I don't like biology, will I like medicine?

[thestrugglingtraveler77]

I majored in biology in college and did poorly. am currently doing a post-bacc masters, and a doing quite well thus far (first semester now, however).

HOWEVER, studying biology is just so boring for me. I thought about why I struggled so much in college. I got a low GPA but I worked really, really hard. I thought I had a low IQ/intelligence, but I did quite well on the MCAT.

Just now, a few days ago, I rented a multivariable calculus book from the library. I took single variable calculus all the way back in highschool in 11th grade. But everything just came back to me. I studied multivariable calculus, and honestly I enjoyed it. For the first time in so many years, I felt intellectually stimulated.

If you want to know the truth, I was having fun. I enjoyed it, and I enjoyed learning and solving calculus problems. I never felt that way since high school. I never felt that way towards biology.

I do think I would like medicine, but I don't know. I just find biology so boring. I would like to switch tracts but now it is just too late.

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[7331poas]

engineer here, love everything about premed except for biology. Really just hate the whole premise of route memorization. Hope things work out

 

[SmilingTooth]

I majored in biology in college and did poorly. I took the MCAT and got good in all sections except biology, which I did extremely bad in. (515 overall score). I am currently doing a post-bacc masters, and a doing quite well thus far (first semester now, however).

HOWEVER, studying biology is just so boring for me. I thought about why I struggled so much in college. I got a low GPA but I worked really, really hard. I thought I had a low IQ/intelligence, but I did quite well on the MCAT.

Just now, a few days ago, I rented a multivariable calculus book from the library. I took single variable calculus all the way back in highschool in 11th grade. But everything just came back to me. I studied multivariable calculus, and honestly I enjoyed it. For the first time in so many years, I felt intellectually stimulated.

If you want to know the truth, I was having fun. I enjoyed it, and I enjoyed learning and solving calculus problems. I never felt that way since high school. I never felt that way towards biology.

I do think I would like medicine, but I don't know. I just find biology so boring. I would like to switch tracts but now it is just too late.

One way to find out if you're interested in medicine is by shadowing, and reading medical journal articles. Medicine is all about biochemistry and the clinical aspect of seeing patients. Good Luck!

 

[claduva94]

Well, there is A LOT of biology in med school with a lot of memorization. However, a lot of it is applied. So it is very possible you will struggle but if you still enjoy it it is worth pushing through.

 

[thestrugglingtraveler77]

One way to find out if you're interested in medicine is by shadowing, and reading medical journal articles. Medicine is all about biochemistry and the clinical aspect of seeing patients. Good Luck!

I did, and I like what I see. But I mean, lets be honest, 99% of the population would like being a doctor if they shadowed one. The real challenge is spending the thousands of hours studying and reading.

 

[thestrugglingtraveler77]

Well, there is A LOT of biology in med school with a lot of memorization. However, a lot of it is applied. So it is very possible you will struggle but if you still enjoy it it is worth pushing through.

Thanks. Did it change for you in medical school?

 

[Link2]

From what I've read on here, there is a lot of memorization involved until second year of medical school. But after that, it gets better since you're actually applying some of what you learned. I think medicine would be more interesting though since some of the courses are focused more on the human body, which is probably better than what we learn in courses like general biology.

 

[Mansamusa]

If you don't find biology interesting, I can't imagine that learning medicine will be fun. If you are saying that you don't like biology class but enjoy the subject matter, then you can just chug through

I'm pretty sure most people would not want to be a doctor if they saw what it was really like- only half of doctors said they would go into medicine again if they had the choice, so you might want to shadow some more.

Maybe some upper level bio classes can let you see how you feel. Unfortunately, many undergrads are bad at teaching biology and they make the classes all memorization based. At my school, and most other top schools at least from what I've seen, classes are all about memorizing the foundations and then applying that knowledge to different scenarios. Biology can and should be intellectually stimulating if it is a field that you enjoy learning about.

 

[Tenk]

Probably not.

 

[Crayola227]

I did, and I like what I see. But I mean, lets be honest, 99% of the population would like being a doctor if they shadowed one. The real challenge is spending the thousands of hours studying and reading.

um, no, many wouldn't
many people tell me they couldn't handle the responsibility, the stress, the debt, the hours, the "ick" factor, or the sadness of dealing with sick people

when I was shadowing I didn't really know enough background to always catch what made things frustrating for docs

it wasn't until 3rd year that I understood why docs said all the bad things they said about the field

 

[Crayola227]

if you think the TONS of route memorization dies down just because you get that MD..... you are sorely mistaken

the physician edition of the MKSAP is scary detailed

boards are hard and they do come around periodically, and I've known attendings that studied and failed anyway on the retakes and had to buckle down again

thousands of hours reading/studying is what medicine is and will be for your whole career

you will still have CME and new literature to read to keep up

they're not bull****ting that a medical career is most suitable for people who enjoy lifelong learning

 

[Goro]

Nope. It's never too late to bail, unless you're in you're 2nd year of med school and 100K in debt.


"I don't like biology, will I like medicine?"

And on top of this, you can't merely memorize, you have to be able to apply.

if you think the TONS of route memorization dies down just because you get that MD..... you are sorely mistaken

 

[Lawpy]

Probably not.

Nope. It's never too late to bail, unless you're in you're 2nd year of med school and 100K in debt.


"I don't like biology, will I like medicine?"

And on top of this, you can't merely memorize, you have to be able to apply.

I'm curious as to why that's the case. Undergrad biology courses can be pretty awful and taught poorly, while medicine can be amazing due to its interdisciplinary and applied nature. Yeah doing bad on the bio section of the MCAT is a red flag but that has nothing to do with disliking undergrad biology (or even grad biology courses for that matter).

 

[Goro]

It's one thing to dislike, say, plant biology or ecology in Bio 1-2 courses, but, c'mon, the human body is a wonderful thing! I can't see not appreciating the disciplines and being able to like being in Medicine. OP has his/her work cut out for them.

I'm curious as to why that's the case. Undergrad biology courses can be pretty awful and taught poorly, while medicine can be amazing due to its interdisciplinary and applied nature. Yeah doing bad on the bio section of the MCAT is a red flag but that has nothing to do with disliking undergrad biology (or even grad biology courses for that matter).

 

[thestrugglingtraveler77]

I'm curious as to why that's the case. Undergrad biology courses can be pretty awful and taught poorly, while medicine can be amazing due to its interdisciplinary and applied nature. Yeah doing bad on the bio section of the MCAT is a red flag but that has nothing to do with disliking undergrad biology (or even grad biology courses for that matter).

Thank you everyone, all really helpful. I liked immunology, cell biology, human evolution, and parasitology--mostly because we had a very, very good professors. I hated micro, genetics, molecular biology and histology, but we had horrid professors for those courses, so IDK if I should like them or not. I mean, should I enjoy reading the textbook and learning the material by myself (which I had to do)?

 

[Lawpy]

It's one thing to dislike, say, plant biology or ecology in Bio 1-2 courses, but, c'mon, the human body is a wonderful thing! I can't see not appreciating the disciplines and being able to like being in Medicine. OP has his/her work cut out for them.

Ok i agree then. Personally, i really enjoyed biochemistry and cancer biology courses since, well, they have direct applications in medicine. And my professors made sure these courses weren't rote memorization (i would've failed in exams otherwise). But these were pretty much the few courses I did like (I severely despised comparative anatomy), although exploring museums in a paleontology class was pretty cool.

Thank you everyone, all really helpful. I liked immunology, cell biology, human evolution, and parasitology--mostly because we had a very, very good professors. I hated micro, genetics, molecular biology and histology, but we had horrid professors for those courses, so IDK if I should like them or not. I mean, should I enjoy reading the textbook and learning the material by myself (which I had to do)?

So you like some biology courses, which means you can find an interest in medicine.

 

[eteshoe]

OP, I will tentatively say - you'll be fighting an uphill battle if you don't learn to appreciate bio and are trying to go into medicine.

I remember not really liking any of my intro bio courses too much when I took them (being more of a biochemist). But once I took cancer bio, A&P, and surprisingly tissue engineering - I really began to enjoy the subject matter (at least in the context of the human body). No offense to people who study ecology or plant bio (I have some friends in these types of PhD programs), but I just couldn't bring myself to give a **** about some ferns.

 

[Quaero]

It should not matter if you do or don't like the subject. If you can't do well in biology, you may have a tough time in medical school.

You can be good at a subject without liking it. No excuses.


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[thestrugglingtraveler77]

How bad is "extremely bad" with a score of 515 overall?

I got a 126 in biology, 67 percentile

 

[confidentandgood]

You shouldn't expect to like every subject you come across as a pre-med or medical student; in fact, it's unrealistic. We all like certain sciences more than others. You dislike biology and find it boring, that's fine. But you need to do well in multiple biology courses to become an MD. Are you willing to put in that work? If not, medicine isn't for you. Maybe other scientific fields are calling.

You're not even in med school yet, so it's not too late to switch paths. Shadow a few places, do career research, and take some coursework to explore your interests. You will get out as much as you put in. Good luck.

 

[Crayola227]

I mean, should I enjoy reading the textbook and learning the material by myself (which I had to do)?

Ideally, for a career in medicine, yes.