Class-Specific Question: Psychology of Eating

[kelminak]

Hello,

I was hoping to get the opinion of a course that I am interested in taking. The particular course is PSYC 290 - Psychology of Eating. Here's a description of the course:

PSYC 290 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EATING (3-0-3)(S). The psychological processes underlying human development of eating behaviors and the adoption of both healthy and unhealthy cognitions and behaviors concerning food, eating, and body image. Issues addressed include: food choice, food preferences, eating motivation, cultural influences, weight regulation, body image, dieting, obesity, eating disorders, and treatment. PREREQ: PSYC 101.

Will medical schools think it's stupid for me to take this class when I'm trying to push up my GPA over a 3.0? I know I should be taking hard science classes (and I have been retaking almost entirely these for quite a few semesters), but I have a personal interest in weight loss management/obesity medicine and I feel like this class would better show my dedication to this. There aren't any similar courses related to obesity in a hard science field. Could I just get some general thoughts if this would be a waste of time or if I'm right to take it to further show my interest?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[adrian710]

Take it but make sure other classes are harder upper level courses that med schools will like to see you get A's in.

 

[DrMikeP]

They won't care either way, but it is a nonscience class as long as you do well. They definitely care about grades in science classes so make sure you do well in those!

In all of my interviews no one asked about my career interests other than family practice, which is important at many DO schools.

If you are really wanting to do weight loss work do you need to be a physician???? Nutritionist dietician, health coach, etc all take much less effort and expense.

 

[kelminak]

If you are really wanting to do weight loss work do you need to be a physician???? Nutritionist dietician, health coach, etc all take much less effort and expense.

I'm unsure that I would want weight loss to be the entire scope of medicine that I practice, although I do think a practice like this is really fascinating. Family medicine is where I'd like to practice, and I think that obesity medicine as a sub-specialty would give me a unique advantage to help others with one of the most prevalent health-related issues in America.

Thank you for your input! It's good to know they didn't care that much. I've never taken a college course just because I wanted to (there always felt like there was an end-goal in mind), so this would be a nice break. I'm still taking a bunch of hard science classes around this course this semester too.

 

[QueenJames]

Take this course and ace it, but take some more classes that will count for your science GPA and boost it up. Your job right now is to get that GPA up. Since this course falls under a psychology heading, it will not count for science unfortunately (for AACOMAS purposes).

 

[ortnakas]

If you have a personal interest in it, go for it.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Let me repeat what I've said many times. Use undergrad to learn things that you won't learn again in medical school ( Exception being prereqs and some upper levels).

As long as your gpa is high and you did well in prereqs no one is going to be like, "but you took this one class, so we're not interested in you." Hell, take a class in beekeeping if you want too.

 

[adrian710]

I took a class on wine. Great time.

 

[TallPreMed]

I took classes in sports medicine and management. Sports psychology as well. Was also a college athlete and will have roughly 400 hours of coaching by the time I apply. It's something I'm interested in outside of medicine and keeps me sane and I can speak passionately to any of it. Would rather have things I'm passionate about on an application than just a check in the box.

 

[dreee]

Hello,

I was hoping to get the opinion of a course that I am interested in taking. The particular course is PSYC 290 - Psychology of Eating. Here's a description of the course:

PSYC 290 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EATING (3-0-3)(S). The psychological processes underlying human development of eating behaviors and the adoption of both healthy and unhealthy cognitions and behaviors concerning food, eating, and body image. Issues addressed include: food choice, food preferences, eating motivation, cultural influences, weight regulation, body image, dieting, obesity, eating disorders, and treatment. PREREQ: PSYC 101.

Will medical schools think it's stupid for me to take this class when I'm trying to push up my GPA over a 3.0? I know I should be taking hard science classes (and I have been retaking almost entirely these for quite a few semesters), but I have a personal interest in weight loss management/obesity medicine and I feel like this class would better show my dedication to this. There aren't any similar courses related to obesity in a hard science field. Could I just get some general thoughts if this would be a waste of time or if I'm right to take it to further show my interest?

I took a diseases of eating course..and got accepted. I'm not sure it was a hinderance.