Bio pre-reqs

[monkeyfeet]

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Hi, I'm new.

For the past couple years, I've been taking med school pre-reqs at community college. This was a good option for me financially and logistically, but has left me with very little (read that "no") guidance in my post-bacc work. I'm planning on another year to finish out pre-reqs and do mcat prep, but the closer I get to applying, the more lost I feel.

I have more physics and math classes than I could ever possibly need (my undergrad degree is in physics and I went to graduate school in geophysics), and I've taken 2 semesters each of gen and organic chem. The only bio classes I've taken are A&P (2 sem w/ lab) and pathophys. I've never taken any sort of gen college bio class (these were technically required for A&P but I placed out). My question, then, is will med schools expect/require me to have taken 2 semesters of gen bio, or could I spend my last year of pre-reqs taking classes I would find infinitely more interesting (e.g. biochem, genetics, advanced A&P)? I'd appreciate any advice and/or referrals to more definitive sources of information. Thanks!

 

[DrMidlife]

First issue is the MCAT. A&P and pathophys don't cover the bio subject material (https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85566/data/bstopics.pdf). If you're looking to roll your own bio curriculum, use that content list to see what you're missing.

Second issue is whether med schools will see things the same way you do. If you do at least a full year of upper div biosci with labs (microbio, genetics, immuno, cell bio, neuro, biochem), and your MCAT looks good, then you have a strong case. But you have no control over whether a med school that has accepted you will call you in June and say "um, you didn't do any bio, you have to finish that before you matriculate." If this happens (it happened to me w/ochem), you have to be on top of your game and petition for consideration (which I got because I took biochem).

Start looking hard at the admissions websites for the schools you're most likely to target.

Best of luck to you.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Some schools accept A&P in light of the General Bio sequence. However, these are a minority of schools. You'll need to contact the schools you may want to attend before making the decision to skip the sequence.