Anyone else sick of lab classes?

BU Medical Sciences
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
A

Atlas Shrugged

Family Medicine
10+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2010
Messages
274
Reaction score
125
I'm starting to get fed up with the laboratory components of courses. They feel like such time sinks compared to lecture while yielding less useful information. /rant
Members don't see this ad.
 
Atlas Shrugged said:
I'm starting to get fed up with the laboratory components of courses. They feel like such time sinks compared to lecture while yielding less useful information. /rant
Click to expand...

I believe Organic Chemistry II lab is a useless waste of money. We don't do anything we have went over so the professor has an hour pre-lab and then we get in there and someone has stolen all of your glassware and then you get a low percent yield or something breaks and have to start all over. So for a 1 credit hour lab you have to do about 5 hours of work. Its ridiculous. Now biology labs actually correlate to what we are doing. But I guess we have to do what we have to do to get where we are going! 😀
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Yeah I'm pretty done with labs. I'm thankful this is my last semester and that I only have one lab this semester but the lab reports suck. Why should I generate an abstract, methods, etc when I'm just doing what you guys freaking told me in the first place?
 
If possible at your school, put your labs off until you after submit your med school application. Then go take them at a community college. SOOOOOOOO much less headache.
 
I felt that biology lab was the biggest waste of time. IMO, learning about PCR, Fingerprinting, Gel Electrophoresis, MspI Digest, and Blotting does, and should not take all year. Doing PCR for the 6th time today and its kinda sickening.

Organic Chemistry lab was meh for me. I mean, you can only do so much NMR/IR and Microwaving

-____-
 
I'm working on a 20 page formal lab report for biochem lab right now... 🙁 It's neat to learn about the procedures in lecture, it's neat to try them in lab, it's a waste of everyone's time to write up stupid reports about them.
 
I am doing research (10 hours per week) and also taking ochem II lab (3 hours+recitation) so, yes, I am fed up.
 
Yup, labs are really dull, boring, and teach you very little of the theory behind the experiments. However they do help you become proficient in lab skills and do improve your ability to manage your time wisely in the lab. If anything labs like orgo teach you to realize when a beaker/flask is going fall over and break, leading to loss of all your product.
 
I used to hate lab and find it a waste of time. but organic lab really turned me from a clumsy person to someone who is really good with using his hands.
once you break a few beakers you will become better at handling things.
 
I hated biology, chem, etc labs, but I loved anatomy and histology labs.
 
I hated most lab courses with a passion. This should have been a strong hint that I should not apply for a lab-based Master's program, but so much for that. 🙄

After finishing my MS, I know for sure that I need to avoid bench work at all costs.
 
2012Aggie said:
I hated biology, chem, etc labs, but I loved anatomy and histology labs.
Click to expand...

Anatomy and histology are courses that are actually appropriate for teaching in a lab environment. I can't wait until anatomy.

Right now I'm in microbiology and we're forced to memorize which strains give positive and negative results for an array of tests with little rhyme or reason. It would be nice to learn about the bacteria and their metabolic pathways and then problem solving to figure out what you have, but that hasn't been the case.

Also, Bergey's Manual is a pain in the ass to navigate. It's surprising that there isn't an online database (at least that I know of).
 
Members don't see this ad :)
My pure hatred for labs is why I'm glad to do Computational/Statistical-based research. No beakers to break or dishes to wash.
 
For the most part, labs make me cry on the inside. Like I'm writing this right now from physics lab.

However, if you're going into industry they're probably pretty useful.
 
Atlas Shrugged said:
Anatomy and histology are courses that are actually appropriate for teaching in a lab environment. I can't wait until anatomy.
Anatomy lab overall isn't very labish either, you spend most of the course looking at the muscle man, skeleton, or cast models of anatomical pieces. However you do spend a decent amount of the class on histology and the microanatomy of certain cells and occasionally do look at fresh material, but that is infrequent.

Right now I'm in microbiology and we're forced to memorize which strains give positive and negative results for an array of tests with little rhyme or reason. It would be nice to learn about the bacteria and their metabolic pathways and then problem solving to figure out what you have, but that hasn't been the case.
Well, I admittedly can say that diagnostic tests really are easy to remember. Likewise it would be a waste of time to go into depth of the metabolic pathways because most micro classes are structured for pre-health specialties or people without a good grasp of organic chem let alone biochem ( Nor does a Nurse really need to care about biochemistry). So for the most part just remember that certain bacteria ferment a certain type of salt because they have an enzyme that can break it down. If the metabolic pathways interest you strongly then enroll in your universities microbial physiology course as it will go into detail metabolism.

Also, Bergey's Manual is a pain in the ass to navigate. It's surprising that there isn't an online database (at least that I know of).
Click to expand...

Never used it.
 
theA1doctor said:
To be honest, Labs really aren't that bad
Click to expand...

I agree.

Labs are one of those things where you get out of it what you put into it...if you're not being taught the theory or usefulness of a procedure, go find it! Read & do a little searching (Google is tough, I know).

You guys are pre-meds, and assuming you make it to med school you have a lot more lab & procedure time coming in your life. Just hang in there.
 
FSUseminoleEM1 said:
I agree.

Labs are one of those things where you get out of it what you put into it...if you're not being taught the theory or usefulness of a procedure, go find it! Read & do a little searching (Google is tough, I know).

You guys are pre-meds, and assuming you make it to med school you have a lot more lab & procedure time coming in your life. Just hang in there.
Click to expand...

x2. Labs give you an opportunity to actually engage with the material you're learning. If you choose to not take advantage of it or learn from it that's on you.

The only lab I ever really hated was intro physics. In all of my chem and bio labs we were testing things and you didn't know what the answer would be/outcomes were not always predetermined. I had a hard time working up enthusiasm to spend three hours of my day testing the value of g on earth's surface.
 
mcloaf said:
x2. Labs give you an opportunity to actually engage with the material you're learning. If you choose to not take advantage of it or learn from it that's on you.

The only lab I ever really hated was intro physics. In all of my chem and bio labs we were testing things and you didn't know what the answer would be/outcomes were not always predetermined. I had a hard time working up enthusiasm to spend three hours of my day testing the value of g on earth's surface.
Click to expand...

In my experience, almost every lab has a predetermined outcome which is one of the reasons why it's so frustrating. I suppose it could just be my school's curriculum, though.
 
mcloaf said:
x2. Labs give you an opportunity to actually engage with the material you're learning. If you choose to not take advantage of it or learn from it that's on you.

The only lab I ever really hated was intro physics. In all of my chem and bio labs we were testing things and you didn't know what the answer would be/outcomes were not always predetermined. I had a hard time working up enthusiasm to spend three hours of my day testing the value of g on earth's surface.
Click to expand...

But what if YOUR lab group found the historical value of 'g' to be wrong during that mundane drop-the-lead-weight-and-roll-the-rubber-ball procedure? :scared: Huge breakthrough potential, bro.

Also, kids - DON'T be that person who walks into lab with not a clue as to what you're doing. Read and understand the procedure, please, for the love of all things good (and your classmates). I once had a classmate that lacked so much confidence, he had to have the TA double check literally everything he did; pipet 5 mL? "TA HALP"...dilute flask to mark? "TA HAAAAALP".

feelsannoyingman.jpg
 
Labs to me are pointless tbh. I mean its not like we don't have enough with all the units were taking. I guess you can learn something from the lab, if your really that into it. I'm not really the kind of person that wants to know every little detail. I just want the important details and thats it.
 
In hindsight, a lot of the labs I did were really cool. Like synthesizing aspirin, identifying compounds, doing genetic testing for GMO corn. I think what makes lab classes boring is 1) lab reports that don't teach you about how your lab report would be in an actual research lab, and 2) a lack of connection between the lab class and the material you learn in lecture. Both of these aspects make lab classes mostly useless.
 
I enjoy chemistry labs when there isn't a huge amount of work involved and they actually teach you a concept. But I absolutely hate my bio labs. Only Cell Bio was interesting where we did PCR and such and learned about real life applications with this stuff. Every other bio lab has been a complete waste of time and just a nuisance on my grade lol.
 
Lab: Why I need four+ showers a day.
 
TheMightySmiter said:
In hindsight, a lot of the labs I did were really cool. Like synthesizing aspirin, identifying compounds, doing genetic testing for GMO corn. I think what makes lab classes boring is 1) lab reports that don't teach you about how your lab report would be in an actual research lab, and 2) a lack of connection between the lab class and the material you learn in lecture. Both of these aspects make lab classes mostly useless.
Click to expand...

After all those shiny, organized lab reports from undergrad, I didn't realize how disorganized I would be allowed to be with my research notebook in grad school. lol Mine wasn't very disorganized, actually, but I saw other grad students getting way with murder. It's all about a quality thesis, it seems.
 
Cinclus said:
After all those shiny, organized lab reports from undergrad, I didn't realize how disorganized I would be allowed to be with my research notebook in grad school. lol Mine wasn't very disorganized, actually, but I saw other grad students getting way with murder. It's all about a quality thesis, it seems.
Click to expand...

I know some who don't even use a notebook. They just use scraps of tissue paper

😱
 
Kaushik said:
You'll be seeing labs again in med school (though they're not the kinds we had for chem, bio, physics, etc). They're a different kind of suck.
Click to expand...

Are they at least relevant to the lecture or aid in describing various phenomena?
 
Shinobiz11 said:
Are they at least relevant to the lecture or aid in describing various phenomena?
Click to expand...

I was shadowing a med student recently and I went to microscopic anatomy lab with him. The lab goes hand in hand with the lecture. They had microscope slides of various tissues that were taught in lecture, so students can see them under a real microscope and be able to identify them. So yes, I'd say they are relevant.
 
I see the labs themselves as unnecessary in undergraduate classes, but the research required for lab reports is a valuable experience. That being said, spending 20 hours writing a 7000 word report with 20 references every week reduced me to a walking corpse for a whole year. From what I've heard, med school labs don't involve absurd lab reports.
 
Cornu Ammonis said:
I see the labs themselves as unnecessary in undergraduate classes, but the research required for lab reports is a valuable experience. That being said, spending 20 hours writing a 7000 word report with 20 references every week reduced me to a walking corpse for a whole year. From what I've heard, med school labs don't involve absurd lab reports.
Click to expand...

You just described my experience during the semester I took biochemistry lab. One of my lab reports was about 30 pages long. 😱

I would go several nights in a row each week getting only about 2 hours of sleep. Paaaaaainfully bad semester.
 
Shinobiz11 said:
Are they at least relevant to the lecture or aid in describing various phenomena?
Click to expand...
Yea, they're more relevant to what you're learning. It still sucks digging through fascia for hours to find out you accidentally sliced through the nerve that you were looking for or whatever. For anatomy at least, I personally feel like I learned more from reading and using the Gilroy atlas rather than the cadaver. For histology, histo lab was definitely useful (looking at slides under the microscope), IMO, but it could be replaced with an online image gallery instead of going into lab; I think my school is actually moving in that direction.

I'm still an M1 so I can't comment on path lab or micro lab.
 
It's a struggle every Monday to keep awake in Organic Chemistry lab.
 
anyone actually question what's the end point? learning about crap you will forget and never use again.
 
Just wait until you get to medical school and you will hate lab courses even more.
 
druggeek said:
anyone actually question what's the end point? learning about crap you will forget and never use again.
Click to expand...

Heck, isn't that the the life story of a doctor? Lol.

You basically have to regurgitate the pre-reqs for the MCAT then its off to med school where you're memorizing for step 1 then you forget it all when its time for clinicals.

Am I right?

EDIT: Last week in my lab we looked at flowers..FREAKING FLOWERS!! I hate gen bio.
 
iqe2010 said:
Heck, isn't that the the life story of a doctor? Lol.

You basically have to regurgitate the pre-reqs for the MCAT then its off to med school where you're memorizing for step 1 then you forget it all when its time for clinicals.

Am I right?

EDIT: Last week in my lab we looked at flowers..FREAKING FLOWERS!! I hate gen bio.
Click to expand...

This. We actually got to look at jellyfish last week which was at most somewhat interesting. Gotta watch out for those man-o-wars.
 
You know man-o-wars are not jellyfish, right? ;p
 
Labs will be the death of me for sure! Spilled about 1/3 + of a liter of DCM on my left arm in Ochem I Lab (100% my careless ass fault)... just waitin' for that cancer.
 
I guess I am the only person that like's the hands on nature of labs. Granted my practicals are less straight forward. They seem to be kicking my ass, but the actual classes I enjoy. Except dissecting a crawfish that thing smelled HORRIBLE
 
Labs are usually pretty boring for me. I'm more of a theoretical person, rather than having to actually experiment with stuff.
 
iqe2010 said:
Heck, isn't that the the life story of a doctor? Lol.

You basically have to regurgitate the pre-reqs for the MCAT then its off to med school where you're memorizing for step 1 then you forget it all when its time for clinicals.

Am I right?

EDIT: Last week in my lab we looked at flowers..FREAKING FLOWERS!! I hate gen bio.
Click to expand...
Well at least I enjoy learning topics covered in the basic sciences of med school. But ya you're spot on for pre reqs.. I mean what relevance at all does friggin physics or chem have to even first year med? none at all.
 
iqe2010 said:
Heck, isn't that the the life story of a doctor? Lol.

You basically have to regurgitate the pre-reqs for the MCAT then its off to med school where you're memorizing for step 1 then you forget it all when its time for clinicals.

Am I right?

EDIT: Last week in my lab we looked at flowers..FREAKING FLOWERS!! I hate gen bio.
Click to expand...

No, you're wrong. There's a big difference between studying in undergrad vs. studying in med school. In undergrad, your main goal was to pass/do well on the exam. In med school, your goal is to learn the material and store it in long-term memory for recall on Step I and on the wards. That's why so many people on here recommend the multiple passes method of studying for med school; it helps consolidate what you learn into your long-term memory. So, no, you don't "forget it all" when clinical rotations start.

druggeek said:
Well at least I enjoy learning topics covered in the basic sciences of med school. But ya you're spot on for pre reqs.. I mean what relevance at all does friggin physics or chem have to even first year med? none at all.
Click to expand...
Physics and chemistry actually are pretty relevant for things you learn in med school, even M1 year. Understanding hemodynamics? That's fluid dynamics from physics. Understanding respiration? Need to have an understanding of pressures, gradients, etc. Understanding neurophysiology, membrane potentials, etc? More physics involved. Understanding acid-base physiology? General chemistry.

You'd be surprised how much of the stuff you learn in prereqs is actually relevant in med school. Not only that, the more important function of prereqs, IMO, is that they teach you to approach problems in a certain way. That's a very critical skill to have.

So, don't be too quick to bash on the prereqs. Can you get by in med school without any of the prereqs? Yea. Do they make things much easier though? In my opinion, absolutely.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
Need advice about being kicked out of a research lab
Replies
16
Views
1K
AJS59
AJS59
kv11
  • Poll Poll
Wet lab vs Clinical Research
Replies
5
Views
1K
pinkdino
P
J
Help me choose a lab!
Replies
2
Views
542
carson16666
carson16666
P
X vs Y lab--Which should I choose?
Replies
4
Views
391
AJS59
AJS59
L
Retaking Classes After Graduation
Replies
1
Views
117
wysdoc
wysdoc
Top