Do you really need to be good at physics?

[Ranniks]

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So the majority of articles and videos I've read/seen about Medical School, states that it's mostly learning from books and cramming it into your brains.

Does one need to be good at physics to do well in med school and be a good physician in the future?
Would one need to retain physics formulas, understandings, etc while being a doctor? If so, why?

I'm not so good at physics, and especially the parts where you have to tell how something works, or better said ''reasoning'' a problem. How do you all cope with that, and are you also struggling with physics?

Am I to assume that a physician has forgotten most of his physics courses that he/she had to learn in the past?

And how does one get better at solving problems in words, rather than formula form? Because that is my main problem at the moment. I don't really have the 'insight' needed for physics. I love algebra though!

 

[Tin Man]

From what I understand, it's not really the formulas that matter so much as the understanding of basic physics concepts. IE, you'll want to know the concepts concerning fluids under pressure, since that's a pretty big deal as far as how the body actually works.

That being said, I'm not a medical student, and can't say for sure. But, like most pre-medical classes, I imagine the bigger idea is to see whether or not you can understand the complicated relationships tested in college physics. Chances are that if you struggle with the relationships in that class, you may struggle with similar relationships in medical school. In fact, you'll see what I mean if you take any molecular bio, where physics and chemistry start to play a pretty significant role in why certain things happen the way they do.

 

[NickNaylor]

No, however concepts from chemistry will be extremely useful. Professors sometimes talk about the physics behind how things work but that stuff isn't critical to understanding the material.

 

[sliceofbread136]

So the majority of articles and videos I've read/seen about Medical School, states that it's mostly learning from books and cramming it into your brains.

Does one need to be good at physics to do well in med school and be a good physician in the future?
Would one need to retain physics formulas, understandings, etc while being a doctor? If so, why?

I'm not so good at physics, and especially the parts where you have to tell how something works, or better said ''reasoning'' a problem. How do you all cope with that, and are you also struggling with physics?

Am I to assume that a physician has forgotten most of his physics courses that he/she had to learn in the past?

And how does one get better at solving problems in words, rather than formula form? Because that is my main problem at the moment. I don't really have the 'insight' needed for physics. I love algebra though!

You don't have to know much physics as a physician. However you do need to know it right now for your class and then the MCAT. It sounds like you're having a tough time connecting the given conditions to the physics formulas you've. Tip #1: Always draw a free body diagram if forces are involved. It really helps people who are struggling. Once you get alot better you can skip this step. Tip #2: Always identify which concepts you need to solve the problem. Getting good at this will come with practice. For example, if you are dealing with an initial and final state without knowing much inbetween, you should be using conservation of energy. Or if you're dealing with something at a constant velocity, you generally have to balance forces to give a 0 net force. Once again this comes with practice. Tip #3: This is by far the most important part of my advice. PRACTICE. PROBLEMS. Do more practice problems than you can possible be comfortable with. I remember during MCAT studying I did hundreds of physics problems one day. It made the left side of my brain numb, but it helped me get a 14 on the PS sections.

 

[Robot Skeleton]

the folks in Rad-Onc need to know a lot of physics, but they actively study it during their residency (they take physics boards). I'm not very familiar with radiology, but I have also seen at least one resident studying physics.

but for med school? don't worry about it.