I enjoy Physics & Chemistry but not so much Bio. Is medical school for me?

[Razghul]

Hi everyone!

I have shadowed doctors and volunteered and I definitely like the medical profession. However, when it comes to college I am have not been particularly enthusiastic about biology in general. I do absolutely brilliant in Physics and Chemistry (my major is Physics) and excel quite well in them. I have also managed A's in my biology courses but it was challenging (which was expected) but I didn't enjoy it very much.

Also, I absolutely hated biology lab. I couldn't stand it. I wanted to die in a car accident every time I drove to class. My uncle and my pre-med advisor (both who were recent adcoms) told me that med schools love physics majors because they have a set of critical thinking skills that are unique compared to someone majoring in Biology who spends more time memorizing (not my words, theirs).

So here I am asking my fellow SDN'ers for some insight. I have a 3.95 sGPA and cGPA along with a 39R MCAT so I've done quite well. But every time I pop open a biology book I don't experience the same joy when I open up a physics, engineering or organic chemistry/physical chemistry textbook.

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[Mr Avante]

Hi everyone!

I have shadowed doctors and volunteered and I definitely like the medical profession. However, when it comes to college I am have not been particularly enthusiastic about biology in general. I do absolutely brilliant in Physics and Chemistry (my major is Physics) and excel quite well in them. I have also managed A's in my biology courses but it was challenging (which was expected) but I didn't enjoy it very much.

Also, I absolutely hated biology lab. I couldn't stand it. I wanted to die in a car accident every time I drove to class. My uncle and my pre-med advisor (both who were recent adcoms) told me that med schools love physics majors because they have a set of critical thinking skills that are unique compared to someone majoring in Biology who spends more time memorizing (not my words, theirs).

So here I am asking my fellow SDN'ers for some insight. I have a 3.95 sGPA and cGPA along with a 39R MCAT so I've done quite well. But every time I pop open a biology book I don't experience the same joy when I open up a physics, engineering or organic chemistry/physical chemistry textbook.

Seriously, Trolling?

 

[Doctor Strange]

Go to Barnes and Noble and pop open a physio or pharmacology book. How do you feel about that?

 

[Razghul]

Seriously, Trolling?

What? How?

Go to Barnes and Noble and pop open a physio or pharmacology book. How do you feel about that?

Thanks for the suggestion! I will take a look at some books

 

[SN12357]

Hi everyone!

I have shadowed doctors and volunteered and I definitely like the medical profession. However, when it comes to college I am have not been particularly enthusiastic about biology in general. I do absolutely brilliant in Physics and Chemistry (my major is Physics) and excel quite well in them. I have also managed A's in my biology courses but it was challenging (which was expected) but I didn't enjoy it very much.

Also, I absolutely hated biology lab. I couldn't stand it. I wanted to die in a car accident every time I drove to class. My uncle and my pre-med advisor (both who were recent adcoms) told me that med schools love physics majors because they have a set of critical thinking skills that are unique compared to someone majoring in Biology who spends more time memorizing (not my words, theirs).

So here I am asking my fellow SDN'ers for some insight. I have a 3.95 sGPA and cGPA along with a 39R MCAT so I've done quite well. But every time I pop open a biology book I don't experience the same joy when I open up a physics, engineering or organic chemistry/physical chemistry textbook.

I may get attacked for this, but I don't think a love of BIOLOGY is necessary for medical school. However, a love of MEDICINE is.

Personally, 99% of basic biology bores me. I hated bench research, and definitely didn't want to pursue it. I start being interested when something is a symptom. Anything more basic than an experienced symptom? Borrrrrrrring.

I currently work in clinical research and know that I want to be a doctor so that I can treat patients. I know that the basic bio classes are going to be painful in med school but also know that intellectually, I can handle them.

So ultimately it's a judgment call about whether or not you can get through the stuff you strongly dislike to get to the parts that you do.

 

[deleted550985]

What? How?

Well it's a little suspect that you spent the hundreds of hours to get a 39 on the MCAT and only now are asking if med school is right for you...

 

[SN12357]

Well it's a little suspect that you spent the hundreds of hours to get a 39 on the MCAT and only now are asking if med school is right for you...

If OP is as smart as he's presenting himself to be (and there's little reason to think he's lying), he almost certainly didn't have to work hard for the 39. Hundreds of hours? No. I didn't study hundreds of hours for my high 30s score either.

 

[Strudel19]

OP - I'm actually the same way. I don't have a deep burning passion for biology. I don't find it boring but I definitely don't love it. I really enjoy chemistry.

Gen Bio II completely turned me off with Bio. Pure memorization of all of the classes, phylums etc almost made me switch my major.

 

[dsoz]

Only you can really answer this question. Your stats are good enough, but is that enough. Med school is a lot of biology and chemistry (biochem). My first block will consist of 10 weeks of memorizing anatomy, embryology, and imaging (how the physical structures relate to images from x-ray, MRI, CT, and ultrasound). This sounds like a lot of biology-like memorization.

Have you had an undergrad anatomy class? That is probably closer to med school than the general biology class.

In any of those labs that you wanted to "die in a car wreck" on the way, was there any dissection component, or was it plant transpiration, microscope slides, and flipping coins (genetics)?

Supposedly, you need to have a passion for medicine to be able to push your way through the tough times. Do you have that?

OTOH, first post, greatly inflated sense of self, super high MCAT, brags of loving o-chem and p-chem... my troll sense is starting to tingle...

 

[Radon XP]

Agreed. Biology is not medicine.

Nevertheless, you'll still need to take classes like biochemistry, physiology, etc, in medical school, so hopefully you can get through those.

 

[Strudel19]

He's not trolling.

 

[SN12357]

Only you can really answer this question. Your stats are good enough, but is that enough. Med school is a lot of biology and chemistry (biochem). My first block will consist of 10 weeks of memorizing anatomy, embryology, and imaging (how the physical structures relate to images from x-ray, MRI, CT, and ultrasound). This sounds like a lot of biology-like memorization.

Have you had an undergrad anatomy class? That is probably closer to med school than the general biology class.

In any of those labs that you wanted to "die in a car wreck" on the way, was there any dissection component, or was it plant transpiration, microscope slides, and flipping coins (genetics)?

Supposedly, you need to have a passion for medicine to be able to push your way through the tough times. Do you have that?

OTOH, first post, greatly inflated sense of self, super high MCAT, brags of loving o-chem and p-chem... my troll sense is starting to tingle...

Troll? Why, because you don't think someone like this could exist and have this (very legitimate) concern?

People with this profile are fairly common at high level undergrads. It's a fair question.

 

[Razghul]

If OP is as smart as he's presenting himself to be (and there's little reason to think he's lying), he almost certainly didn't have to work hard for the 39. Hundreds of hours? No. I didn't study hundreds of hours for my high 30s score either.

I definitely wouldn't call myself smart. I consider myself to be more of a hard-worker. That's the beauty of some subjects where you can do a ton of problems and become good at it. As I progressed things became easier, but it definitely took a lot of work initially. As for the MCAT, I didn't spend much time because I would always actively review my notes for classes. I've also met some insanely intelligent people in some of my physics courses who were just too.... smart. These guys could grasp highly complicated concepts without much effort. If you're that type of person, I seriously envy you

OP - I'm actually the same way. I don't have a deep burning passion for biology. I don't find it boring but I definitely don't love it. I really enjoy chemistry.

Gen Bio II completely turned me off with Bio. Pure memorization of all of the classes, phylums etc almost made me switch my major.

What made you go into medicine? What keeps that passion burning?

Only you can really answer this question. Your stats are good enough, but is that enough. Med school is a lot of biology and chemistry (biochem). My first block will consist of 10 weeks of memorizing anatomy, embryology, and imaging (how the physical structures relate to images from x-ray, MRI, CT, and ultrasound). This sounds like a lot of biology-like memorization.

Have you had an undergrad anatomy class? That is probably closer to med school than the general biology class.

In any of those labs that you wanted to "die in a car wreck" on the way, was there any dissection component, or was it plant transpiration, microscope slides, and flipping coins (genetics)?

Supposedly, you need to have a passion for medicine to be able to push your way through the tough times. Do you have that?

OTOH, first post, greatly inflated sense of self, super high MCAT, brags of loving o-chem and p-chem... my troll sense is starting to tingle...

There wasn't any dissection, mostly just microscope slides and some genetics thrown in there. Also we had practicals over sterilization techniques and stuff like that.

He's not trolling.

Agreed. Biology is not medicine.

Nevertheless, you'll still need to take classes like biochemistry, physiology, etc, in medical school, so hopefully you can get through those.

Thank you. I'll be taking A&P I in the fall and will be graduating in December. Let's see how well it goes....

 

[SN12357]

I definitely wouldn't call myself smart. I consider myself to be more of a hard-worker. That's the beauty of some subjects where you can do a ton of problems and become good at it. As I progressed things became easier, but it definitely took a lot of work initially. As for the MCAT, I didn't spend much time because I would always actively review my notes for classes. I've also met some insanely intelligent people in some of my physics courses who were just too.... smart. These guys could grasp highly complicated concepts without much effort. If you're that type of person, I seriously envy you

It sounds like you studied for the MCAT the best way, which is to have a completely solid grasp of the topics through your prereqs.

I'm no physics genius (I wish), but didn't struggle through any of the basic prereqs (was always careful to understand all the topics) and I'm a very good standardized test taker. There's a certain population on sdn who get really flustered if you suggest it's possible to do extremely well on the MCAT without 3-4 months of solid, dedicated MCAT studying. So it goes.

Anyway, good luck figuring out what you want to do next. You have a lot of options available.

 

[Radon XP]

It sounds like you studied for the MCAT the best way, which is to have a completely solid grasp of the topics through your prereqs.

I'm no physics genius (I wish), but didn't struggle through any of the basic prereqs (was always careful to understand all the topics) and I'm a very good standardized test taker. There's a certain population on sdn who get really flustered if you suggest it's possible to do extremely well on the MCAT without 3-4 months of solid, dedicated MCAT studying. So it goes.

Anyway, good luck figuring out what you want to do next. You have a lot of options available.

Nevertheless, it certainly isn't a bad idea to study for the MCAT.

 

[SN12357]

Nevertheless, it certainly isn't a bad idea to study for the MCAT.

Did I say it wasn't?