Best Classes to take Pre-Med for Medical School

[Toenjcha99]

Hi, currently I am in grade 11 and will be applying to a public university next school year. I was wondering, what are the best courses to take in undergrad to prepare me for med school?

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[deleted407021]

Hey,

You might want to change your status from "Medical Student" to "Pre-Med" or whatever. You can do that in your options menu. First off, I'd recommend looking around the high school SDN forum to help bring you up to speed on these kinds of things.

You'll have to take some prerequisites: a year of biology, chemistry, organic chemistry and physics, as well as a year of English or literature for many schools and probably one semester of biochemistry. You will also take trigonometry as a minimum. These are the very basics, but if you're a biology major, or something related (good news, your can major in anything!) you will take many more science classes which are pertinent to med school such as histology, anatomy and physiology and microbiology, etc, but these are just extra and really aren't necessary to do well on the MCAT or in med school. Basically, you will need to like science classes because you'll be taking them for the next couple or three years, at least.

Have you looked into AP or duel enrollment courses?

 

[Lucca]

The best classes you take are the classes that most interest you or that you feel will best supplement your education. Before anything else, you should know that medical schools generally require One year (two semesters) of chemistry, one year of physics, one year of organic chemistry, one year of biology. All of them with lab. Additionally, you are very strongly recommended to take at least one semester of Biochemistry as that will be the focus of the new MCAT. Psychology and sociology will also be on the new mcat but they will also most likely be a requirement in your school's "core" curriculum as well.

All of this will be far clearer when you are actually in college. The requirements I listed above can and certainly are different for specific schools, although not radically so. You should definitely visit the website for any of the schools in your state in order to learn about their mission or requirements.

Overall, don't fret too much over what courses to take to "prepare" you for medical school. The pre-reqs will cover what you need for the MCAT. All other coursework is up to you/dependant on the major you choose. Med schools do not care about your major and you may major in whatever you feel interests and challenges you the most. Being interested and challenged is probly the best preparation you can get for any career, on top of the basic requirements. The rest will be learned in medical school.

 

[allantois]

You will take pre-requisite coursework.

That being said, you can try to take AP Chem, Bio, Physics (in that order of relevance) while in high school to make it easier with the pre-requisite classes once you find yourself in college.

 

[mehc012]

Hi, currently I am in grade 11 and will be applying to a public university next school year. I was wondering, what are the best courses to take in undergrad to prepare me for med school?

First, I'd say not to limit your applications to one specific kind of college. You never know what the best option is until you have finaid packages sitting in your hand. So apply broadly, to a variety of school types - shake the tree and see what happens!

Second, start with the most common prerequisite courses: 2 semesters each of Physics, Bio, Chem, and Organic, all with labs.

Third, with the new MCAT online, you'll be needing some Psych, Soc, and Biochem.

Finally, if you have time, some upper level Bios (Physiology, etc) can be useful. Languages are never a bad thing to have in your pocket.

Other than that, take what interests you. Major in anything you can pull off - some people find it easiest to stick to majors which include the above coursework (chem, for example, lets you get major credit 4 of the prereqs plus Biochem) - but really, you should pick a major based on what interests you. Anyone can wade through the intro courses in a bunch of disciplines, but when you get to those sticky upper levels, you're going to want them to be something that you enjoy spending a lot of time on.

Good luck!

 

[deleted407021]

You will take pre-requisite coursework.

That being said, you can try to take AP Chem, Bio, Physics (in that order of relevance) while in high school to make it easier with the pre-requisite classes once you find yourself in college.

But he/she should be careful as some med schools don't honor AP credits for pre-reqs. That's why I mentioned duel enrollment; you get direct college credit and high school credit simultaneously.

 

[allantois]

First, I'd say not to limit your applications to one specific kind of college. You never know what the best option is until you have finaid packages sitting in your hand. So apply broadly, to a variety of school types - shake the tree and see what happens!

Second, start with the most common prerequisite courses: 2yrs each of Physics, Bio, Chem, and Organic, all with labs.

God bless my soul if I had to take 2 years of Organic Chemistry

 

[allantois]

But he/she should be careful as some med schools don't honor AP credits for pre-reqs. That's why I mentioned duel enrollment; you get direct college credit and high school credit simultaneously.

I never said to use AP credit to meet med school admission requirements
I said it would help when taking the actual college classes.
Too often than not I meet high school students who are in dual enrollment and not taking what they are doing very seriously.

 

[deleted407021]

I never said to use AP credit to meet med school admission requirements
I said it would help when taking the actual college classes.
Too often than not I meet high school students who are in dual enrollment and not taking what they are doing very seriously.

Yes, but if they did test out of biology or whatever, then they may be cut out of a few schools if they try to use those credits as pre-reqs. Just putting as much info out there for the wee lamb as I can. And yes, too many duel enrolled kids get pwnd hard by the new setting and information delivery as well as the reduction in structure. Many don't seem to understand that the grades they get are real.

 

[mehc012]

God bless my soul if I had to take 2 years of Organic Chemistry

Fixed, thank you!
I ended up falling in love with the subject and taking 4yrs of it

 

[Lysinee]

Fixed, thank you!
I ended up falling in love with the subject and taking 4yrs of it

You don't love orgo enough to get a PhD in it, and teach and do research. So, you love the medical field more. Correct?

 

[mehc012]

You don't love orgo enough to get a PhD in it, and teach and do research. So, you love the medical field more. Correct?

Yup...but I didn't figure that out until it came time to apply for research positions and I realized "huh, I don't want to do this for the rest of my life."
Cue a bad coming-of-age movie where the main character lives in their car travelling aimlessly across the country and visiting old friends until suddenly they realize what they really want to do with their life!

 

[Silverflash]

You'll be required to take a number of courses for pre-medicine. Biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, etc. As far as "optional" courses go, my medical school friends tell me that the most helpful courses to have some experience in are, in no particular order, anatomy, histology, immunology, and neuroscience. Having said that, there's really no great way to prepare for the intensity of medical school coursework, so don't worry if you don't take those classes.

 

[Pusheen]

Fixed, thank you!
I ended up falling in love with the subject and taking 4yrs of it

I'm impressed

 

[ianis1609]

Dual enrollment is often at the community college level, and which schools will accept CC credits for pre-reqs is determined on a case-by-case basis, if at all. I think AP is better, because dual enrollment takes away from so much of your day. You miss 3 classes for 1 college level class, then spend the rest of the overlapping time fapping off. Even if you could test out at the AP level, it will still give you a better preparation for when you actually take the prereqs, just like the prereqs give you the preparation for once accepted to your medschool. You can major in class literature, women's studies, etc., as long as you have a competitive GPA, MCAT score, and a well-rounded background of service.

But he/she should be careful as some med schools don't honor AP credits for pre-reqs. That's why I mentioned duel enrollment; you get direct college credit and high school credit simultaneously.

I never said to use AP credit to meet med school admission requirements
I said it would help when taking the actual college classes.
Too often than not I meet high school students who are in dual enrollment and not taking what they are doing very seriously.

 

[mehc012]

Dual enrollment is often at the community college level, and which schools will accept CC credits for pre-reqs is determined on a case-by-case basis, if at all. I think AP is better, because dual enrollment takes away from so much of your day. You miss 3 classes for 1 college level class, then spend the rest of the overlapping time fapping off. Even if you could test out at the AP level, it will still give you a better preparation for when you actually take the prereqs, just like the prereqs give you the preparation for once accepted to your medschool. You can major in class literature, women's studies, etc., as long as you have a competitive GPA, MCAT score, and a well-rounded background of service.

Dual enrollment can have a huge variety of setups, though. I'd agree with you in the setup you describe, but not the one which was available at my high school (I didn't take any of those, so no skin in the game, but they were a good setup).

 

[On Eagle's Wings]

Top 5 upper-division classes to take before medical school (in no particular order)

Biochemistry
Physiology
Immunology
Human Anatomy (with histology)
Microbiology

I have been told that taking these classes makes medical school slightly easier, in that you have at least been introduced to these subjects.