which field of medicine is more mathematical?

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Petrichor1

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So I am not the brightest in mathematics but I find myself being better in the quantitative side more than anything and I am very interested in pursuing my understanding of medicine through this route. Which specialty do you all experienced professionals suggest would have a really good duality with this subject?

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Radiology (including rad onc) and vascular surgery probably, since you're dealing with radiation physics and fluid dynamics respectively. I may probably suggest neurology and cardiology due to the periodic properties of EEGs and ECGs.

The residents and attendings here can attest to this much more adequately.
 
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Radiology (and, to an extent, Radiation Oncology)

In my brief foray into the research side of things, I worked alongside PhD people in Math and CS ... Way too much programming and computational mathematical methods for me to care about, but if that's your cup of tea, more power to you.
 
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Public health & preventative medicine. Hope you love stats.
 
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You should do research if you are fascinated with quantitative analysis.
 
None of them in practice, except Radiation Oncology and it's not really math in the usual sense.

That's interesting, but i wasn't expecting physicians of any specialty to use math like crazy anyways :laugh:

Curious what @mimelim @SouthernSurgeon @IlDestriero and others have to say, but i feel they share similar views. I'd expect math to be used indirectly for diagnostic analyses, but it seems it's used mainly for statistical analysis and interpretation.
 
From what I have seen shadowing a Rad Onc, it is a very technical field talking about contouring, fractionation, radiation dose and stuff like that. I would say it's more heavy on the physics than pure math but if you want a more math-like field, that's my pre-med recommendation for ya :cool:
 
So I am not the brightest in mathematics but I find myself being better in the quantitative side more than anything and I am very interested in pursuing my understanding of medicine through this route. Which specialty do you all experienced professionals suggest would have a really good duality with this subject?

I have no idea what you are saying here. There are a lot of words kinda thrown together, but they don't exactly have a ton of meaning.

Radiology (including rad onc) and vascular surgery probably, since you're dealing with radiation physics and fluid dynamics respectively. I may probably suggest neurology and cardiology due to the periodic properties of EEGs and ECGs.

The residents and attendings here can attest to this much more adequately.

None of them in practice, except Radiation Oncology and it's not really math in the usual sense.

I don't think any particular specialty that really uses mathematics in the same way that someone in Mathematics would use the term. A lot of specialties use (or should use) arithmetic, but nobody really uses calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, etc. I mean, certainly all of those things, flowing blood, eeg/ekg are based on physics and mathematics, but it isn't like you use it day to day.

That having been said, I have to read an interpret vascular lab studies several times a day. There are a lot of numbers and waveforms. A lot of people memorize the cut-offs and that is about it, but if you understand more, you can appreciate more about the physiology of an individual and change your treatment.
 
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there is little to no mathematics in the practice of medicine.
 
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I've been trying to find a speciality that uses actual math, but it looks like they all use trigonometry at the most. As a passionate math major, this makes me so sad. I love math so much. :(

If by "mathematical" you meant arithmetic, then you might like radiation oncology.
 
For my AP BC research project I analyzed the fractal structure of a cardiogram. Something research-y like that would involve real math, whereas as a practicing physician it wouldn't make sense to be doing math all day; you see patients.
 
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I've been trying to find a speciality that uses actual math, but it looks like they all use trigonometry at the most. As a passionate math major, this makes me so sad. I love math so much. :(

If by "mathematical" you meant arithmetic, then you might like radiation oncology.

Trust me, I feel the same way in that I am gonna miss math a bunch once I start medical school since math is one of my majors too. The only substantial math I can think of would be going into neurology but also doing neuroscience research. I've taken several upper level mathematics courses on neuroscience and there is so much awesome research to be done in that field. But I think if you choose to go that route it would be better to just get a phd in math and would be silly to get an MD.
 
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Consider a PhD in biostatistics. No patients but you work with data and you collaborate with the people who design the studies and collect the data from research subjects/patient records to answer questions that have never been answered before and that help entire populations as well as adding to the evidence that guides the treatment of individual patients.
 
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Exa
Trust me, I feel the same way in that I am gonna miss math a bunch once I start medical school since math is one of my majors too. The only substantial math I can think of would be going into neurology but also doing neuroscience research. I've taken several upper level mathematics courses on neuroscience and there is so much awesome research to be done in that field. But I think if you choose to go that route it would be better to just get a phd in math and would be silly to get an MD.

Exactly! If you want to bring math into medicine, then you have to go into research instead of being an actual physician. Unlike, say, chemistry (my other major), which is necessary for both medical research and physicians. My parents never even took calculus and yet they're still wonderful doctors!
 
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Exactly! If you want to bring math into medicine, then you have to go into research instead of being an actual physician. Unlike, say, chemistry (my other major), which is necessary for both medical research and physicians. My parents never even took calculus and yet they're still wonderful doctors!

Lol chemistry is my other major too....But I completely agree with you. My plan is to get through the MD and find someway to apply mathematics to my field. It might not be useful in your practice or patient care but there is always mathematics involved behind the scenes for everything. Probably can find someway to model something. Who knows. Mathematics can model everything, that's the beauty.
 
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Lol chemistry is my other major too....But I completely agree with you. My plan is to get through the MD and find someway to apply mathematics to my field. It might not be useful in your practice or patient care but there is always mathematics involved behind the scenes for everything. Probably can find someway to model something. Who knows. Mathematics can model everything, that's the beauty.
I fully agree. It's amazing; math can model anything, and yet it is still so beautiful and complex by itself.

And OP, have you considered pursuing a MD/PhD? I am hoping to get a math PhD through an MD/PhD program. They're obviously really competitive and time-consuming (~8 years), but you usually don't have to pay tuition and get a stipend of $20,000/yr to help make up for the opportunity cost of "wasting" four years pursuing a PhD.
 
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I fully agree. It's amazing; math can model anything, and yet it is still so beautiful and complex by itself.

And OP, have you considered pursuing a MD/PhD? I am hoping to get a math PhD through an MD/PhD program. They're obviously really competitive and time-consuming (~8 years), but you usually don't have to pay tuition and get a stipend of $20,000/yr to help make up for the opportunity cost of "wasting" four years pursuing a PhD.

Are you going to focus on research then in your career? Like mathematical research of medicinal topics? I can't imagine many programs give you the option of getting a math PhD in an MD/PhD program. I saw some that let you get your PhD in whatever field you want but seemed like most required something along the lines of biostatistics, public health, biomedical engineering, etc. I thought about doing one in chemistry but decided against it.
 
Are you going to focus on research then in your career? Like mathematical research of medicinal topics? I can't imagine many programs give you the option of getting a math PhD in an MD/PhD program. I saw some that let you get your PhD in whatever field you want but seemed like most required something along the lines of biostatistics, public health, biomedical engineering, etc. I thought about doing one in chemistry but decided against it.
I want to pursue a math PhD purely out of interest. I feel like if I never tried to get one, I'd regret it for the rest of my life. Math MD/PhD programs are fairly rare, but they do exist. You could definitely find MD/PhD programs that would allow you to study chemistry!
 
Consider a PhD in biostatistics. No patients but you work with data and you collaborate with the people who design the studies and collect the data from research subjects/patient records to answer questions that have never been answered before and that help entire populations as well as adding to the evidence that guides the treatment of individual patients.
excellent suggestion, I have spoken with the biostat head at a nearby school and I was told to apply for an MS after completing linear algebra and GRE. I do want to become a doctor though so I don't really want to spend the money for GRE since I heard MCAT can act as a replacement for dual programs combining MD and MS. I don't know though if I should pursue a PhD on biostat though through a MD/PhD program. It's not that it would be long; in fact it would be a dream come true but that I don't think my 3.5 gpa is what any MD/PhD program would want. I have extensive research experience though in one lab and I am continuing the stint at another lab the upcoming fall. What are your thoughts LizzyM? Do you see someone like me being able to obtain entrance in a MD/PhD program or completing a dual MD/MPH (or MS) program?
 
I have no idea what you are saying here. There are a lot of words kinda thrown together, but they don't exactly have a ton of meaning.





I don't think any particular specialty that really uses mathematics in the same way that someone in Mathematics would use the term. A lot of specialties use (or should use) arithmetic, but nobody really uses calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, etc. I mean, certainly all of those things, flowing blood, eeg/ekg are based on physics and mathematics, but it isn't like you use it day to day.

That having been said, I have to read an interpret vascular lab studies several times a day. There are a lot of numbers and waveforms. A lot of people memorize the cut-offs and that is about it, but if you understand more, you can appreciate more about the physiology of an individual and change your treatment.
My bad mimelim, I send messages through non-laptop/desktop devices so my grammar isn't proper on some occassions. But getting back to point, I don't particularly have any preferences with the type of math level I deal with; just as long as it is incorporating math in some form. Calculus would probably be useful in the light of physics-based topics dealing with the human body but that isn't particularly necessary since those topics can also be solved (albeit arduously) through trigonometry and basic level math. If you can think of any other professions beside cardiology and radiation please let me know based off of my clarification of the type of math I have preference for.
 
A professor at my school does research in fractals or something to model metastatic breast cancer. He's a Math PhD though, not sure if he has any explicit medical education outside of what is related to his field.

My advice is to decide which means more to you, and weight the pros and cons of each career. It doesn't seem like there's a mainstream way to incorporate both in the way you seem to be looking for.
 
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I cannot speak personally since I am still pre-med, but my dad is a radiologist, and I saw him work, A LOT. there was a lot of scans, and a lot of anatomy, and procedures involved(if interventional). Radiology has very good hours in general, but it is one of the tougher specialties to learn. You have to literally remember most of your anatomy, and from every system. If a cardio surgeon forgets some brain anatomy, it is doubtful the patient will be affected, if the radiologist forgets his leg anatomy, he is screwed. Not only regular anatomy, but pathogenesis/pathophysiology are just as important since diseases can be in different stages, and a lot of people, radiology is the first step before attending a second specialty. A PCP will often refer a patient to an imaging center for a radiology scan to read since it can rule out a lot or diagnose a lot. There is a lot of digital measuring involved of masses, and spaces between vertebrae etc., size of arteries in an echocardiogram to see if there is stenosis or sclerosis(although cards dominate ECG). There is a lot of measuring, there is a lot of formulas in terms of medical physics, if you are nto good at physics, it is going to be harder to get through residency since you learn a lot about it. Bioimaging is the future of medicine, when people think radiologists, they typically think of scans only, but you can be doing cerebral angiograms personally as a neurointerventional radiologist. Radiology is probably one of the most diverse specialties, it is like internal medicine in the sense that how it starts is you have to legit know everything, but you can subspecialize and do procedures. Neurointerventional radiologists pretty much exist to take cases that neurosurgeons do not have time for. A neurosurgeon can do a cerebral angiogram(probably cannot read it as well since a radiologist has years of trianing just in reading scans), but they are better suited to do actual neurosurgery.
 
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