Classes you wish you took during undergrad

[desi5286]

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[blkprl]

Just wondering on some good courses to take to make the medical school transition and step 1 'easier'...anatomy, physiology....??

biochemistry and I mean the real one not the baby biochem that some schools have 😉

 

[karirunner]

microbiology, immunology, and Spanish

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Any basic science course: micro, pharm, biochem (especially), A & P (good MCAT prep), immuno, neuro and gross if your school is lucky enough to offer them. If you take an undergrad histo course you can pretty much sleep through the M1 course.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

For MCAT: Physiology
For not sucking in med school: Biochem

 

[Dunce]

physiology

 

[femme]

neuroscience

 

[Blade28]

Spanish would have been VERY helpful for residency.

 

[vtucci]

anatomy, physio, Biochem II (with the metabolic pathways), cell and molecular bio, neuroscience. BUT DEFINITELY ANATOMY AND PHYSIO.

 

[Rafa]

A very interesting thread. It seems more and more like majoring in biology (however trite it might be) is the best way to see these courses before med school. That said, I'm no bio major. But s/he who does certainly has it easier (at least in the first month/semester) of med school than the (for example) art major. This, of course, doesn't include factors like work ethics and the difficulties of undergrads and all that.

 

[Law2Doc]

Just wondering on some good courses to take to make the medical school transition and step 1 'easier'...anatomy, physiology....??

Nothing is actually needed. Med school will teach you all you need to know and then some. Lots of folks have no undergrad exposure to med school courses and do fine. And most college level courses tend to only get you a couple of weeks into any med school level course. But if you want some slim semblance of an advantage, I guess biochem and physiology would be the two that jump to mind.

 

[StudentDoc327]

Nothing is actually needed. Med school will teach you all you need to know and then some. Lots of folks have no undergrad exposure to med school courses and do fine. And most college level courses tend to only get you a couple of weeks into any med school level course. But if you want some slim semblance of an advantage, I guess biochem and physiology would be the two that jump to mind.

I agree. And most of the numerous science classes I took in undergrad did not cover much of anything for med school. Besides the med school requirements, I think Genetics and Physiology would be helpful but thats about it. Other than that, yeah I wish I had learned spanish... you will be a COMODITY if you are fluent or even half-decent.

 

[socal1015]

basketweaving

 

[SwineLake98]

basketweaving

underwater, I hope

 

[CanIMakeIt]

Music .... one thing I want to really learn is how to play Piano... never got a chance ... maybe in future but with downward trend of age I think I will have to satisfy myself by listening to classical music 🙂

and maybe "Logic" (Philosophy)... I heard from my friend that it is a really fun class

Squba diving

Tennis (it is harder to learn on your own...where as in school you have someone to show you what you are doing wrong)

 

[desi5286]

.

 

[MikeyLu2010]

i wish my school offered histo.. i would have taken it..and my school is huge too..UT-austin

 

[Agent Splat]

I wished I had taken more photography courses, or a world history course, cause I really don't know much world history.

 

[joe6102]

My school is offering medical microbiology and I plan to take it, however I have not taken Micro so I would be jumping into medical w/o the prereq. Im assuming this is how it is in medical school. i am going to be attending BrownMed in two years, got accepted into an early program and I only need to maintain a 3.0, and currently mine is high so I do not have to worry as much. The med program is integrated so I do not know if taking these classes will help me significantly. For example, I do not see Immunology incorporated into the cirriculum, but im sure it is integrated somewhere.

Classes I plan to take

Anatomy
Physiology
Medical Microbiology
Biochemistry @ Brown undergrad
Immunology
Intro to Neurobiology @ Brown

I want to try to be amoungst the top of my medical school class, all of the residencies I want are very competitive...
These classes also help me fufill some of my BA electives, any suggestions...

With that I will offer my suggestion....genetics.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Spanish

 

[mlw03]

microbiology, immunology, and Spanish

i'll concur with this one, and add biochem also. if you have time and want to have some fun, medical ethics (offered thru the philosophy department where i did my undergrad) will definately make you think and prepare you for some of the types of ethical dilemmas MDs face.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Just wondering on some good courses to take to make the medical school transition and step 1 'easier'...anatomy, physiology....??

Wine Tasting.

 

[OSUdoc08]

My school is offering medical microbiology and I plan to take it, however I have not taken Micro so I would be jumping into medical w/o the prereq. Im assuming this is how it is in medical school. i am going to be attending BrownMed in two years, got accepted into an early program and I only need to maintain a 3.0, and currently mine is high so I do not have to worry as much. The med program is integrated so I do not know if taking these classes will help me significantly. For example, I do not see Immunology incorporated into the cirriculum, but im sure it is integrated somewhere.

Classes I plan to take

Anatomy
Physiology
Medical Microbiology
Biochemistry @ Brown undergrad
Immunology
Intro to Neurobiology @ Brown

I want to try to be amoungst the top of my medical school class, all of the residencies I want are very competitive...
These classes also help me fufill some of my BA electives, any suggestions...

You are so clueless.

 

[engagement]

Spanish would have been VERY helpful for residency.

Why did you feel that you should've taken Spanish?

 

[OSUdoc08]

Why did you feel that you should've taken Spanish?

Because that's the only language most of the patients speak.

 

[SoCuteMD]

See, the feedback from bio majors in my class has been that their undergrad classes have not been all that helpful, even if they had the same title as the class we are currently taking. Biochem is rote memorization, so people said that they all forgot any biochem they took. Physio might have been marginally helpful, but physio is taught VERY in depth at my school. People who were neuro majors were saying how it was nothing like neuro in undergrad.

So, I think taking all these classes with maybe the notable exception of histo is a big waste of time.

 

[engagement]

My school is offering medical microbiology and I plan to take it, however I have not taken Micro so I would be jumping into medical w/o the prereq. Im assuming this is how it is in medical school. i am going to be attending BrownMed in two years, got accepted into an early program and I only need to maintain a 3.0, and currently mine is high so I do not have to worry as much. The med program is integrated so I do not know if taking these classes will help me significantly. For example, I do not see Immunology incorporated into the cirriculum, but im sure it is integrated somewhere.

Classes I plan to take

Anatomy
Physiology
Medical Microbiology
Biochemistry @ Brown undergrad
Immunology
Intro to Neurobiology @ Brown

I want to try to be amoungst the top of my medical school class, all of the residencies I want are very competitive...
These classes also help me fufill some of my BA electives, any suggestions...

desi5286, are you in the PLME program? Please email me if you are.

 

[desi5286]

..

 

[Law2Doc]

I want to try to be amoungst the top of my medical school class, all of the residencies I want are very competitive...

Chill about the residencies until you actually get into med school and see what's what. You may very well burn out, taking the same material twice at the expense of other things. You will also come off as not very well rounded. The kicker for you is going to be that the latter two years of med school generally count for more than the former in terms of residencies. It's a running joke some places that some of the folks with the highest grades during the basic science years crash and burn in the more personality driven, patient contact laden latter years. Food for thought.

 

[TheMightyAngus]

My school is offering medical microbiology and I plan to take it, however I have not taken Micro so I would be jumping into medical w/o the prereq. Im assuming this is how it is in medical school. i am going to be attending BrownMed in two years, got accepted into an early program and I only need to maintain a 3.0, and currently mine is high so I do not have to worry as much. The med program is integrated so I do not know if taking these classes will help me significantly. For example, I do not see Immunology incorporated into the cirriculum, but im sure it is integrated somewhere.

Classes I plan to take

Anatomy
Physiology
Medical Microbiology
Biochemistry @ Brown undergrad
Immunology
Intro to Neurobiology @ Brown

I want to try to be amoungst the top of my medical school class, all of the residencies I want are very competitive...
These classes also help me fufill some of my BA electives, any suggestions...

They really should do away with these combined BA/MD and early entrance programs. Looking back I bet few med students would choose to go this route if they had the chance. I certainly wouldn't.

If anything, since you already have an acceptance, you should be loading up on subjects that you'll never have the chance to study again, like art history or sanskrit.

 

[orientedtoself]

Spanish and pottery

 

[joe6102]

I am taking genetics....I understand that probably everything I learn in undergrad will be covered in the first week or two of medical school

I heard the same thing as an undergrad, but it's not true. Some classes are more in-depth at the undergrad level, and some are completely worthless, despite having the same name (like my phys class). The only way to know for sure is to talk to med students from your college, ask them what was most helpful, and take the same class from the same professor. Otherwise, it's a crapshoot.

 

[desi5286]

.

 

[Katya00]

I minored in Spanish, and I'm so glad I did. I've already used it in health care settings while a part of a mobile health group a few summers back...It's great for travel too

If I could go back, I'd like to take some Art History, some photography, piano or singing maybe...stuff I won't have time for once I start school.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I have a spot for medical school. I am well-rounded and personable and am just thinking ahead...
I thought Step 1 scores determine where you will end up along with other things? I am just going to take classes that interest me...
genetics, biochem, immuno, medical micro, physiology, anatomy, histology

It cannot hurt to take these courses over the next two years..only help...

The most important factor determining residency placement is performance in clinical rotations in your area of interest --> especially at the location of the residency you desire.

Board scores only come second to this.

 

[emtji]

The most important factor determining residency placement is performance in clinical rotations in your area of interest --> especially at the location of the residency you desire.

Board scores only come second to this.

folks, you're going to spend the rest of your life thinking about and learning about neuro, histo, anatomy, etc. take more enjoyable stuff now. taking stuff in college doesn't help with most med school classes.

when i read the title of this, i (current ms3) thought, "well, i kind of wished that i had taken a good general art class, a couple more good english classes, an anthropology course, an earth science course and maybe a couple of other langauges."

i took a physiology class in college to boost the old GPA. didn't help a lick for med school.

 

[LO281OK]

I wish I would have taken Physics of Weather. After my time in aviation I really think I would have enjoyed this more than the Quantum Mechanics class. Mainly bc of the professors. 😎