Is there a "hardest" class in med school?

[TheBiologist]

In undergrad pre-meds are all scared of organic - is there a generally agreed upon idea that a certain class in med school is exceptionally hard, and if so what is it?

I know the first two years are different than the second two years.. is there a hard class in both? is one organ system harder than the others, or does it just depend on the person?

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[bananafish94]

Probably varies from school to school. My school is on a "block" system in which we cover certain organ systems, encompassing all parts of that system at a time (anatomy, histology, etc.) focusing predominantly on physiology 1st year and pathology 2nd year. Certain blocks are known to be much harder than others. Other medical schools have specific classes for anatomy and histology, etc. which would be a different experience.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

is one organ system harder than the others, or does it just depend on the person?

Also in a block system, and I'd say it's person to person. My friends and I all had different favourite and least favourite blocks. Personally I didn't enjoy studying the pathology lectures of each block, but that was because I didn't find the material interesting, not because it was difficult.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Really just depends on your individual strengths and your school. For me it was gross anatomy, which was also our first class. Our respiratory system also has a reputation for being difficult.

In the clerkship years surgery is usually thought to be one of the more demanding rotations. Sub-internships/IM/MICU are also demanding at my hospital both hour-wise (6 days a week, 12 hours most days) and mentally.

 

[Goro]

Totally different for each student. Details later.

 

[Oso]

Agree with the above posts.

Let’s see, for me..... it all sucked.

 

[ciestar]

For me it was biochemistry and neuro. (Many of my classmates agreed with neuro it seemed.)

Second year as a whole has been the drinking from a firehose analogy.

 

[raiderette]

I struggled with neuro, and my friends struggled with reproductive and endocrinology. The smartest guy I know barely passed anatomy.

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Truth be told it's all hard. But it's honestly dependent on how capable you are of actually using your understanding of the information and then applying it practically and just how much time you're willing to put into it.

I think all of pathology and pathophysiology is equally difficult. With exception of possibly endocrine which I think is largely on the medical school level taught extremely lax.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

neuro and renal are probably the most difficult. Reproductive physiology also

 

[Medic741]

NEUROANATOMY ftw

 

[Goro]

As one can seem different subjects, whether they are organ systems based, or discipline based, can be challenging from person to person. Some people are good conceptual learners but struggle with brute memory subjects like Biochem, Anatomy or Pharmacology. Others are the reverse and have trouble with Physiology, Neuroscience or Immunology. Some of my students breeze through Neurology yet get clobbered by Cardio or Renal. For still others, their weakness is Musculoskeletal.

 

[Catalystik]

NEUROANATOMY

Me, too.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Neuro is considered the “Ochem” of our med school. Anatomy also traditionally gives a lot of people trouble.

 

[Maskchamp]

Gross anatomy, it's so much to cover although interesting. We learned a full textbook worth in less than 3 months. It's also so much memorization that you will forget the moment you foot steps out the door of the exam room. I completely agree with orgo in pre-med. I HATED it.

 

[jowens817]

In undergrad pre-meds are all scared of organic - is there a generally agreed upon idea that a certain class in med school is exceptionally hard, and if so what is it?

I know the first two years are different than the second two years.. is there a hard class in both? is one organ system harder than the others, or does it just depend on the person?

For my school, the consensus is Cardio or Neuro. Renal and Pulm. are heavy on the phys and all of the o chem/physical chem you thought you could forget about after undergrad, so if those were not your strong suits in undergrad I'd be prepared to be challenged during those blocks as well.

 

[Dagrimsta1]

Your neurons will reveal what they like and what they don’t in med school. I thought I would get an easy A in Immuno but my neuron wasn’t having it.