Electives

[Jaydubb]

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Hi, I'm currently a UBC student in pre-med and I'm stumped trying to decide which electives would most benefit me in becoming a doctor.

Right now, I'll be taking a classical studies course that is based on greek and roman mythology. I do enjoy learning about this kind of stuff, but it will probably not benefit me much on my path to becoming a doctor. A friend suggested to take linguistics because it's an easy course that had an 83% average last year. I would take a language course, but I feel that it'll be a waste of I don't end up being able to speak it fluently.

Any suggestions?

 

[DrYoda]

No electives is going to be a big benefit in you becoming a doctor, which is fine because not everything you do needs to be geared toward becoming a doctor. Taking one that helps your GPA is really the only help electives give. So my advice is to take a class you are interested in and that you think you can do well in.

I feel that it'll be a waste of I don't end up being able to speak it fluently

If you want to learn a language you have to start somewhere.

 

[zayka]

Beneficial courses:

Anatomy (doesn't fit my schedule grrr, but I've heard a lot of students who just used their notes from that course in med school)
Embryology (will take next year - was told that will learn way more embryology than in med school)
Neuroanatomy (took and LOVED.. got to dissect a human brain 👍 - useful skills and similar/same material as in med school)
Biochemistry (took and LOVED - similar stuff, but easier than med school, same prof)
Physiology (took)
Pharmacology (doesn't fit schedule)
Virology (doesn't fit schedule)
Molecular Bio (took)
Neuroscience (took - very helpful apparently, because many without the background find neuro hard from what I hear)
Pathobiology

However, you will learn all this anyways, so why not take something you really enjoy? I'm doing an undergraduate thesis, and also taking stuff like Exercise Physiology and Human Nutrition, which I am interested in. So, I'm looking forward to a somewhat fun year (because I really don't like chemistry)

 

[Schemp]

Yeah, I would say nutrition is probably one of the most valuable courses you could take that you probably won't really re-cover in med school. I'm not in med school so I can't be sure of that, but I suspect it's true.

Also, maybe you'll want to consider a medical ethics class. This may actually benefit you in admissions, and is an important topic besides. I would guess that it's much more likely to be covered in med school though.

 

[zayka]

Also, maybe you'll want to consider a medical ethics class. This may actually benefit you in admissions, and is an important topic besides.

Yeah, I agree with that. Pretty interesting too! There are also many books on that though as well.

 

[SirGecko]

Take the mythology class! It's a free elective, there is no reason you shouldn't use it to broaden your knowledge base. Studying in a specific field is all well and good but use any opportunity you get to study diverse topics if you can! You are allowed to have interests outside of medicine. You stated yourself that you think the classical studies class is cool. Take that class!

 

[donkeykong1]

yeah, bioethics seems to be popular among pre-meds

 

[Jaydubb]

Hmm not sure if there is a bioethics course at UBC. Anyone know the code for it?
Thanks everyone for the insight.
MarinaS, you suggested a lot of 'electives' that I would love to take, but they don't actually count as elective credits for me unfortunately; most of those courses are within my major (Microbi and Immu).

I do of course, still prefer the mythology course but I just have no idea what the work load is, and I don't want to dig myself into a hole. This year is also very important as it decides whether or not I can continue to be in my major (limited number of seats for a mandatory course).

 

[SirGecko]

Hmm not sure if there is a bioethics course at UBC. Anyone know the code for it?
Thanks everyone for the insight.
MarinaS, you suggested a lot of 'electives' that I would love to take, but they don't actually count as elective credits for me unfortunately; most of those courses are within my major (Microbi and Immu).

I do of course, still prefer the mythology course but I just have no idea what the work load is, and I don't want to dig myself into a hole. This year is also very important as it decides whether or not I can continue to be in my major (limited number of seats for a mandatory course).

They don't open up another section if there are two many people that need to take the course? Are there no other options? Can you not just wait a semester to take the course if it fills up? It just seems weird that you would be forced out of a major due to scheduling. (then again I'm not Canadian so maybe it's different there)

Oh and by the way you should be sure to change your status. There are people around here that will rip you a new one for saying you are a medical student when you are actually a premed. Just warning you so you don't get flamed.

 

[Jaydubb]

They don't open up another section if there are two many people that need to take the course? Are there no other options? Can you not just wait a semester to take the course if it fills up? It just seems weird that you would be forced out of a major due to scheduling. (then again I'm not Canadian so maybe it's different there)

Oh and by the way you should be sure to change your status. There are people around here that will rip you a new one for saying you are a medical student when you are actually a premed. Just warning you so you don't get flamed.

No, this is unfortunately the policy of the MBIM program at UBC. Due to the lack of lab availability, only the top students enrolled in MBIM may be allowed to continue into third year. However, this is not to say that you will necessarily be forced out of a major, but you will just not be able to take the two courses required to graduate until you can get the marks to get in.

And thanks for the status tip. I couldn't find pre-med when I first glanced at it, so I just picked Medical student.