How much more difficult is medical school for a non-science major?

[UnicornDemon]

If I go into medical school, the only science courses I will have taken will be the pre-reqs and a few joke courses such as astrology and oceanography. Many of my friends going to med-school are chemistry, biology, or biochemistry majors who I'm sure have taken courses such as anatomy or physiology to help them prepare for med-school.

I'm an accounting major which has no correlation to any of the material covered in med-school. Will I be under-prepared as a result? Will I have difficulty getting competitive scores on my exams?

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[UnicornDemon]

bump

 

[JP2740]

Depends on the person. I think being a bio major helped me in med school somewhat but to be honest, med school goes into way more depth than undergrad. You will be fine if you work your ass off if you want those competitive scores. Either way, at this point I wouldn't change anything you're doing if you're about to graduate. Just be pepared to work hard and hope for the best.

 

[dweji16]

To be perfectly honest (I just finished my first week of medical school, in my experience, it is much more difficult, at least initially. There is a huge gap between the science majors and the non-science nontrads in the class. For the science majors, a lot of the material except maybe anatomy is pretty much review for them, whereas for us, we have never seen most of the material before. I am struggling immensely with the coursework and am hoping I can survive...

I also honestly think anatomy should be required as a pre-req. It is such a difficult subject to comprehend so quickly..

 

[Smurfette]

Moving to PreAllo as OP is still premed.

Also, this topic has been covered quite frequently in the past in multiple threads; try a search to see what has been discussed before.

 

[rfvbnmju]

I know they say you should not study before entering med school but if you're a non-sci nontrad, perhaps it would be beneficial to quickly glance at various topics and have a big picture understand so it won't come out of left field in med school.

I also honestly think anatomy should be required as a pre-req. It is such a difficult subject to comprehend so quickly..

It's not difficult in depth of knowledge (especially if you've taken upper divisions science) but rather in the amount of info you have to process in a short time. The drinking out of a fire hydrant image comes to mind.

 

[darkjedi]

I was a business major in college and while the workload is significantly increased, it is not particularly 'difficult' to learn. While my bio/chem/genetics friends may perform better than me on tests because they are familiar with the details, I don't find myself struggling at all.

 

[UnicornDemon]

I was a business major in college and while the workload is significantly increased, it is not particularly 'difficult' to learn. While my bio/chem/genetics friends may perform better than me on tests because they are familiar with the details, I don't find myself struggling at all.

Ugh... I was hoping to match into radiology but I guess that's going to be an uphill battle. I guess I can study during the gap year before med-school.

 

[5lippy]

i did not major in a science, and while med school is difficult, it's not anything absurd. you should have the mental aptitude to catch up. sure, there are biochem and bio majors that may have had more experience, but we're p/f, so we're not really competing against one another. as long as i can catch up with what i'm supposed to know, i'm golden.

 

[Ismet]

I majored in neuroscience, but the only upper level bio classes I took (apart from neuro ofc) were biochem and physiology. I never had genetics, micro, immuno, cell bio, etc. so I didn't have the background coming in that the bulk of the straight bio majors had. Biochem still sucked even though I had a small background in it, and sure many of my classmates grasped stuff like genetics faster and better than I did, but it was still very manageable and it shouldn't be a problem. You shouldn't have to pre-study, mainly because you have no idea what will be covered.

The difficultly in med school is the speed at which the information is delivered, it's not like the material is hard to grasp. The concepts in med school biochem, for example, were much simpler and more clinically oriented than an undergrad course, but we spent 2.5 weeks on biochem when undergrad spends at least a semester.

Tl;dr you'll be fine.

 

[Chillbo Baggins]

astrology

Are you studying at Hogwarts?

 

[UnicornDemon]

Are you studying at Hogwarts?

I meant astronomy. Lol

 

[Womb Raider]

I'm an accounting major which has no correlation to any of the material covered in med-school. Will I be under-prepared as a result? Will I have difficulty getting competitive scores on my exams?

Absolutely not. I'm a fashion major and I've had spectacular success in the medical courses and MCAT. You have a broader range of knowledge than the average-boso-joe science major that applies to medical school. Rest assured, the schools reviewing your application will see this and appreciate your ability to succeed at two very different, and difficult fields.

For example, I exhibit extensive knowledge in medical academia but also have a profound knowledge of fashion, and the current trends in our society. How many other applicants can claim to have such a broad and complex range of knowledge?

 

[hmockingbird]

I majored in neuroscience, but the only upper level bio classes I took (apart from neuro ofc) were biochem and physiology. I never had genetics, micro, immuno, cell bio, etc. so I didn't have the background coming in that the bulk of the straight bio majors had. Biochem still sucked even though I had a small background in it, and sure many of my classmates grasped stuff like genetics faster and better than I did, but it was still very manageable and it shouldn't be a problem. You shouldn't have to pre-study, mainly because you have no idea what will be covered.

The difficultly in med school is the speed at which the information is delivered, it's not like the material is hard to grasp. The concepts in med school biochem, for example, were much simpler and more clinically oriented than an undergrad course, but we spent 2.5 weeks on biochem when undergrad spends at least a semester.

Tl;dr you'll be fine.

This has pretty much been my experience (M2, humanities major in college).

We have a few people (5ish?) with Master's of Anatomy and I feel like they are the ones who really have an advantage, compared to science majors vs. non-science majors, as they have seen a lot of similar material and are already familiar with lab techniques (dissection, reading slides, etc). They said it's still not easy for them, though.

 

[EM2HPM]

I was a bio/chem major an in my experience yes my background helped me for maybe the first class. I knew more biochem or anatomy or cell biology than my non science colleges when I first started. After a few weeks or maybe even my first "introduction" class we were on the same footing. I think if you know that the heart pumps blood and the kidney makes urine you will be fine. Medical School will teach you what they want you to know, and past the entry level (another words the first 1-2 months) it is beyond what any science major learned in school and everyone is on the same level.