how relevant is MCAT material to med school?

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how relevant is MCAT material to med school? is the stuff that you learn for the mcat useful in med school (albeit, you go into far more depth in med school)?

 

[Karen12345]

I think I read somewhere among "AAMC test tips" on e-mcat.org that mastery of concepts tested on the MCAT is considered essential to doing well in medical school. I think it may hold true for some things, like the concept of pH or concentration, but certainly not all MCAT topics.

 

[BOOURNS]

MCAT just makes sure you know the basic sciences enough to understand what is going on in medical school. You never directly study those topics, but they are necessary for success in medicine.

 

[ADeadLois]

Very little. Physiology, obviously, is relevant to med school, but you go muuuuchhhh more in depth than on the MCAT. Biochem, genetics, cell bio all pop up every now but again the depth is much more significant, and the material is usually presented from a more clinical perspective.

The point of the MCAT is not about testing your rote knowledge of the basic science material but of your ability to use this material in an analytical way.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Why, just the other day I saved a patient's life by writing two unified essays on open-ended topics in 60 minutes.

Then I synthesized an antibiotic using standard laboratory reagents, and delivered it using a pump I designed with basic knowledge of fluid mechanics.

 

[8744]

how relevant is MCAT material to med school? is the stuff that you learn for the mcat useful in med school (albeit, you go into far more depth in med school)?

It is not relevant at all. You can do well in medical school with only a high school level understanding of chemistry, math, and biology. Certainly topics like ciruit analysis, optics, and physics (freed body diagrams, for example) completely unimportant in medical school but tested on the MCAT.

Maybe biochemistry requires a knowledge of organic chemistry but not much. The way biochemistry is taught in medical school makes no use of all of the intricate reaction pathways and chemical structure trivia that seem so important in college-level organic chemistry classes.

 

[BigRedPremed]

The point of the MCAT is not about testing your rote knowledge of the basic science material but of your ability to use this material in an analytical way.

👍

 

[Drogba]

Why, just the other day I saved a patient's life by writing two unified essays on open-ended topics in 60 minutes.

Then I synthesized an antibiotic using standard laboratory reagents, and delivered it using a pump I designed with basic knowledge of fluid mechanics.

You are truly the McGuyver of modern medicine.

 

[LikeClockWork]

Basically, there's a strong corelation between doing well on the MCAT and doing well in med school. The relationship is not causal though, so I think of it as really just another hoop to jump through.

 

[sgglaze]

Relating to Anatomy and Biochemistry:

MCAT biology is virtually irrelevant to anatomy.

MCAT biochemistry, however, even though it's not a lot of material, is very helpful for providing a general framework that you fill in even more detail during medical biochemistry. It's all the same basic principles though, Glycolysis, Krebs Cycle, Insulin and Glucagon, etc...

 

[F12]

The MCAT basically tests you on the foundations of the med school course curriculum.

You will go into MUCH greater depth in med school. However, the groundwork that the MCAT and undergraduate sciences lay is essential.

Edit: The writing section is absolutely worthless.

 

[Dawno]

Why, just the other day I saved a patient's life by writing two unified essays on open-ended topics in 60 minutes.

Then I synthesized an antibiotic using standard laboratory reagents, and delivered it using a pump I designed with basic knowledge of fluid mechanics.

Awesome 👍