, policies vary — and note that fabricating or adjusting data, including quietly replacing a measurement that "came out wrong," is scientific misconduct rather than an ordinary integrity slip. A measurement that did not work, honestly reported with an explanation, is worth more than a clean number that did not happen.
Generated September 5, 2026 · Updated September 5, 2026