mammalian physiology vs. cytology and histology

[june86]

which course would be most helpful in terms of preparing for the mcats and med school? ... i'll only be able to take one of the two by the end of undergrad

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[NN11]

I'll comment on what helps you to prepare for the MCAT.

In my opinion, Histology was useless for the MCAT. Never took Cytology. Mammalian physiology was extremely helpful for the MCAT.

EDIT: one correction, I actually found histology of nephrons somewhat helpful in understanding renal physiology.

 

[SuperMatt]

It doesnt take a long time to learn the basic mammalian physiology required for the MCAT. My vote would be to take which ever one you find more interesting and will in turn get the better grade in.

Personally, I would take histology.

 

[hcn22]

Considering that nearly all the bio on the MCAT is physiology.. a physiology class would certainly help you the most. I retook the MCAT this past August and had 3 semesters of physio compared to the first time when all I had taken was the intro bio classes, and it made a huge difference. I have also taken Histology and don't think it helped me very much for the MCAT. Good luck!

 

[Critical Mass]

I'll comment on what helps you to prepare for the MCAT.

Agree with this. Don't worry about med school content. Your success there will depend on how much you study during med school, not what you did before you got there.

Prep for the MCAT and take what ever interests you most after you've cleared that hurdle.

 

[SeventhSon]

Agree with this. Don't worry about med school content. Your success there will depend on how much you study during med school, not what you did before you got there.

Prep for the MCAT and take what ever interests you most after you've cleared that hurdle.

I disagree. Being topically familiar with a subject does help you out in med school a little, although you do end up learning something in about 5-10 times more detail than in undergrad.

That being said, TAKE PHYS FOR THE MCAT. It is definitely fair game (although my MCAT had almost no phys, many people said they had multiple passages on phys)

 

[chandelantern]

If you've never taken a physiology course, I would recommend that for the MCAT (human physio, preferably, although I guess "mammalian" would work too...). Histo would be helpful for med school but not the mcat and like others have said, you will be able to learn what you need to learn in med school when you get there.

 

[Critical Mass]

I disagree. Being topically familiar with a subject does help you out in med school a little, although you do end up learning something in about 5-10 times more detail than in undergrad.

In some subjects (neuroscience), detail is far greater in medical school. In others (physiology), detail has been about the same. With biochemistry, there are more facts to learn in medical school, but the depth of the understanding was greater in undergrad/grad school.

I agree with the others about not worrying about med school content until med school.

 

[lina123321]

which course would be most helpful in terms of preparing for the mcats and med school? ... i'll only be able to take one of the two by the end of undergrad

mammalian, most definitely

 

[SeventhSon]

In some subjects (neuroscience), detail is far greater in medical school. In others (physiology), detail has been about the same. With biochemistry, there are more facts to learn in medical school, but the depth of the understanding was greater in undergrad/grad school.

I agree with the others about not worrying about med school content until med school.

strange, physiology in undergrad does not even begin to approach what it was for me in med school. I was not a bio major, so I really don't have a basis for comparison for most classes except Mol Bio and Phys. I thought Mol Bio was about the same, Phys was 5 times more detailed (in the sense of both more facts, and more conceptual).

Physiology in undergrad helped me because it is highly conceptual. And once you understand a concept, it tends to stick. At medical school I already knew some of the concepts of renal phys for example, that I would have had to figure out for the first time but was spared because I had already gotten my head around some confusing concepts in undergrad.

Perhaps for classes that are mostly memorization (biochem) it is not as helpful, but to the extent that there are concepts in a given subject, I think it still does help.

 

[Critical Mass]

I'm not so sure that humans are actually mammals. Those of you who get ur learn' done over in those places where yall vote for Democrats have been brainwashed by them crazies who say our planet is gittin hotter.

Sick people just need to pay more at church time. Oops I meant "pray" not "pay."

 

[Hurricane95]

Cytology and Histology is completely worthless for the mcat...it is not an undergrad premed course and is not tested. Aside from that it is boring as hell...you'll get enough of it in med school. Mammalian physiology however, is tested extensively and I think in a lot more detail than can be covered in your Bio 1 and 2 courses. I took that in spring '05 for the april mcat that year and it helped a lot. It's also more interesting in my opinion.

And hey critical mass, STOP competing with me for hottest avatar...cuz you're going to lose.

 

[Critical Mass]

And hey critical mass, STOP competing with me for hottest avatar...cuz you're going to lose.

I think that my pic is of psipsina.

 

[jojo_1981]

Yeah, Physio was the class where I finally started to realize how all the different "basic sciences" worked together, and its that kind of perspective that will help you kill the MCAT like nobody's business!