How many of you took Human Physiology prior to taking the MCAT?

[Chris127]

Hey there. I plan on taking the MCAT around the end of next summer, ideally August/early September 2008.

I will be finishing my prereqs in the spring with Biochem and Physics II.

However, it doesn't look like I will be able to take Human Physiology before the MCAT. I just wanted to know, how many of you took the MCAT without taking physiology at your university? I plan on purchasing plenty of Kaplan/Examkrackers review books. Would the review sections of these review books be sufficient for learning the required physiology material that would be presented on the MCAT? Thanks.


EDIT - I meant Human Physiology. Sorry!

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[ChubbyChaser]

anatomy wont help out at all, but physiology will probably be a great help.

 

[spicedmanna]

anatomy wont help out at all, but physiology will probably be a great help.

I concur. Read up on basic physiology, screw the anatomy.

 

[Chris127]

I concur. Read up on basic physiology, screw the anatomy.

Do I need to take physiology at my university prior to the MCAT?

Or would going throw the physiology material presented in review books be sufficient?

 

[spicedmanna]

Do I need to take physiology at my university prior to the MCAT?

Or would going throw the physiology material presented in review books be sufficient?

You don't absolutely need to take physiology, but it can help, especially if you the time to do so, and/or don't do too well learning independently, or never encountered the material before. You should understand the basic physiology of the systems, i.e., cardiopulmonary, GI, renal, musculoskeletal, etc. You'd probably benefit from some basic embryology (especially cardio & neuro), too. It's all basic stuff, though. You can pick up a basic college level physio book and learn it from there. It is possible to learn it from review books, but I'd probably use them more as an outline and then go through a good, basic physio book for the details and to support your understanding.

 

[spicedmanna]

I changed the title of your thread to read "Human Physiology" instead of "Anatomy."

 

[Chris127]

You don't absolutely need to take physiology, but it can help, especially if you the time to do so, and/or don't do too well learning independently, or never encountered the material before. You should understand the basic physiology of the systems, i.e., cardiopulmonary, GI, renal, musculoskeletal, etc. You'd probably benefit from some basic embryology (especially cardio & neuro), too. It's all basic stuff, though. You can pick up a basic college level physio book and learn it from there. It is possible to learn it from review books, but I'd probably use them more as an outline and then go through a good, basic physio book for the details and to support your understanding.

Hmmm. Well, I consider myself an independent learner. Although I have never encountered the material, I have no doubt in my abilities to go through the textbook on my own and to successfully and efficiently learn the material.

The only problem I can foresee in this situation is covering material that is not relevant to the MCAT. Do the Kaplan/Examkrackers review books present all the topics covered in Physiology? If that is the case, I could just note those topics and read and learn the corresponding topics in the textbook.

Also, thanks for changing the title of the thread

 

[hopedoc11]

A good understanding of physiology is probably necessary to do extremely well on the test. How much will your score change if you bomb an entire passage due to phys-heavy questions?

Anatomy is something that could benefit your understanding of a specific concept...i.e. you might not want to "screw" it. For example...the anatomy of the kidney and its associated function.

I wouldN'T worry b/c you did not take a course...just utilize various review materials and possibly a phys book (as mentioned above) and you will do super.

 

[spicedmanna]

The only problem I can foresee in this situation is covering material that is not relevant to the MCAT. Do the Kaplan/Examkrackers review books present all the topics covered in Physiology? If that is the case, I could just note those topics and read and learn the corresponding topics in the textbook.

I don't know too much about EK, but Kaplan does a pretty good job of predicting what will show up in terms of physio. However, just to be on the safe side, I'd probably check out the official topics listed in the AAMC MCAT guidebook. You won't need to know everything in your physio book, so there's no reason to read it cover to cover.

 

[mterp45]

Hey there. I plan on taking the MCAT around the end of next summer, ideally August/early September 2008.

I will be finishing my prereqs in the spring with Biochem and Physics II.

However, it doesn't look like I will be able to take Human Physiology before the MCAT. I just wanted to know, how many of you took the MCAT without taking physiology at your university? I plan on purchasing plenty of Kaplan/Examkrackers review books. Would the review sections of these review books be sufficient for learning the required physiology material that would be presented on the MCAT? Thanks.


EDIT - I meant Human Physiology. Sorry!

I would say Instead of taking biochemistry, take human physiology. It is a lot more prevelant than biochem, am taking biochem now but I must say physiology certainly has the upper hand between between the two.

 

[spicedmanna]

Anatomy is something that could benefit your understanding of a specific concept...i.e. you might not want to "screw" it. For example...the anatomy of the kidney and its associated function.

Well, I don't disagree that structure and function are interrelated, and that you can't really study one without a decent understanding of the other. However, the amount of "anatomy" you need to know to benefit your understanding of the physiology necessary for the MCAT level is very minimal in my opinion. Certainly, it wouldn't warrant taking a complete class in it. On the other hand, if you were to take a college level physiology class, it should incorporate the functional anatomy necessary for understanding. Obviously you can't really study renal without a decent co-study of nephrons. Likewise, you can't study cardio without knowing the basic anatomy of the heart. However, a class in gross anatomy would be utter overkill for the MCAT, and it wouldn't really help you. (I can all but assure you that knowing the I/O, innervation, blood supply, and action of the popliteus muscle, for example, or any other muscle for that matter, is going to be useless for the MCAT. Likewise, knowing the coronary sinus and all the veins that drain into it will likely have no benefit for the MCAT.) A decent class in human physiology should cover the basic system-based (functional) anatomy you'll likely need. So when I meant "screw anatomy," I merely meant to focus on physiology and functional elements and to forget taking a class in human anatomy (unless, of course, they are one class, such as college-level A&P).

 

[Vihsadas]

I agree. Physiology would be much more useful for the MCAT than Anatomy. The function is tested much more heavily on the MCAT than the nitty gritty of anatomy. In order to do physiology you have to know a certain amount of anatomy anyway...that level of anatomy is more than sufficient for the MCAT.

 

[prettyslick]

Physiology will help alot!!!!!

 

[olemissbabydoc]

I took physio and found it quite useful.

 

[RySerr21]

physio w/o a doubt. i'm pretty happy as a kines major b/c i took human phys not knowing it would be helpful for the MCAT but just b/c its part of my major and i'm interested in it.

in my opinion AMCAS or whoever is in charge of MCAT stuff does a horrible job at advertising the fact that physiology is helpflul and probably should be taken before the MCAT. i literally had no idea it was a big part of the bio section it was.

maybe my school just does a bad job of advertising it, but i had never been reccommended to take it...i know its reccommended by some schools to take before matriculation, but never for the MCAT.

so not sure who to blame. it makes way more sense than taking zoology or something useless like that.

either way, i am glad i have taken it!