Medical School vs. Pre-Med Req Classes

[arc5005]

What are the similarities and differences between the pre-med reqs and medical school classes?

I'm not asking about the level of difficulty, but how do the pre-reqs transfer over and are applied to medical school knowledge.

1. Are the classes similar? It seems like pre-med just is the foundation for knowledge for higher level science.
2. If you dislike physics, will it haunt you in med school?
3. Are the labs similar. Is there even a lab component in med school?
4. Do the labs from pre-reqs really prepare you for any type of lab components in medical school? (I hate labs - they're so boring in my opinion)
5. If you hate pre-med labs, will you hate med school labs?
6. How often do you use knowledge obtained from bio, chem, o chem, & physics in medical school?
7. How often are mathematical equations used?
8. Are med classes more memorization or conceptual thinking? Which courses are memorization... which ones are conceptual?
9. [for current or past medical students]: What is/was your favorite med school course?

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[DoctorCheesy]

Would also like to know answers to these. Bump.

 

[deleted577188]

Double bump

 

[umfc7181]

What are the similarities and differences between the pre-med reqs and medical school classes?

I'm not asking about the level of difficulty, but how do the pre-reqs transfer over and are applied to medical school knowledge.

1. Are the classes similar? It seems like pre-med just is the foundation for knowledge for higher level science.

Your right on the foundation part, but a pre med class curriculum would be covered in a matter of a week or two in med school.

1. If you dislike physics, will it haunt you in med school?

Nope. Many of my friends hated physics and they are doing just fine. But there are certainly basic concepts that you need to know when you get to physiology ( ie ekg vectors fluid dynamics )

1. Are the labs similar. Is there even a lab component in med school?

For my school the only lab was anatomy. Histology lab wansnt even a lab it was just a prof showing us slides on the projector in lecture ( which was such a better use of time imo) I went in not liking histology but it was an easy class that just required a little time

1. Do the labs from pre-reqs really prepare you for any type of lab components in medical school? (I hate labs - they're so boring in my opinion)

Most undergrad labs are oriented to basic sciences so they will pretty much not apply at all unless your talking any sort of anatomy or histology lab. Otherwise they would only maybe help if you wanted to do research.

1. If you hate pre-med labs, will you hate med school labs?

No. I disliked lab too but loved gross anatomy

1. How often do you use knowledge obtained from bio, chem, o chem, & physics in medical school?

Mostly bio and biochem or useful for a basic understanding but that pretty much covers the intro class when you do your molecular section of med school.

1. How often are mathematical equations used?

So far I've found You need to do basic calculations for lab values that requires about 4 th grade math. But for cardio we are using a fair amount of equations to describe relationships for flow resistance pressure ext. These equations like in undergrad physics are not about memorizing but applying them to describe what's going on. They are pretty much the same ideas in undergrad physics so having a good understanding from the start would be a helpful.

1. Are med classes more memorization or conceptual thinking? Which courses are memorization... which ones are conceptual?

Anatomy histology micro pathways and just diseases in general are straight memorization ( with concepts to an extent)

Systems is more conceptual but you will become a professional memorizor to pass your tests and hopefully understand the important concepts to actaully do well clinically

1. [for current or past medical students]: What is/was your favorite med school course?
2. Anatomy

 

[FutureOncologist]

What are the similarities and differences between the pre-med reqs and medical school classes?

I'm not asking about the level of difficulty, but how do the pre-reqs transfer over and are applied to medical school knowledge.

1. Are the classes similar? It seems like pre-med just is the foundation for knowledge for higher level science.
2. If you dislike physics, will it haunt you in med school?
3. Are the labs similar. Is there even a lab component in med school?
4. Do the labs from pre-reqs really prepare you for any type of lab components in medical school? (I hate labs - they're so boring in my opinion)
5. If you hate pre-med labs, will you hate med school labs?
6. How often do you use knowledge obtained from bio, chem, o chem, & physics in medical school?
7. How often are mathematical equations used?
8. Are med classes more memorization or conceptual thinking? Which courses are memorization... which ones are conceptual?
9. [for current or past medical students]: What is/was your favorite med school course?

I'll answer them as best I can. Please note that I am a simple MS3 and this is my own personal opinion.

1. Are the classes similar? Some are, some aren't. My school has all lectures online, with the exception of a few classes that are mandatory. I forced myself to attend the lectures if I felt the material was difficult (especially med biochem.) Gross Anatomy was, of course, mandatory because you need hands-on experience with cadavers.
   
2. If you dislike physics, will it haunt you in med school? It'll haunt you on the MCAT, but after that, not really. Unless you plan on doing an MD/Ph.D in biophysics or something like that.
3. Are the labs similar. Is there even a lab component in med school? In my experience, no. From here on out, this is based on what I experienced in college vs. med school. My classmates in medical school (99.9% of them, anyway) all wanted to succeed and get a "P" in the class, so everyone did his/her job, and did it well. I still talk to classmates to this day. In college, no one wanted to be there and we knew we weren't going to need the knowledge of the material beyond getting an A and the MCAT. The labs are nicer, the professors are a bit harsher on grading, and you are quizzed daily on what you were expected to learn last night.
   
4. Do the labs from pre-reqs really prepare you for any type of lab components in medical school? Pre-req labs? No. I did research with animals for three years in undergrad, so that environment however helped tremendously outside of the academic side of the class.
5. If you hate pre-med labs, will you hate med school labs? I hated labs in undergrad, but I appreciated the ones I had in med school because of the classmates I had and the material that I covered in said labs. Except histology. That's just torture. But the rest, for what you learn and how in depth you go, you learn to appreciate come Step I time.
6. How often do you use knowledge obtained from bio, chem, o chem, & physics in medical school? None. Hell, I took 2 semesters of biochemistry in undergrad. We went through all of that material in 2 months. In retrospect, there was no reason for me to torture myself like that in undergrad with all those chemistry classes (after biochem I.) Totally pointless. Major in whatever you want as long as you take one or two upper level bio classes and the rest of your prereqs. I personally advise you to take biochemistry I because more and more schools are requiring it for incoming classes.
7. How often are mathematical equations used? This is where biochemistry comes into use. You will use the majority of the equations you need to know from med biochem, as well as some from anatomy (for me at least.)
8. Are med classes more memorization or conceptual thinking? Which courses are memorization... which ones are conceptual? You better be able to know everything that they teach you and apply it, because they will test you on anything. The class that is most memorization would have to be histology, in my opinion.
9. What is/was your favorite med school course? Anatomy

 

[WinslowPringle]

1. Are the classes similar?

Similar, in that they all deal with science-y type things. Not the same, but there are similarities. Many of the classes do lay foundational knowledge for medicine specifically (ie, general biology) and most have foundational knowledge for the pursuit of science generally (ie, physics).

If you dislike physics, will it haunt you in med school?
The study of physics is awesome and if you dislike it, it makes Bernoulli shed a tear. But it won't haunt you any more in medical school than it would if you didn't go to medical school and still didn't like it. (As long as you don't go onto get a PhD in Physics or P-chem or something like that.)

Are the labs similar. Is there even a lab component in med school?
During my 2 year traditional preclinicals, there were anatomy, histology, and microbiology labs. Some schools don't have this. Some do. It varies.

Do the labs from pre-reqs really prepare you for any type of lab components in medical school?
Some of the general principles, I think, are important to know. Good to have had experience working the scientific method at some level and good to have appreciation for how difficult it is to "do good science." Labs are supposed to also be useful for helping people remember through experiential learning. But rocking your o-chem labs isn't going to be super helpful for your histo labs; and again, many med schools don't have labs.

If you hate pre-med labs, will you hate med school labs?
Look for a med school that doesn't have labs (beyond maybe anatomy). But even if one had to go to a med school with labs, the answer is pretty variable. Someone may have hated pre-med labs and loved micro lab in med school because it was more clinically focused. Someone may have hated it both in undergrad and medschool. It's up to the individual and the reasons for liking the labs or not.

How often do you use knowledge obtained from bio, chem, o chem, & physics in medical school?
Basic bio knowledge - pretty often. General chemistry concepts - occasionally. Some o chem principals - sporadically. Basic physics applications - rarely. But the specifics of the transitional metals, SN2 reactions, Snell's law - nope.

How often are mathematical equations used?
Well, sometimes I had to use math to see how many questions I could miss on the next exam and still get a certain grade.....Oh, besides that? There were some examples given in cardio phys lectures and maybe renal, but I never used a calculator on a med school test.

Are med classes more memorization or conceptual thinking? Which courses are memorization... which ones are conceptual?
Both. In the preclinical year(s) - heavier memorization: micro.Heavier conceptualhysiology esp renal, cardio, pulm. Imagery heavy: anatomy, path. In the clinical years, you need both memorization and conceptual thinking.

[for current or past medical students]: What is/was your favorite med school course?
Pre-clinical: Anatomy.
Clinical: Surgery.

 

[justadream]

It's going to be hard to get a good idea because there is wide variation in how the pre-req courses are taught. Some schools/professors emphasize memorization while others test analytical/problem-solving skills to a greater degree.

 

[NickNaylor]

1) They are superficially similar but not really. The medical courses generally go into more depth and at a quicker pace than what you likely did during undergrad. They also may or may not have a clinical focus depending upon how your curriculum is designed.

2) No. You will never use physics again to any appreciable level in medical school unless you become a radiation oncologist.

3) We had a microbiology lab. Otherwise we had no labs apart from anatomy, which I don't really consider a "lab" in the sense you seem to have. If you do, they are extremely unlikely to be like those that you did in undergrad, i.e., with "experiments."

4) Not sure what you mean by this question.

5) Again, labs are not like they are in undergrad.

6) The basic principles of chem come up somewhat frequently. Most of bio is irrelevant with the exception of principles from cell bio. Ochem is relevant only from the standpoint of understanding drug mechanisms at a very, very simple level. Our biochem course went into some detail for reaction mechanisms, but that kind of material will not be clinically relevant in most cases. You're not going to be breaking out your substitution reaction mechanisms. As mentioned above, I don't think I've ever used physics to any appreciable level in medical school.

7) Commonly, but it's more important to understand the equations in terms of relationships rather than as something to "solve."

8) Memorization.

9) Physiology and pathophysiology.

 

[arc5005]

I'm seriously so stressed out over some of these pre-req classes. Fortunately, I'm almost finished with Gen Chem II. However, I honestly have no idea what I'm doing in lab. I spend hours trying to do these lab reports and the calculations seem to make no sense. The homework, tests, and calculations we go over in class are fine, but soon as it relates to lab I get completely lost. I never know what numbers I'm supposed to be using! I can't wait for these pre-req labs to be over.