Karen, I can appreciate your challenge as you want to make sure you are offering the maximum instruction to your students while maintain the needed pace of the class. As for approaching Day 1 of your Pathology course I would address their concerns in the opening statements you make about the course. I would talk about board exams and how you will be taking them through the material that they need to sit for boards. Give some examples of how you are going to do this. This way you will be earning their respect because you are letting them know you understand their concerns and that you are working to provide the needed instruction as well as support to help them be successful in sitting for boards. From there you can go into depth about how the course is going to operate and what their responsibilities are going to be. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.