Better decision ?

[jwood]

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Im going to be getting back into school this spring, and i know that deciding a major is a while a way. I just wanted to get some opinions on a good choice of major to best prepare for med school. I have been wanting to do bio-chem, is this a good idea.

 

[cfdavid]

I've heard some on this forum suggest that science majors don't have that much of an advantage over non-science majors in med school. Granted, I'm only coming up on my 4th week of med school at this point, but it certainly seems like a big help to have had some upper level science courses behind my belt. (Actually, I was a Finance major, but had a fair amount of mid and upper level science courses that seems to have helped a lot)

Even for anatomy, just knowing some good physio, where you can't help but get into structures has helped. It's just that much less that you'd need to focus on or conceptualize, where your time could be best used hammering down the info.

So, in my opinion, doing a bio, physio, or biochem major would be the best way to go. Then, you could even take an elective in Immuno or Micro. But, having good fundamentals seems like a good idea. And, I'm not talking about the basic prereq's.

 

[Rugby MD]

I was a biochem major and it was really helpful. Unfortunetly I really narrowed my scope to specifically biochem and some micro and avoided anatomy and phys and that was a mistake.
That being said, if you love english and are going to get a 4.0 because of your devotion to william shakespeare 😕 , just do well on the prereqs for med school. I loved biochem 😍 , did well and got into med school. If you don't love it, you aren't going to throw your heart and soul into it, and not do as well. and that might make the difference in the end

 

[lord_jeebus]

If you're deadset on attending med school and believe you can get in, do not let concerns about med school influence your choice of a major. Your prerequisite science courses should be adequate background, and saving a few hours of study time during your first year is just not worth selecting a major that is anything other than your favorite subject. If you don't know your favorite subject, figure that out and then pick your major.

Of course, if you're not 100% sure about med school (or your prospects at getting in), you may wish to select a major based on available career options if med school doesn't happen. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Law2Doc]

Your prerequisite science courses should be adequate background, and saving a few hours of study time during your first year is just not worth selecting a major that is anything other than your favorite subject. If you don't know your favorite subject, figure that out and then pick your major.

Strongly agree with this portion of this post.

 

[StarboardMD]

I've heard some on this forum suggest that science majors don't have that much of an advantage over non-science majors in med school. Granted, I'm only coming up on my 4th week of med school at this point, but it certainly seems like a big help to have had some upper level science courses behind my belt. (Actually, I was a Finance major, but had a fair amount of mid and upper level science courses that seems to have helped a lot)

Even for anatomy, just knowing some good physio, where you can't help but get into structures has helped. It's just that much less that you'd need to focus on or conceptualize, where your time could be best used hammering down the info.

So, in my opinion, doing a bio, physio, or biochem major would be the best way to go. Then, you could even take an elective in Immuno or Micro. But, having good fundamentals seems like a good idea. And, I'm not talking about the basic prereq's.

I have to agree with this post. Also a brand new MS1, but at least at my school you are expected to know quite a bit of biochem, molec, and phys/anat. If you don't, you're not totally screwed, you just have an overwhelming work load that your classmates are spared from.

However, it IS do-able. I would know. As others have recommended, if you're truly not into hardcore science, don't major in it. Four years of undergrad misery are not a worthwhile sacrifice compared to extra work in first year. And you have the rest of your life to focus on molecular pathways.

 

[indo]

The people who only took the 4 required science courses are already lost in the 3rd week. I couldn't imagine covering this amount of material without a basic foggy idea of what is going on ahead of time.

 

[Law2Doc]

The people who only took the 4 required science courses are already lost in the 3rd week. I couldn't imagine covering this amount of material without a basic foggy idea of what is going on ahead of time.

The people who say this are generally the people who have taken a lot of science, and spend way too much time patting themselves on the back. In two weeks they will be in the hole too. The folks who didn't have more than the prereqs usually get by fine, actually.

 

[Church]

As an MS1 whose undergrad degree is Spanish, I can tell you this about pre-reqs. All my chemistry major friends had to take a lot of crap that had jack to do with medicine (unless you want to be a researcher). P-chem is cool, but not really heavily represented in med school. Ditto Instrumental Analysis.

I can also say: 55 elective hours. Boo-yah. Feel free to use them for advanced organic, biochem (for the love of Gawd take a year of biochem), and any cool-sounding Bio courses you think might help. Virology was fun, not sure how much I'll directly use in life, but neat course. Some of the majors that are not hard science can make for good prep majors for med school, if only because you can use those bazillion electives to take good prep courses. Oh, and speaking Spanish helps deal with the patients at the extracurricula clinica latina 🙂 And like someone said already, it's important to actually like the subject you're majoring in. You'll get better grades, and incidentally enjoy the 4 years of undergrad more.

Of course, if one goes for a lib arts degree and uses the electives for basketweaving, then everything I said above is moot. That person will enjoy undergrad, and then learn to inquire whether the science graduates want fries with their order.

 

[Law2Doc]

Of course, if one goes for a lib arts degree and uses the electives for basketweaving, then everything I said above is moot. That person will enjoy undergrad, and then learn to inquire whether the science graduates want fries with their order.

Oh please. Folks who majored in "basketweaving" and still got into med school were accepted because they belong there and are expected to be able to hack it. About half the science majors who apply for med school don't get in and so such majors are statistically more likely destined for your suggested career in the food service industry. Enjoy the paper hat.

 

[Church]

Gee, Law, who poped in your pool today? I SAID that lib arts majors who use all their electives for non-sciencey things wouldn't get into med school, because there isn't a lib arts program in the nation that has the prereqs for med school built into their curriculum. Just the bare minimum science to satisfy core requirements. Hence, the need to use some of one's electives for the prereqs. If they didn't get those prereqs, then they didn't get into med school. If they did get their required premed classes, then more power to them, I'd like some more liberal arts people to keep myself and the two other liberal arts people here in my class of 190 company.

 

[stargirl50]

Oh please. Folks who majored in "basketweaving" and still got into med school were accepted because they belong there and are expected to be able to hack it. About half the science majors who apply for med school don't get in and so such majors are statistically more likely destined for your suggested career in the food service industry. Enjoy the paper hat.

👍 👍

This type of thread has been resurrected so many times it makes me want to hurl.

I just don't know why the science folks constantly turn the "what should I major in" threads into forums for bashing the liberal arts.

I was a philosophy major, I'm in my second year of med school now, and I have absolutely no regrets. You can get into medical school (and do well in medical school) with any major.

 

[bjackrian]

👍 👍

This type of thread has been resurrected so many times it makes me want to hurl.

I just don't know why the science folks constantly turn the "what should I major in" threads into forums for bashing the liberal arts.

I was a philosophy major, I'm in my second year of med school now, and I have absolutely no regrets. You can get into medical school (and do well in medical school) with any major.

Agree absolutely with this. I was a religious studies major/political science minor and I don't regret it at all. I feel that I was able to do fine in all the science classes and had a leg up on classes like interviewing and ethics.