Have any of you considered...

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Drrrrrr. Celty

Drrrrrr. Celty

Osteo Dullahan
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Quiting because you absolutely hate the pre-reqs and other science classes you've taken? I honestly disdain chemistry and I am going to start orgo next semester. I'm basically thinking do I really want to do another 2 semester of chemistry?
I personally think I'll survive but still :laugh:.
 
I personally enjoyed them. Just stick it out, though. Not much else to be done. If you really dislike it, consider another career choice. Good luck, man.
 
Hrmm, if your going to become a doctor then you should love the sciences. After-all, the medical school courses are based upon those basic sciences, so make sure you are comfortable with them. (ie. Physics+Biology --> Physiology; Biology+Chemistry+Organic Chemistry --> Biochemistry)
 
serenade said:
Quiting because you absolutely hate the pre-reqs and other science classes you've taken? I honestly disdain chemistry and I am going to start orgo next semester. I'm basically thinking do I really want to do another 2 semester of chemistry?
I personally think I'll survive but still :laugh:.
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Orgo is very different than Gen Chem. In my opinion, it is WAY better.

More difficult? You could say that. More interesting? You could definitely say that.

Try it out before you decide to quit, but certainly do not force yourself to do something you hate.
 
Xadorus said:
Hrmm, if your going to become a doctor then you should love the sciences. After-all, the medical school courses are based upon those basic sciences, so make sure you are comfortable with them. (ie. Physics+Biology --> Physiology; Biology+Chemistry+Organic Chemistry --> Biochemistry)
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This is true.... You kind of just have to make yourself like those subjects. They're sort of the foundation upon which an understanding of the human body is built, although the Physics in Physiology doesn't really "feel" like Physics (even though it most definitely is).
 
Nah, its not that bad. I personally just can think of a lot of things much more interesting to do with my time lol.
 
Barcu said:
Orgo is very different than Gen Chem. In my opinion, it is WAY better.

More difficult? You could say that. More interesting? You could definitely say that.

Try it out before you decide to quit, but certainly do not force yourself to do something you hate.
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Well hopefully, I mean I'm not going to quit. I was just ranting a little bit and curious about how other people felt when they were like, " I'm so tired of these stupid pre-req's, screw it lets be barista's/bartenders."
 
Xadorus said:
Hrmm, if your going to become a doctor then you should love the sciences. After-all, the medical school courses are based upon those basic sciences, so make sure you are comfortable with them. (ie. Physics+Biology --> Physiology; Biology+Chemistry+Organic Chemistry --> Biochemistry)
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Well there is one resident or attending on here that I know of who hates science completely. I think there's a difference between finding something interesting and understanding. I doubt anyone gets off on doing stoicheometry.
 
Though I'm also a psych major, chemistry is perhaps my favorite class I've taken so far in college (I have yet to start upper div psych).
 
I didn't like chemistry much either until I finally started to really understand it, which wasn't until a couple of semesters had passed by. The thing about the sciences is that A. there is a steep learning curve that scares most people, and B. its just memorization of a bunch of seemingly useless facts until you finally are able to integrate the physics, biology, and chemistry and see the big picture that is the truth about how the universe operates.
 
Xadorus said:
Hrmm, if your going to become a doctor then you should love the sciences. After-all, the medical school courses are based upon those basic sciences, so make sure you are comfortable with them. (ie. Physics+Biology --> Physiology; Biology+Chemistry+Organic Chemistry --> Biochemistry)
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Well, there's one person's opinion.

You definitely don't have to like all of the sciences, let alone love them. You'll forget alot of what you learn during the 1st 2 years of medical school.

There are some physics related things in physiology, and you may like physiology, but it's ok if you hate physics. I don't think anyone is going to care if you can predict at what yard line the Punter's kick is going to land, or his hang time.

There is definitely some chemistry involved in Biochemistry, but you don't have to be a chemistry master for it. They aren't going to expect you to be able to roll of Organic Reactions like you just took the Organic Final yesterday.

So, no, if you don't love, or don't like something, that's not a reason to quit. I HATED Gen Chem 1 and 2. Organic was a little better, but still not something I'd take as an elective. I hated Physics.

There may even be some classes you dislike in medical school. But, the truth is, that's not reason to stop. If you shadow, and you think, man I'd really hate to be that guy, stop and re-evaluate.
 
jm192 said:
Well, there's one person's opinion.

You definitely don't have to like all of the sciences, let alone love them. You'll forget alot of what you learn during the 1st 2 years of medical school.

There are some physics related things in physiology, and you may like physiology, but it's ok if you hate physics. I don't think anyone is going to care if you can predict at what yard line the Punter's kick is going to land, or his hang time.

There is definitely some chemistry involved in Biochemistry, but you don't have to be a chemistry master for it. They aren't going to expect you to be able to roll of Organic Reactions like you just took the Organic Final yesterday.

So, no, if you don't love, or don't like something, that's not a reason to quit. I HATED Gen Chem 1 and 2. Organic was a little better, but still not something I'd take as an elective. I hated Physics.

There may even be some classes you dislike in medical school. But, the truth is, that's not reason to stop. If you shadow, and you think, man I'd really hate to be that guy, stop and re-evaluate.
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I agree.
 
To the OP-
Is it mostly Gen Chem that you don't like?

To me, general chemistry (much like Physics which I abhorred) is one of the pre-reqs that seems fairly unrelated to real-world medicine. I could be wrong, but I don't imagine that the electronegativity of Sulfur comes up in a hospital setting much.

And I agree with the above posters regarding Organic. It is difficult and sometimes confusing but I thought it was more interesting and applicable to medical concepts.
 
I didn't like the prereqs.
 
serenade said:
Quiting because you absolutely hate the pre-reqs and other science classes you've taken? I honestly disdain chemistry and I am going to start orgo next semester. I'm basically thinking do I really want to do another 2 semester of chemistry?
I personally think I'll survive but still :laugh:.
Click to expand...

It can get pretty annoying at times, but it's something you have to deal with and one day it will all be over.

I'm going to be very honest, I'm not a science person, I just sort of forced myself to at least "enjoy" it.

I realize it's all for a good cause and a sacrifice a lot of us have to make but will be well worth it in the future.
 
Physics, i absolutely couldn't stand. At times i did consider switching my major just to get out of taking it. But then i realized that if i wanted med school there was no way around physics. Since med school has always been my goal, i just sucked it up and did physics. Thank gosh thats over. I love bio tho.
 
OP, We all have those pre-rec that we just don't want to do. It was orgo for me. Honestly it was the worst experience I have ever had. It wasn't like I didn't get it, I did. It just hurt.... Physics I swore I was never going to get then one day click, and I could study like I needed. Wish I could have nailed As in all of them but that was not my fate.
 
HW51Revisited said:
To the OP-
Is it mostly Gen Chem that you don't like?

To me, general chemistry (much like Physics which I abhorred) is one of the pre-reqs that seems fairly unrelated to real-world medicine. I could be wrong, but I don't imagine that the electronegativity of Sulfur comes up in a hospital setting much.

And I agree with the above posters regarding Organic. It is difficult and sometimes confusing but I thought it was more interesting and applicable to medical concepts.
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Honestly when I did general chemistry I didn't like a lot of it from the lab to the lecture. Especially when it came to general chemistry 2 it was like 20% interesting theory and then 80% boring repetition which didn't really require an actual knowledge of why, but rather just having the algebra skills down.
 
uclaussr said:
Physics, i absolutely couldn't stand. At times i did consider switching my major just to get out of taking it. But then i realized that if i wanted med school there was no way around physics. Since med school has always been my goal, i just sucked it up and did physics. Thank gosh thats over. I love bio tho.
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This sounds like me haha.
 
I don't get why premeds seem to hate these conceptual classes (this is based on my experience at my school as well as a bunch of threads I've read here...no hard evidence though). These are the type of classes that require the least bit of studying: once you get the concept, you're done! It's not like biology where you have to spend hours upon hours reading and rereading the material in order to regurgitate it back on the exam. I personally loved the chance to critically think for once rather than the usual mindless memorization that's involved in bio.

Also, there's some physics and chemistry involved in understanding physiology. Cardiovascular system - circuits and fluid dynamics, renal - a good bit of acid/base chemistry, etc.
 
Maybe it's just me, but I was indifferent to all my pre-reqs: neither hate nor love. As long as I studied, I passed!

The only class I truly loved was Math.
 
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Morzh said:
I didn't like chemistry much either until I finally started to really understand it, which wasn't until a couple of semesters had passed by. The thing about the sciences is that A. there is a steep learning curve that scares most people, and B. its just memorization of a bunch of seemingly useless facts until you finally are able to integrate the physics, biology, and chemistry and see the big picture that is the truth about how the universe operates.
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This is how I feel exactly. I hated chemistry the first year I took it, but I really appreciated it around the time I was studying for the MCAT. All the sciences take so much time to study but when you are able to apply it to how things in your everyday life work on a fundamental level, it becomes extremely rewarding.
 
Kaushik said:
I don't get why premeds seem to hate these conceptual classes (this is based on my experience at my school as well as a bunch of threads I've read here...no hard evidence though). These are the type of classes that require the least bit of studying: once you get the concept, you're done! It's not like biology where you have to spend hours upon hours reading and rereading the material in order to regurgitate it back on the exam. I personally loved the chance to critically think for once rather than the usual mindless memorization that's involved in bio.

Also, there's some physics and chemistry involved in understanding physiology. Cardiovascular system - circuits and fluid dynamics, renal - a good bit of acid/base chemistry, etc.
Click to expand...

I prefer classes which integrate concepts and build upon them as well. I ironically just finished up a calculus 1 course and I enjoyed it 5x as much as general chemistry. General chemistry for me in all honesty was a class which is completely disjoint. You're doing rate laws 1 half then moving on to titration chemistry which have nothing to do with each other. I prefer a homogeneous course where you build up a lot more stuff on the subject. Which is why I'm personally a psychology major. Everything fits together and you continue to build up on what you learned.
But I guess the fundamental problem is that general chemistry is a intro course and as such is a survey of everything and there is no time to actually go in depth.
 
Kaushik said:
👍

I took Calc III for fun my freshman year. Loved the class! I really enjoyed all the concept-heavy prereqs. I wish I could go back in time and be a physics major instead of MCB; some of those upper level physics courses sound so awesome! 😀
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I enjoyed the level of certainty that's possible only in math. In science, things change everyday - it's so disheartening!
 
serenade said:
Well hopefully, I mean I'm not going to quit. I was just ranting a little bit and curious about how other people felt when they were like, " I'm so tired of these stupid pre-req's, screw it lets be barista's/bartenders."
Click to expand...

The only problem is if you are "not interested" in these topics because you're struggling and not able to grasp the material or get a good grade. For pre-meds who complain about prereqs for this reason, many never do well on the MCAT or make it into med school (for good reason).

Now, if you're intellectually able to learn prereqs and do well, and are fed up with how little they seem related to medicine, then that's normal. And I would guess very few people in this category quit if they cared enough about becoming a doctor.
 
I freaked out the first time I took gen chem. I went back to school at 23 and had never been exposed to a chemistry class before... didn't take it in high school. For me, it was the most frustrating subject... all of my other classes were easier. I ended up dropping it the first time and taking a remedial chemistry class. I thought I'd never get through the pre-reqs and would have to give up the med school dream.

I still am not a fan of chemistry, but I got through it. I was doing well in my other classes, but finally learned to admit that I just wasn't a fast chem learner. Chem tutoring at school = my BFF. I also watched a lot of youtube videos for more explanation. The more I understood the subject, the more I started liking it (okay, well not hating it). 🙂 I'm really glad I didn't give up....
 
I hated all my pre-reqs. I hate what we are learning in med school. Honestly i hate school period. But i love how the sciences work in the human body (so basically the clinical stuff). So i try to put everything together in that aspect and it works out. I've done well so far so we'll see. But yeah you don't have to love the pre reqs at all, b/c you'll barely use them in med school. The major stuff like path, "real" phyis and pharm are the bread and butter of med school, so you better understand them (but still you don't have to love them). 🙂
 
Xadorus said:
Hrmm, if your going to become a doctor then you should love the sciences. After-all, the medical school courses are based upon those basic sciences, so make sure you are comfortable with them. (ie. Physics+Biology --> Physiology; Biology+Chemistry+Organic Chemistry --> Biochemistry)
Click to expand...

False. There are plenty of people who major outside of the sciences (which I encourage) because they don't love them. It is important to understand basic science to do well in medical school, but loving science is not essential to being a good doctor. You don't see pediatricians saying, "Well, hold on, let me calculate the equilibrium constant of this reaction," or surgeons saying, "In order to remove this person's gallbladder, I'll need to know how long a cannonball will take to come back to ground level when fired at this muzzle velocity and this angle."

OP, if you absolutely hate everything about science, I would look into things further. Volunteer and see if medicine really is for you. But don't worry if you're not in love with chem or bio. A lot of people aren't. Taking the classes is just something we need to do to have a career we'll (hopefully) love.
 
I'll be honest and say I have. Probably because I am doubling up on prereq's for the second year in a row. I hated gen chem and am hating physics now. I really have enjoyed Organic because I love puzzles and critical thinking, but now we're doing spectrometry and I want to ram my head through a wall.

I used to love learning and had such a passion for it. I definitely lost that feeling in college, it really depresses me. I am a neuroscience major and have absolutely loved my upper level nsci classes so far, but I don't feel engaged in the material like I used to. Now I just feel like every day is just about dealing with the anxiety of beating the curve in my pre-reqs. I hope once I get through my pre-reqs and the MCAT I can enjoy school again instead of being miserable all the time. /rant.
 
I had to read about plants for my biology class during thanksgiving and I wanted to punch through a wall
 
Perrotfish said:
...
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LOLOLOLOLOLOL :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
Tappinfool66 said:
False. There are plenty of people who major outside of the sciences (which I encourage) because they don't love them. It is important to understand basic science to do well in medical school, but loving science is not essential to being a good doctor. You don't see pediatricians saying, "Well, hold on, let me calculate the equilibrium constant of this reaction," or surgeons saying, "In order to remove this person's gallbladder, I'll need to know how long a cannonball will take to come back to ground level when fired at this muzzle velocity and this angle."
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That's an incredibly small part of chem/physics though. Like I mentioned before, physiology (the foundation of medicine) requires a decent understanding of things like fluid dynamics, acid/base chemistry, etc. Of course, you don't know need to know these topics at the same depth as the majors do, but you still need to have an understanding of them nonetheless.

So, you may not see pediatricians calculating the equilibrium constant for a reaction, but you would see acid/base chemistry, calculating the anion gap, etc, as an internist/nephrologist, and so on...
 
General Chemistry is boring for me too except when we started getting into the pre-organic chemistry stuff. Bio and physics have been awesome so far. Even the math is not all that bad.
 
Oh Organic Chemistry...I am still trying to recover from the sleeping schedule it successfully scarred. On a plus side, every grade you get in that class really does feel rewarding.

Tough class, but definitely a lot more interesting than General Chemistry. Would be really wise to get a good professor here though, definitely improves the experience.
 
Argh I hated Gchem. The only thing I liked about that class was my cute teacher. Everything else about that class was just blech. Orgo was MUCH MUCH better. I liked it more cause it made sense. Especially the last quarter where we basically had to take what we learned the other two quarters and add them up to do synthesis. Don't be discouraged. Everyone has a class they hate.

It all makes sense later when you throw around terms/concepts that you learned in these classes as a basis for something new you're learning. Then the big picture comes together and it all gets easier to understand.
 
Hifey said:
Argh I hated Gchem. The only thing I liked about that class was my cute teacher. Everything else about that class was just blech. Orgo was MUCH MUCH better. I liked it more cause it made sense. Especially the last quarter where we basically had to take what we learned the other two quarters and add them up to do synthesis. Don't be discouraged. Everyone has a class they hate.

It all makes sense later when you throw around terms/concepts that you learned in these classes as a basis for something new you're learning. Then the big picture comes together and it all gets easier to understand.
Click to expand...

That sounds nice. It'll be nice if orgo will be more interesting conceptually than general chemistry.
 
Tappinfool66 said:
False. There are plenty of people who major outside of the sciences (which I encourage) because they don't love them. It is important to understand basic science to do well in medical school, but loving science is not essential to being a good doctor. You don't see pediatricians saying, "Well, hold on, let me calculate the equilibrium constant of this reaction," or surgeons saying, "In order to remove this person's gallbladder, I'll need to know how long a cannonball will take to come back to ground level when fired at this muzzle velocity and this angle."

OP, if you absolutely hate everything about science, I would look into things further. Volunteer and see if medicine really is for you. But don't worry if you're not in love with chem or bio. A lot of people aren't. Taking the classes is just something we need to do to have a career we'll (hopefully) love.
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One thing, I never said it would make you a "good" doctor. I was just trying to say, it would make things a lot easier because if you dislike the sciences now, think about the medical school and all the medical science courses you will be taking. Its all based upon those basic science classes in one way or another. I also said you "should", not must... I am not dealing in absolutes. You are taking my words out of context - so please read carefully and don't jump to conclusions. I also did not say how doctors use straight up basic sciences while they are working.... it is in the context of medicine.

Although a physician may say this person has diabetic acidosis because he has high blood glucose, lack of insulin -> causing uncontrollable fat burning while blood glucose continues to rise. You find that burning of fat will increase ketone bodies that turn the body acidic. Acidic state causes rapid breathing to blow off carbon dioxide (body's attempt to correct acidosis, but it eventually fails) and also causes the body to dehydrate (due to high glucose in urine dragging more water out of body). So here is an example of knowing the science behind the symptoms. This is part of physiology, and is a acid-base equilibria from chemistry in the context of the human body.

Its fine if you don't like them, but one part about tackling the pre-medical courses is gaining discipline and determination to succeed when the difficult times come; which it will in medical school when your loaded with coursework and studying a bunch. So take this time to develop a solution to getting through these doubts and keep moving forward.
 
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i've despised all pre-reqs

only classes ive liked are math classes
 
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