Outside of the standard pre-med requirements, are there any other undergrad courses that you think would be helpful for prepping for the med school course load? Would biochem, physiology, genetics, or anatomy be helpful?
helpful undergrad courses to take to better prep for med school?
- Thread starter cerulean
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philosophy...seriously.
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I took a physiology class in undergrad thinking it would help prep me for med school, I was sorely mistaken. While interesting, it simply didn't cover stuff in the same level of detail that is required for med school exams and step 1. That and I forgot almost everything and had to re-learn it all anyway.
My advice would be to take classes you enjoy rather than worrying about getting a jump on med school. The classes I look back most fondly on were my non-science courses.
My advice would be to take classes you enjoy rather than worrying about getting a jump on med school. The classes I look back most fondly on were my non-science courses.
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I'm currently in M4, and my advice would be that you should take whatever classes interest you besides those required for admission to med school. In terms of non prerequisite undergrad bio courses, I found vertebrate embryology (my undergrad didn't have a human embryology course) and a classics course on etymology of medical terms (taken second semester senior year) to be helpful.
Biochem might be helpful but an undergraduate course might emphasize different things than an M1 biochem class. I took a vertebrate anatomy course which I did not find to be very helpful. Some of my classmates in undergrad were able to take a human anatomy course for physical therapy students, and they found it helpful for med school anatomy.
Biochem might be helpful but an undergraduate course might emphasize different things than an M1 biochem class. I took a vertebrate anatomy course which I did not find to be very helpful. Some of my classmates in undergrad were able to take a human anatomy course for physical therapy students, and they found it helpful for med school anatomy.
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I would say a good cell biology class; the thing that surprised me the most was how much we got into protein signaling pathways and cellular mechanisms.
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I took a grad level immunology class as a senior, so we actually went into more depth than we're doing as M2s. I'm so glad I had it. Even though it's been 3 years since I took it, the material's a bit more clear to me because I've heard it before.
D
deleted87716
Typing.
Seriously. 😉
Seriously. 😉
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Having taken an advanced genetics course, anatomy with a human cadaver lab component, and medical terminology during undergrad, I thought that the only course that really helped me significantly during my M1 year was biochemistry. Memorization of stuff like the TCA cycle and glycolysis seemed to come significantly faster the second time through, and a passing familiarity with the "big picture" at the beginning of the semester helped keep things in perspective when we were delving into the minutia of every little biochemical pathway.
Then again, at my school biochem is far and away the most difficult course of first year, which I gather is certainly not the case at most med schools. So take my advice with a grain of salt, I guess.
Then again, at my school biochem is far and away the most difficult course of first year, which I gather is certainly not the case at most med schools. So take my advice with a grain of salt, I guess.
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Take this with a grain of salt as it's 1) only my opinion, and 2) i'm only 3 weeks into med school. However, it's obvious that having had some upper level science courses will help a great deal. What people forget is that even if you don't remember much from a previous class, it'll be that much easier to relearn the material.
Also, more directly, if it's a mid to upper level science course, it should help a lot. Sure, it's unlikely that you'll have the kind of detail you'll experience in medical school. But, then you'll just have to learn some more fine points, and the rest will be an easier recall. That's WAY better than hearing ALL of those terms for the first time....
I would take as many medical school pertinent courses as is reasonable/works with your schedule. Don't kill yourself over it. But, if you can take a histo, immuno, micro, and physio class, then why not? Who cares if it won't cover med school level detail. Then again, the histo course in med school is about on par with, or slightly easier than, my 400/500 level histo course I took as an undergrad.
Also, it's my experience that those with the engineering degrees are having a harder time and feel more overwhelmed since most of us have at least had some exposure (read, built up good fundamentals) to the material being presented. Sure, it's early, but it's an obvious observance I've made thus far.
I strongly recommend taking the following: developmental biology, cell biology, molecular biology, anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, immunology, medical terminology. No, you won't remember everything, but it is nice to have a foundation to be built upon later in med school. And maybe the information will stick quicker seeing it the second time around.
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Classes that help you with computer database searching. Whether that's computer science or just a research intensive class (science or non-science) doesn't matter. The work that translated best from undergrad for me was my thesis (in religious studies)because I'm really good now at using databases to find information *fast*. A lot of my classmates take a very long time to find the information they want with computer databases, and it makes a lot of the non-hardcore science classes take a lot longer.
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molecular biology and biochemistry are probably the most useful courses that aren't required for med school. in the end, you can't be "prepared" beforehand... i had 4 semesters of biochem in college and we still go into lots of stuff i hadn't had before. cheers.
what's the difference between cell biology and molecular biology? I took a quantitative cell biology course (for my engineering curriculum) and we used the same textbook as the molecular bio class although we only used part of the textbook.
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Biology majors already require those classes...but if you're not a bio major, I would take them anyways
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I say it every time this thread comes up.
Spanish
For the sake of adding something new, I will also recommend a public speaking class.
Spanish
For the sake of adding something new, I will also recommend a public speaking class.
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Ah, are you for real? wtf?
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1) Take fun classes while you have the chance! I haven't heard anyone say the regret taking yoga, fencing, intro to Islam, Russian, Hebrew, or anything else that strikes their fancy.
2) Molecular biology will pay lots of dividends. Really, what not just major in biochemistry? (Not like I'm biased or anything ... 😉)
3) Take statistics beyond the intro level. WAY more useful than advanced calculus.
2) Molecular biology will pay lots of dividends. Really, what not just major in biochemistry? (Not like I'm biased or anything ... 😉)
3) Take statistics beyond the intro level. WAY more useful than advanced calculus.
D
deleted109597
Golf.
A Histo class.
Upper level physiology, if the professor uses a medical phys textbook (like Guyton and Hall).
Spanish.
Biochem was required for my major, but I majored in chemistry.
And if you really want to get sadistic, an 800 level organic chemistry course will make medical school look easy when you finally get there.
A Histo class.
Upper level physiology, if the professor uses a medical phys textbook (like Guyton and Hall).
Spanish.
Biochem was required for my major, but I majored in chemistry.
And if you really want to get sadistic, an 800 level organic chemistry course will make medical school look easy when you finally get there.
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It depends on the med school curriculum. I go to a PBL school where students have to learn the basics on their own. My undergrad courses in genetics, biochem, and cell bio gave me a good context for each PBL session. It saved me tons of time not having to look up basic physiology, signaling pathways, etc.
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anatomy, histology, and physiology
The cell bio class I took covered the biology of the cell: membrane, transcription/translation, general pathways. The molecular biology class covered central dogma but generally expected you already knew about this, so more in depth studies could be covered like: in depth genetic code (must be able to tell which amino acid the codon codes for by memory) and transcription/translation, cancer biology, modern molecular biology techniques (genetic sequencing, microassays), very big on molecular signaling pathways.
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anatomy!!! I was a microbio major and I had very advanced immunology, parisitology, microbiology, cell biology, biochemistry, and genetics courses. Guess what, anatomy is killing me!
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No, these science suggestions are insufficient.
What will the OP do when he hits 3rd year and finds courses he hasn't taken yet?
He should enroll in a Caribbean MD program and complete 4 years there, so that he will be fully prepared for the rigors of Medical School.
What will the OP do when he hits 3rd year and finds courses he hasn't taken yet?
He should enroll in a Caribbean MD program and complete 4 years there, so that he will be fully prepared for the rigors of Medical School.
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I can see gaining research skills as a result of having an upper level undergrad, or perhaps a grad level science (i.e. relevant) course. That would be a nice consequence of such a class. But, it would seem unproductive to go out of the way and take a course in computer science just to be better able to navigate pub med....
I'm not in a PBL program, so I concede that it may be useful there. Didn't mean to come off like such a prick.
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Hehe...no problem. 😉
I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I wasn't saying taking CS was essential--just that whatever you take should teach you how to find information quickly and that there are a lot of ways to get that experience, but I, at least, did not get that experience in the core required undergrad sceince classes.
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Accounting and anything else that might help you as a private practice physician.
