Is a chemistry major helpful for medical school?

[JESSFALLING]

Just curious - Beyond Gen Chem, OChem, and Biochemistry, is any part of a Chemistry major actually useful in medical school? Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Charles Darwin]

No.

 

[CodeBlu]

No. The chem you learn in orgo/biochem is not very relevant at all.

All the analytical and inorganic chem was honing your math skills and logic for handling creatinine clearances etc.

As far as biochem is concerned... no one cares if you know how the Edman Degradation works. Can you figure out what this bence jones protein level means? Great. Youz MD/DO.

 

[HumbleMD]

Love that pre-meds are giving you a definitive answer.

Yes, and no. I'm assuming you're asking b/c you are considering a chemistry major, versus other fields? I was a biochem major, so have some insight.

As an applicant, you'll find a wash of biology and biosychology majors, so chem is a way to stand out (somewhat) from the pack (which is key in application).

The topic isn't as helpful as one might assume. However, it's great to be familiar with its basic concepts of equilibrum, etc., aren't advanced concepts, but after 4 years of study you'll be savvy with them. They will make a lot of difficult fields (like cardiology) that much easier to grasp. Direct applications of chemistry come up in pharmacology (you'll giggle other's difficulty with Kd). Also, it makes nephrology that much easier to get. Finally, you'll have to know acid-base chemistry like the back of your hand in managing sick patients.

All pluses. In hindsight, however, I wished I had more biology. It would have made many of the preclinical courses, and neurology somewhat easier. But the grass is always greener...

 

[Noam Chomsky]

^Your post is somewhat contradictory. First you say Chemistry helps and one should pursue it, then you say you wish you had more biology. Which is it? Chem or Bio?

 

[ponyo]

I don't know how useful it is in med school, but take pchem before the mcat and it'll be pretty much impossible to get any genchem question wrong

 

[CodeBlu]

^Your post is somewhat contradictory. First you say Chemistry helps and one should pursue it, then you say you wish you had more biology. Which is it? Chem or Bio?

I think this person was trying to illustrate the fact that chemistry fundamentals are important. But in day to day practice, unless you're in a specialty that requires a lot of pharm (ex. anesthesiology), that biology is more helpful.

(Aka microbio, immuno, physiology, histology etc.)

Anything beyond the stuff required of you on the MCAT, is probably more than you will ever have to use.

 

[CodeBlu]

I don't know how useful it is in med school, but take pchem before the mcat and it'll be pretty much impossible to get any genchem question wrong

I agree with this statement... also you forgot about pistons and heat engines... delta V this, delta P that... uhhh

 

[Gigantron]

I remember reading something on here that nephrology/neurovirology are a chemists specialty.

...of course that might've been a joke.

 

[CodeBlu]

I remember reading something on here that nephrology is a chemists specialty.

That's primarily because the kidney's deal with reabsorption and secretion of ions, drugs etc.

Having a good knowledge of acid/base chemistry in this respect is important. For example... someone that has taken too much of a certain amphetamine stimulant... would greatly benefit by increasing the acidity of the urine. This would increase elimination of the drug. While, if they ingested some Tums (basic calcium carbonate), this would increase the half life of the drug and augment the effects.

But a nephrologist isn't going to waste his or her time calculating GFR anymore... that stuff is calculated for them now.

But it's important to know HOW it is calculated etc.

 

[chemistryguy]

Im a chemistry major and have found the advanced classes really help you think about things differently. Perhaps other people have taken different chem classes being biochem and such, but my undergrad has the opportunity to take advanced classes in organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry that give you a better idea of how stuff is made. Certain inorganic classes focus on mechanism of organometallic complexes and representative enzymes with a metal center in the body. I would say its definitely worth learning, and something thats more likely to stay with you then other subjects (like biology). Plus you'll get to use more instrumentation in laboratory and have a much broader experience in your teaching labs I think.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I don't know how useful it is in med school, but take pchem before the mcat and it'll be pretty much impossible to get any genchem question wrong

I've also heard it's hard as heck to pass that class.

 

[kpcrew]

Yeah PChem is a lot of knowing equations and how to apply them properly. Then there is all that quantum mechanics stuff which is not easy to understand since many of the precepts go against what we would consider common sense, such as an electron tunneling through a classically forbidden barrier. It's nice to know but unless you're a theoretical physicist or something, you probably won't encounter it again.

 

[paul411]

I feel most undergraduate majors are only marginally helpful (if at all) during medical school. So I'd say majoring in something you're REALLY interested in with a little bit of upper level science classes sprinkled in for good measure would be optimal.

If you're thinking about chemistry solely because you think it might be helpful in medical school, I'd recommend against it. On the other hand, if you're actually interested in chemistry, go for it. Also consider average GPA, time it takes to complete the major, how much free time you'll have, your aptitudes.

 

[Whatyousay]

I don't know how useful it is in med school, but take pchem before the mcat and it'll be pretty much impossible to get any genchem question wrong

lol Brownian motion.

 

[Truzzi]

I don't know how useful it is in med school, but take pchem before the mcat and it'll be pretty much impossible to get any genchem question wrong

What is the official name of Pchem?

 

[Whatyousay]

What is the official name of Pchem?

Physical Chemistry.

 

[Truzzi]

Physical Chemistry.

That's what I though; I just finally found it in my schools chemistry department.
CHEM-C 360 INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL CHEM
CHEM-C 361 PHYSICAL CHEM OF BULK MATTER

Those both sound SOOOO fun.

 

[Eric01]

Have you ever seen your doctor draw out chemical reactions when deciding to prescribe you medications?

 

[JESSFALLING]

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate the insights into how the more advanced coursework may help (or not) with the MS curriculum. I am a psychology major/humanities minor, but I'm finding that I am enjoying my science classes the most. I love the biological side of psychology, but I am disliking the social/cognitive/development side. This is leading me to re-think my major. Upper-division Chemistry (esp. Biochemistry and PChem) seems really interesting to me. I am good with math and have always been interested in Quantum Mechanics....So a Chem major might be the right choice.

 

[UnclePhil]

i majored in chem as an undergrad and every day in medical school i wish i had majored in bio or neuroscience.

 

[HumbleMD]

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate the insights into how the more advanced coursework may help (or not) with the MS curriculum. I am a psychology major/humanities minor, but I'm finding that I am enjoying my science classes the most. I love the biological side of psychology, but I am disliking the social/cognitive/development side. This is leading me to re-think my major. Upper-division Chemistry (esp. Biochemistry and PChem) seems really interesting to me. I am good with math and have always been interested in Quantum Mechanics....So a Chem major might be the right choice.

If the math you love is more calculussy, start looking into things like pharmacology to pair with your MD.

If you like statistics, think epidemiology/MPH.

And to the earlier poster who had difficulty with my vacillating, get used to it. In clinical medicine there are never perfect answers, perfect cures, perfect drugs. Everything has pluses and minuses.

 

[underdog427]

yeeee chem majors unite.

 

[ktran17]

I don't really see how you can go wrong with Biochemistry. You have to take classes like cellular bio, genetics, molec, micro, physio, and anatomy. Additionally, you're required to take physics,gchem,ochem,qchem, pchem, and biochem. What other classes could you possibly take to prep you for med school? I think immunology is the only class I want to take that's not required. Everything else is already required for my major. In my opinion, biochemistry is just another fancy name for Pre-med.

 

[AsianPersuasion]

I'm really afraid my Anthro major might not prepare me enough for mcat...

 

[eli20]

I'm really afraid my Anthro major might not prepare me enough for mcat...

No major is going to really prepare you for the MCAT, you prepare yourself for the MCAT.

 

[paul411]

i majored in chem as an undergrad and every day in medical school i wish i had majored in bio or neuroscience.

Why?

 

[paul411]

Truth. I vote that you do anthropology!

 

[AsianPersuasion]

No major is going to really prepare you for the MCAT, you prepare yourself for the MCAT.

People who majored in it at my uni, and got accepted to med school said that they wished they picked Bio, chem, etc instead cause it would of prepared them more for the mcat. But others have told me to take the pre reqs and add some upper lvl sci courses and I should be good ( of course study hard and know your material).

 

[eli20]

People who majored in it at my uni, and got accepted to med school said that they wished they picked Bio, chem, etc instead cause it would of prepared them more for the mcat. But others have told me to take the pre reqs and add some upper lvl sci courses and I should be good ( of course study hard and know your material).

Taking the prereqs and some upper level science courses is a basic of a good application. It is completely possible to do well on the MCAT having taken only basic courses though. Taking upper level science courses is not going to translate automatically to MCAT success, your success on the MCAT is going to be directly related to your MCAT study time and practice tests taken.

 

[ranson]

Undergraduate majors don't really help with medical school classes nor with the MCAT. No matter what major, you are still required to take phys, chem, bio, and orgo all of which are tested on the MCAT. Most premeds major in Bio or in Psych-related fields because they are the easiest science majors, and they want to protect their GPA.

 

[235788]

Undergraduate majors don't really help with medical school classes nor with the MCAT. No matter what major, you are still required to take phys, chem, bio, and orgo all of which are tested on the MCAT. Most premeds major in Bio or in Psych-related fields because they are the easiest science majors, and they want to protect their GPA.

lol yes on psych no on bio. Do most premed you know go to a community college of something? Almost all humanity and social science majors are jokes and adcoms know it. Any course you can study less than 4 hours a week and still get an A is a joke in my eyes.

 

[Chemdude]

http://www.colorado.edu/aac/table1.pdf

Chemistry majors are more likely to get accepted to medical school than bio majors.

 

[paul411]

http://www.colorado.edu/aac/table1.pdf

Chemistry majors are more likely to get accepted to medical school than bio majors.

I think those statistics are meaningless because they don't account for... Everything else on the application.

As long as we're going by statistics, just pick biomedical engineering, pre-medical, or philosophy. All have higher acceptance rates than chem, dude 🙄

 

[artsciencelove]

I only took 100 and 200 level bio, chem, and physics. I rocked the MCAT. It's an aptitude test, not an ability test.

 

[drfancypants]

I'm really afraid my Anthro major might not prepare me enough for mcat...

As an anthro major, I can concur 🙂

Actually it'll help you kill the verbal section. After all that Foucault and Levi-Strauss, MCAT verbal passages are a walk in the park.

 

[paul411]

After all that Foucault and Levi-Strauss, MCAT verbal passages are a walk in the park.

For someone named drfancypants, those aren't very fancy IMO.

Also, I think my jeans did help me on the VR section.

 

[eli20]

lol yes on psych no on bio. Do most premed you know go to a community college of something? Almost all humanity and social science majors are jokes and adcoms know it. Any course you can study less than 4 hours a week and still get an A is a joke in my eyes.

🙄

 

[AestheticMed]

lol yes on psych no on bio. Do most premed you know go to a community college of something? Almost all humanity and social science majors are jokes and adcoms know it. Any course you can study less than 4 hours a week and still get an A is a joke in my eyes.

Which is weird b/c apparently humanities majors are all the rave nowadays.🙄

 

[tn4596]

I was a chem major, the con is that you will not have time to get a BS in chem if you want to take enough biology course for premed (4 semester of bio). The thing is, bio major contain chem and ochem as their required course while chem major does not have bio in their course. so if yo uare chem major, you will have to take bio as elective...that how it is in my school
Plus the upper chem classes are really hard and most of the stuff in pchem is basically pointless once you get in medschool. Dont listen to other people saying that pchem will help you, by the time you encounter stuff related to pchem, you prolly already forget like 90% of the materials in that class. You will just spending a year miserable for no reason. Harder classes is bad for your gpa...if you really want a chalenging major related to chem, you should consider biochem or genetics, they also have to take pchem though

 

[isoquin]

no, it's really not going to be all that helpful in med school

 

[ranson]

lol yes on psych no on bio. Do most premed you know go to a community college of something? Almost all humanity and social science majors are jokes and adcoms know it. Any course you can study less than 4 hours a week and still get an A is a joke in my eyes.

Ok, maybe it's not the easiest science major (Psych, Social Sciences, ect.) but it's much easier than Chem, Physics or Biochem, and adcoms know it.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

lol yes on psych no on bio. Do most premed you know go to a community college of something? Almost all humanity and social science majors are jokes and adcoms know it. Any course you can study less than 4 hours a week and still get an A is a joke in my eyes.

Yes, but you have to actually write thing and come to your own conclusion and then defend it in the humanities and social sciences. You don't have to study as much, but you sure as hell need to write much more and think much more critically.
Either way, you're seriously acting like most people spend 4 hours a week studying for biology or that it is somehow learned in a different manner than topics in psych or humanities.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Ok, maybe it's not the easiest science major (Psych, Social Sciences, ect.) but it's much easier than Chem, Physics or Biochem, and adcoms know it.

Sure, to you. However not everyone has the same strengths and weaknesses. You might be exceptionally gifted at Math and fail to comprehend psych or be able to proficiently write papers which analyze a longitudinal study's statistics. Likewise the opposite also exists, which is why adcoms are not so rash to judge you on the perceived easiness of your major.

 

[UnclePhil]

I only took 100 and 200 level bio, chem, and physics. I rocked the MCAT. It's an aptitude test, not an ability test.

Right, because aptitude has nothing to do with ability. Also, you may want to at least wait until you get your score back before crowing about rocking the MCAT, and I'm not sure what you are bragging about anyway, with the exception of a marginal amount of shallow organic chemistry, the MCAT only tests 100 level sciences.

 

[artsciencelove]

Right, because aptitude has nothing to do with ability. Also, you may want to at least wait until you get your score back before crowing about rocking the MCAT, and I'm not sure what you are bragging about anyway, with the exception of a marginal amount of shallow organic chemistry, the MCAT only tests 100 level sciences.

U mad bro?

 

[HumbleMD]

U mad bro?

He's pointing out the precociousness and gall that will having you bombing interviews, or certainly getting your ass handed to you by a resident/fellow/attending on the wards.

 

[AntiHouseMD]

Why not take a look at biochemistry? Involves the chemical reactions and processes in living organisms, and that should be a big help in medical school. That's what I'm planning to major in for PA school, and for me at least, it seems like a great fit. Tougher than either biology or chemistry, though.

 

[artsciencelove]

He's pointing out the precociousness and gall that will having you bombing interviews, or certainly getting your ass handed to you by a resident/fellow/attending on the wards.

I'd be willing to bet real money he is a guy who gets his ass handed to him frequently, and trolls the pre-med boards in frustration, desperately looking for someone to take it out on. He should be concentrating on his studies and building himself up, not coming on to the internet looking to tear other people down.

 

[lkthlttr]