Fasting moslems taking MCAT

[ronmillsey]

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Ok so guys as you may or may not know, moslems fast throughout september, and I took my MCAT hungry as hell. I know i hate to make excuses but I probabaly would have done well if i ate but im not allowed to eat, its a sin, so basically im really peeved. I know they wouldnt curve for muslims cuz that wouldnt be unfair but at the same time we cant eat like anyways,, for my muslim friends how did you cope with this huge problem

 

[ezsanche]

Ok so guys as you may or may not know, moslems fast throughout september, and I took my MCAT hungry as hell. I know i hate to make excuses but I probabaly would have done well if i ate but im not allowed to eat, its a sin, so basically im really peeved. I know they wouldnt curve for muslims cuz that wouldnt be unfair but at the same time we cant eat like anyways,, for my muslim friends how did you cope with this huge problem

Take the test during a month when you do not have to fast. The MCAT is offered several times throughout the year not just in September.

 

[ronmillsey]

Take the test during a month when you do not have to fast. The MCAT is offered several times throughout the year not just in September.

Well I already took it. I had no option. Studied throughout the summer and wasnt ready for the June or July or August dates.. Anyways, Im just gonna wait and see how it turned out

 

[ezsanche]

Well I already took it. I had no option. Studied throughout the summer and wasnt ready for the June or July or August dates.. Anyways, Im just gonna wait and see how it turned out

Good luck with your results. Hopefully you do good even though you had to fast.

 

[KPCOFGS]

I'm sorry, I don't know what you expected us to say. There are dozens of dates on which the test is offered so maybe you should think about retaking in January/April/May if you're applying next cycle and your scores don't match your AAMC practice tests.

 

[ronmillsey]

thanks for the kinds words. i will literally cry if i have to retake though... i cant even look at my books...

 

[Qaraami]

hopefully you did really well despite your fast.

i intentionally took it the day before we started fasting. i took it the 21st and fasted the 22nd.

i was certainly not gonna wait for ramadan to show up without me still waiting to decide if i should take it so late.

but to those who did it during ramadan - i hope you at least took it 8 am and not 2pm

best of luck to everyone! positive thoughts. it's a holy month so maybe God will be nice to you 😀

 

[PassionReborn]

Im a muslim as well.... I wouldnt go to the extent of classifying eating/drinking as a sin when its CRUCIAL. If the one day that you were taking the test is so important to you, then you COULD have not fasted that day, taken your test with best possible preparedness and do well on it.

Finally, you could make up that one day of fasting now that Ramadan is over. You do know that Ramadan is excused for pregnant women, women going through their monthly cycle, people in old age, children etc ? Mind you, Islam is not a TOUGH religion. Ramadan is ALSO forgiven to passengers. All you needed to do is drive 1 hour away to a test center and that would make you a passenger.

Brother, I hope you get the reward and do really well on your test. AMEN.

 

[Longshanks]

Im a muslim as well.... I wouldnt go to the extent of classifying eating/drinking as a sin when its CRUCIAL. If the one day that you were taking the test is so important to you, then you COULD have not fasted that day, taken your test with best possible preparedness and do well on it.

Finally, you could make up that one day of fasting now that Ramadan is over. You do know that Ramadan is excused for pregnant women, women going through their monthly cycle, people in old age, children etc ? Mind you, Islam is not a TOUGH religion. Ramadan is ALSO forgiven to passengers. All you needed to do is drive 1 hour away to a test center and that would make you a passenger.

Brother, I hope you get the reward and do really well on your test. AMEN.

Its silly ways around dogma's that people do to 'get away' with things that indicate how ridiculous certain religious practices are or how far away from the initial intent, purpose, and meaning of such religious practices originated from and are meant to represent. IMHO, I believe God would be understanding and forgiving if you broke fast during the MCAT, as its an intensive project, especially if you replaced the fast on another day or did some sort of alms giving or good will.

 

[dapmp91]

I fasted while taking the MCAT. On top of that my MCAT was the noon one. Luckily all the things that I studied specifically for came up on the MCAT. Now I hope my scored are good, I'm praying to God that I get a decent score, it was my first time 😛 and btw I'm not the one to find excuses not to fast.

 

[bigal40]

What's a moslem? I thought is was muslim

 

[FutureInternist]

Ok so guys as you may or may not know, moslems fast throughout september, and I took my MCAT hungry as hell. I know i hate to make excuses but I probabaly would have done well if i ate but im not allowed to eat, its a sin, so basically im really peeved. I know they wouldnt curve for muslims cuz that wouldnt be unfair but at the same time we cant eat like anyways,, for my muslim friends how did you cope with this huge problem

As a med student, here are some of the sins you will be committing....better decide now if you are OK with it
1. Paying interest on a loan
2. Mutilating dead bodes
3. Missing prayers since you are in class/tests/labs

If those are OK to do since the bigger goal of becoming a doctor ultimately saves lives then skipping one fast is certainly OK.

Good Luck. Hopefully you don't have to take it again...but seriously poor timing on the exam since you knew when Ramadan was.

 

[marty mcfly]

In my experience with fasting, I have found that I tend to think more clearly. There is some scientific literature that relates this to digestion and the toxic nature of food. Moral of the story: you may have been at an advantage.

 

[Omni]

As a med student, here are some of the sins you will be committing....better decide now if you are OK with it
1. Paying interest on a loan
2. Mutilating dead bodes
3. Missing prayers since you are in class/tests/labs

If those are OK to do since the bigger goal of becoming a doctor ultimately saves lives then skipping one fast is certainly OK.

Good Luck. Hopefully you don't have to take it again...but seriously poor timing on the exam since you knew when Ramadan was.

In Islam, if something is done with the intent for education and learning purposes, then it is all right if it is done. How else would you expect one to become a doctor without seeing a human body? And "mutilating" I think is a pretty strong word here.

Also, to the OP: I'm sorry you saw Ramadan as a problem. I don't know what else to tell you. When you prepare for the MCAT, you're not only suppose to prepare for the content, but you're suppose to prepare for how you will take the MCAT. Yes, I fasted too and a week before taking it, I started doing everything the way it would be done on the day of the MCAT. Waking up at a certain time, taking a practice exam at the scheduled time, studying, etc. etc. all while fasting.
I paid the $50 and changed my test date (that had been scheduled in June) to an 8:00 AM exam. The way I took the MCAT while fasting: I slept early the night before (put myself into the habit of it) woke up at 5:00 AM, had suhoor ("breakfast") and stayed awake. I went to the test center at 7:00, finished my exam at 12, and felt better than ever.
It's just a matter of planning, not pinning something down as a problem, OP.

 

[FutureInternist]

In Islam, if something is done with the intent for education and learning purposes, then it is all right if it is done. How else would you expect one to become a doctor without seeing a human body? And "mutilating" I think is a pretty strong word here.

Hence my point that the OP should have either planned better or better yet just skipped a day.
Do you know what we actually have to do to them??

 

[dapmp91]

in all honesty, fasting is much more psychological more than anything. Meaning, before I fasted this past Ramadan, I was in the mindset "OMG I can't eat anything" (mind you I've been fasting for about 10 years, since I was 12, I'm 22 now). In terms of "mutilating dead body's" I don't think anyone wants to mutilate dead body's for fun 😕 Those are pretty strong words, and more importantly it bring up a question does the ends justifies the means? Well if it saves lives than yes. However, ironically, I was reading an article from "Young physicians" (my sister's a doc) and the article pointed out how cadaver's aren't as realistic as everyone else makes them to be, it would be much more helpful (as a learning tool to med students) to use a simulating robot cadaver.

 

[FutureInternist]

I was just trying to point out future religious dilemmas that the OP will face & for him/her to decide now if they are OK with it rather than waste resources trying to get into med school & then deciding that they cannot make the exceptions/sacrifices necessary in order to complete medical school.

I didn't learn a thing from dissections since most of the time was spent cleaning fat.........I am all for studying from Netter's etc.

 

[Hopanoid]

I am Muslim, and I missed some days of the fast in order to prepare for my MCAT. I also did not fast on the day of the test. I felt really guilty about this, but there was no way to study while fasting. I did ok on the test, and I am going to make up the days I missed. I don't think Allah(swt) (means God) is going to send me to hell for missing those days, and I am sure that I will be understood. Yeah, I did not tell anyone this out of shame except my family.

 

[Hopanoid]

Also, when I am in medical school, I will not run experiments in which animals are tortured due to my religious beliefs. Just a thought I wanted out there. I don't think I have a right to take another beings life unless it is for immediate reasons such as eating.

Animal experimentation is just wrong.

 

[dapmp91]

I am Muslim, and I missed some days of the fast in order to prepare for my MCAT. I also did not fast on the day of the test. I felt really guilty about this, but there was no way to study while fasting. I did ok on the test, and I am going to make up the days I missed. I don't think Allah(swt) (means God) is going to send me to hell for missing those days, and I am sure that I will be understood. Yeah, I did not tell anyone this out of shame except my family.

in all honesty, I don't thing Allah is gonna put you in hell because you missed 3 days of fasting-I think God is laid back-just don't do shirk

 

[dapmp91]

Also, when I am in medical school, I will not run experiments in which animals are tortured due to my religious beliefs. Just a thought I wanted out there. I don't think I have a right to take another beings life unless it is for immediate reasons such as eating.

Animal experimentation is just wrong.

I don't think we will run experiments in medical school on animals, unless you mean humans=animals

 

[hqt331]

Also, when I am in medical school, I will not run experiments in which animals are tortured due to my religious beliefs. Just a thought I wanted out there. I don't think I have a right to take another beings life unless it is for immediate reasons such as eating.

Animal experimentation is just wrong.

Sorry to break it to you, since I am sympathetic to animal welfare advocates, but as a doctor, you will be reading a lot of literature that is either directly or indirectly based upon animal research. And the medications you prescribe? Animal testing... Being a doctor and advocating a total ban on animal research is, IMO, hypocritical.

 

[Longshanks]

There is no way you would launch a Phase I trial without prior animal testing. As a cancer researcher, the animals aren't tortured, that is simply a naive belief, and our goals would be impossible without animal studies. Tissue cultures cannot account for all of the nuances of an entire biological system. If you believe animal testing is "torture" than you must surely believe Phase I clinical trials are "torturing" since at that step in the process we are simply accounting for dose limiting toxicites, maximum tolerated dose, dosing scheduling, and additional side effects, and while effectiveness is a nice thing to look at, this simply isn't possible with the patient population used in Phase I.

Will your treatments as a physician that induce side effects be torture then? What about surgery or cadaver study? To dismiss science, and brand an entire branch of basic research which allowed for almost every medical breakthrough the last 200 years, is utterly irresponsible and irreconcilable with being a physician.

 

[floweriepot]

I was fasting durign MCAT too, but even if I wasn't, I was not in the mental state of eating anythign in those breaks...if i am to blame anything, it would never be the fasting!!