Calculus?

[Jameel11435]

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First post, Please be gentle.

So my question revolves around the topic of Calculus and application to Medical school. Now I'm taking Calculus I and I intend on taking Calculus II, my question is, is it really that important?

Will it ever be relevant to my life in Medical school or working as a doctor?

And if not, Why the hell to I have to take it?

By the way, Am I the only one who has had trouble with Calculus? The fact that I'm not that great at it makes me question whether or not I will ever be able to function as a Pre-Medical/Chemistry student.

 

[funkymunkytoes]

A lot of the pre-reqs are totally irrelevant - I'm especially thinking of physics and organic chemistry. With regards to calculus, some schools only require ONE semester of college level math, while some others don't require any at all.

 

[Jameel11435]

A lot of the pre-reqs are totally irrelevant - I'm especially thinking of physics and organic chemistry. With regards to calculus, some schools only require ONE semester of college level math, while some others don't require any at all.

I'll have to take Calculus II anyways because my school requires it for Physics II, which is Calculus based.

Another quick question, as for Organic Chemistry, do I have to take labs for both I and II to be eligible for Medical school acceptance?

 

[YeOldeMan]

Yes, you gotta take both organic labs (at least for the schools I looked at). Your school should have a non-Calculus based Physics series. Every school has it.

 

[deleted202457]

Yes you need the labs as far as I know

 

[135892]

This sort of question seems to be real popular around here, so if you search "calculus" or whatever, you'll find all the information you'll need. Few schools actually require 2 semesters of calc, so if you don't want to, I see no reason to take calc II. And as long as you're pulling a B in your current calc I class, you might as well finish it out. As far as relevancy to medicine, math is, of course, very important to every field in medicine. However, as a clinical physician, you will most likely never have to use any upper level math.

 

[Jameel11435]

Yes, you gotta take both organic labs (at least for the schools I looked at). Your school should have a non-Calculus based Physics series. Every school has it.

Yeah, we have a choice between Physics 101 & 102, which is similar to high school Physics and then there's Physics 151 & 152, which is Calculus based.

Does any specific form of Physics make me appeal to Medical schools more as I sell myself to them in about 3-4 years?

 

[Bacchus]

No. If you don't have to take advanced calculus (2+) I wouldn't.

 

[mmagnett]

Nothing is irrelevant. Physics is used a great deal in orthopedics. Orgo is used in biochemistry, pharmacology etc. If you take Calc II you will have expanded your skill-set. Who knows how it will benefit you -- but it wont hurt (unless you can't get a good grade, but I bet you can)

 

[Podalarius]

This depends on how you define relevant. It's quite true you'll be able to function as a physician without knowing any calculus. I doubt my doctors could take the derivative of the simplest functions, and they are very competent. That doesn't change the fact that a lot of modern medicine depends on phenomena that can be best be described using calculus.

The rates at which drugs are metabolized and cleared from bloodstream are described by differential equations; orthopedics depends on understanding the biomechanics of some of the most complex materials known to man; radiology would be meaningless without a fundamental understanding of the interactions of electromagnetic waves with biological tissues, which can only be understood with differential equations and linear algebra. Since medical schools are committed to furthering knowledge in their field as much as they are to training future clinicians, it doesn't seem that unreasonable to require that aspiring physicians are at least conversant in the language used to describe the science of medicine.

I don't know for certain, but I'd guess the extent of the calculus requirements at different schools closely correlates with their focus on research. Unfortunately, that means learning something that can be quite frustrating until it clicks, but, for what it's worth, there are probably going to be classes/rotations in med school that don't completely line up with your career goals that you'll still have to get through to be a physician.

 

[FlowLimited]

A lot of the pre-reqs are totally irrelevant - I'm especially thinking of physics and organic chemistry. With regards to calculus, some schools only require ONE semester of college level math, while some others don't require any at all.

Physics and organic chemistry are totally irrelevant, eh?

 

[doctor712]

My UG doesn't offer lab with Organic Chemistry I...then what?

D712

 

[vin5cent0]

Once you start getting into upper level math classes, the relevance it'll have in your medical training becomes less and less imo. Yes, things like algebra and geometry are useful in day to day situations, but knowing how to graph a complex polynomial or knowing it's end behavior.. not so much. However, if you're a chem major, you should probably be somewhat adept in math.

 

[BlueElmo]

It really doesn't matter if they are relevant or not. Medical schools you to take them, and I'm sure they have reasons why.

 

[FlowLimited]

It really doesn't matter if they are relevant or not. Medical schools you to take them, and I'm sure they have reasons why.

They do have their reasons. While a lot of the material you learn in the prerequisites isn't expressly relevant to day-to-day clinical practice, it will help you in medical school. This may or may not be true for calculus, but it's very true for both physics and organic chemistry.

 

[rabidpanda13]

I've asked this question once before and didn't really get an answer so here goes. I've taken Cal I, Cal II, and educational stats. Do I really have to take another stats class? My advisor told me that most school would prefer me to have the "regular" stats class in addition to both of the calculus classes. That just seems kind of absurd...

 

[135892]

I've asked this question once before and didn't really get an answer so here goes. I've taken Cal I, Cal II, and educational stats. Do I really have to take another stats class? My advisor told me that most school would prefer me to have the "regular" stats class in addition to both of the calculus classes. That just seems kind of absurd...

I think you're good

 

[silas2642]

Nothing is irrelevant. Physics is used a great deal in orthopedics. Orgo is used in biochemistry, pharmacology etc. If you take Calc II you will have expanded your skill-set. Who knows how it will benefit you -- but it wont hurt (unless you can't get a good grade, but I bet you can)

How would you know this? How long have you been in med school? How do you know that the OP will do well in calc? For all you know, he is a complete and total idiot, or is a math numb.

Truth be told, you will pretty much never use calculus in med school. The concepts may come into play like once in a great while (derivatives=slope of curves, integrals=areas), but that's it. As far as physics and crap, those equations don't really come up either. Gravity comes into play every now and then-- when Timmy falls out of a tree, gravity kicks in, he falls and cracks his skull open.

You need to understand diffusion and crap, but if you can't grasp these concepts within like 5 seconds, then you probably shouldn't be in med school. The pre-reqs are to make sure you can handle med school, but they don't have that much to do with med school. Do you really think you need to understand the phylogeny of all the different worms that you learn in bio 101 to be a good physician? No.

 

[silas2642]

I've asked this question once before and didn't really get an answer so here goes. I've taken Cal I, Cal II, and educational stats. Do I really have to take another stats class? My advisor told me that most school would prefer me to have the "regular" stats class in addition to both of the calculus classes. That just seems kind of absurd...

Btw, I don't think you need cacl II (I took it, don't remember a thing, hated every minute of it, it dropped by gpa and alas-- I'm doing fine in med school). I have no idea what educational stats are, but I'm sure you don't need it. I have no what your advisor is telling you, but it's not true. You really don't even need stats because you'll take something like this in med school.

 

[mmagnett]

How would you know this? How long have you been in med school? How do you know that the OP will do well in calc? For all you know, he is a complete and total idiot, or is a math numb.

Truth be told, you will pretty much never use calculus in med school. The concepts may come into play like once in a great while (derivatives=slope of curves, integrals=areas), but that's it. As far as physics and crap, those equations don't really come up either. Gravity comes into play every now and then-- when Timmy falls out of a tree, gravity kicks in, he falls and cracks his skull open.

You need to understand diffusion and crap, but if you can't grasp these concepts within like 5 seconds, then you probably shouldn't be in med school. The pre-reqs are to make sure you can handle med school, but they don't have that much to do with med school. Do you really think you need to understand the phylogeny of all the different worms that you learn in bio 101 to be a good physician? No.

Good call. I have been in med school 0 years. But after next year it will have been 1. However, from what I have gathered from my experience in undergrad and now grad school -- nearly everything is intertwined and learning as much as possible about basic concepts (like are presented in calc II) is never a bad thing, in my opinion it will only expand your knowledge base.

No need for the hate train...

 

[TMP-SMX]

Unless the schools you are going to apply to require calculus do not take it. Some require Calculus I, which isn't that difficult. If so, then take it. Calculus II (Integrals) is a huge pain. I liked it so much I took it twice in fact. 👎

The concepts of calculus may be remotely related to medicine, pharmacology, and physiology, but only remotely. You learn the concepts in pre-calculus and that is all you need. So unless you are applying to the select schools that recommend or require two semesters of calculus don't take it.

 

[flip26]

Yeah, we have a choice between Physics 101 & 102, which is similar to high school Physics and then there's Physics 151 & 152, which is Calculus based.

Does any specific form of Physics make me appeal to Medical schools more as I sell myself to them in about 3-4 years?

You need to speak to the pre med advisors at your school to make sure you are taking the pre-reqs that "count" for med school. This tends to be a bigger problem in BIOL classes where there are some classes designed for nursing or other allied health students (no offense to them) that would not be considered desirable for a pre-med.

That said, you do NOT need to take calc based physics to impress med schools. If you take the basic pre-reqs and make As, they will be as impressed as is possible.

 

[cpants]

Good call. I have been in med school 0 years. But after next year it will have been 1. However, from what I have gathered from my experience in undergrad and now grad school -- nearly everything is intertwined and learning as much as possible about basic concepts (like are presented in calc II) is never a bad thing, in my opinion it will only expand your knowledge base.

No need for the hate train...

So you have no idea what you are talking about. I have seen calc used maybe once or twice in med school, and I have about 1 week left in my basic science work. The professor put up the area under the curve or something on a slide. I have never had to use anything remotely approaching calculus in my coursework. No one is saying it is a bad thing to take calculus if you are into it. It is not, however, a necessary thing for most med students or doctors. OP, just make sure the schools you want to apply to don't require two semesters, and then walk away. Your school should offer a non-calc physics option. Look into it. It's not the same as high school physics. It's actually as difficult as the calc-based according to most.

 

[BlueElmo]

I guess there's conflicting opinions on Calculus. How about statistics? Is this relevant and useful for medical school coursework?

 

[cpants]

I guess there's conflicting opinions on Calculus. How about statistics? Is this relevant and useful for medical school coursework?

Stats are probably more relevant and useful for med school than calc is. You actually will take biostats and epidemiology as a student. The skills can also help you with research work.

 

[TMP-SMX]

I guess there's conflicting opinions on Calculus. How about statistics? Is this relevant and useful for medical school coursework?

Recommended, yes. Required? Not in most cases. If you don't take calculus though I'd recommend taking stats. (Plus you do need some kind of math at most schools and pre-calc plus stats are the most relevant).

You will learn statistics again in medical school (though in a very quick and dirty way). For the most part very little of it is doing actual calculations. Most of it is understanding what standard deviations are, confidence intervals, relative risks, absolute risks, specificity, sensitivity, etc... Though you should definitely be able to calculate those things for Step I. In medical practice not really though. You do definitely have to understand what they mean so you can evaluate the literature.

As an aside, I didn't have statistics in undergrad (though I learned a lot of it in genetics and genetics lab in undergrad). By the first semester of M2 I knew all of the relevant stats we had to know.

 

[Corvus Riley]

http://www.amjmed.com/article/PIIS000293430800973X/fulltext