Immunology or Microbiology before medical school?

[JVT4JC]

Hey guys,
I have a chance to take either Immunology or Microbiology this semester (last one before med school). With my current schedule, I can only take one. Which one do you think would be more helpful for me in med school? Thank you very much.

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[JVT4JC]

Hey guys,
I have a chance to take either Immunology or Microbiology this semester (last one before med school). With my current schedule, I can only take one. Which one do you think would be more helpful for me in med school? Thank you very much.

 

[AlteredScale]

Hey guys,
I have a chance to take either Immunology or Microbiology this semester (last one before med school). With my current schedule, I can only take one. Which one do you think would be more helpful for me in med school? Thank you very much.

Either would be beneficial. I just took microbiology and am in the middle of immunology.

My personal opinion: take immuno. It's more of a foreign language to most undergrads and requires non-linear memorization...that is you have to see the forest for the trees and understand the bigger picture, especially when you start talking about the varying paths the immune system can take when it comes to different pathogens (extra cellular, viral, gram-neg).

 

[niblet]

Pick the one that interests you more.

 

[Entadus]

Take micro and read Amazon product

 

[arewethereyet...]

If I could go back in time I would have taken immuno before school but that is primarily because we have a kick ass micro professor at our school and we do micro by systems which makes sense to me. Our immuno was randomly stretched out over the first year and the professor wasn't good so I had to teach it to myself over the summer. If you know the strengths of your med school go off of that. Otherwise, immuno is more of an understanding subject and micro is more of a memorization subject so you could argue why taking either one would be more beneficial.

 

[MilMD01]

I was a microbiology major, with immunology as a required course.

I was happy that I had background in both going in, but I think the immunology was more useful.

Microbio is just memorizing stuff while immunology you have to understand things... Which takes longer so I'd go with that.

 

[Psai]

immuno because there are concepts there that are important to know and you'll retain it better
micro is a lot more memorization and most of it comes from seeing things clinically over and over again

 

[dntke1518]

I think a lot of schools want micro, if they don't I would definetly take it and immunology. There isn't much time for basics in years 1 and 2.

Edit: I see you can only take one. I would take micro.

 

[niblet]

Undergrad micro is a bit different though. It's not about memorizing different disease-causing microorganisms and their properties, it's more about providing a foundation for understanding microbial life. It's not gonna directly help you honor a class in med school, but there's something to be gained from having deeper insight into the world of microorganisms.

I stand by the idea of taking whichever interests you more. If your only motive is to do a sort of pre-studying for med school classes, take immunology. My advice, though, is to learn about what you want to learn about while you have that choice.

 

[xffan624]

Hey guys,
I have a chance to take either Immunology or Microbiology this semester (last one before med school). With my current schedule, I can only take one. Which one do you think would be more helpful for me in med school? Thank you very much.

Immuno would be better. I took both in college. Undergrad intro to micro doesn't really help for medical school much. I definitely had an easier time in class having taken immuno prior. They don't have the time to really teach it well or thoroughly in medical school so it will be fast and furious.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Take both. Really. They are equally important. However, if you can only take either, then go with immunology. That's because micro is a lot more intuitive than immuno and it's easier to master in a short period of time if you put in the necessary efforts.

Immunology is kicking my @ss right now. There is a billion things to know about the antibodies, their genetics, and their functions.

 

[LChristmas]

Take immuno. I think you will get a lot more out of it than intro to micro.

 

[Entadus]

Take immuno. I think you will get a lot more out of it than intro to micro.

That's a lovely accent you've got there............. New Jersey??

 

[midweststudent1]

I would suggest immunology. It kicked a lot of peoples butt this year at my school, but the people who took it in undergrad usually ended up with A's

 

[LChristmas]

That's a lovely accent you've got there............. New Jersey??

Austria!

 

[PL198]

immuno. the concepts will help you with med school. micro is straight memorization.

 

[alpinism]

Agree with everyone else.

Medical microbiology is basically just bugs and drugs with a focus on infection signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.
Undergrad microbiology is usually very different and focuses on the organisms themselves rather than their effects on humans.

(For the most part, there is some overlap though)

Immunology is a great class to have going into med school since its essential for understanding the pathophysiology of many diseases.

 

[Sirach38]

Micro hands down. Way more useful for step 1.

 

[DocWinter]

@Ibn Alnafis MD is right on, neither one is better than the other, if you can take both. I found immuno more difficult, more blunt memorization needed.

 

[W19]

....

 

[67552931811]

That's a lovely accent you've got there............. New Jersey??

Austria!

 

[TheShaker]

General micro or medical micro? If medical micro then I'd say maybe, but even then I would go for immuno. I took immuno in undergrad and the background knowledge helped in the beginning stages. I don't think micro would have helped, hell, I've already forgotten everything one month after the final...

 

[Entadus]

Austria!

Ya know, watching this movie again as a med student, I realized that when he lies and says he's giving a lecture at "the medical school" he must be referring to Hopkins (Man they make Providence, RI look like a total sh~t-hole! I've never been there, but... hilarious)