Math

[scmu]

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For those who made it to medical/dental school, do you not like math or struggled with math?

 

[HolySmokes]

I loved math enough to major in it. You'll find other people who absolutely hated it. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Geneticist]

I loved math enough to major in it. You'll find other people who absolutely hated it. Different strokes for different folks.

I'm one of those people. I loathe it. It's the only thing I can't get an A in. 😡

 

[Streicher]

"Math is the Queen of the sciences" - 19th century mathematician and kraut Carl Gauss

 

[Long Way to Go]

I'm one of those people. I loathe it. It's the only thing I can't get an A in. 😡

Perhaps we should let the people "who made it to medical/dental school" answer?

 

[Geneticist]

Perhaps we should let the people "who made it to medical/dental school" answer?

Considering the second post is from a pre-med, I figured I could chime in.

 

[maniacmath13]

I've always been good at math but I know plenty of people who hate it and are in med school now.

 

[addo]

I love math, unfortunately the love is not reciprocal. I managed to get As in my math classes, but only through hours on end of hard work, while my naturally gifted math buddies would barely brake a sweat studying and ace exams.

 

[bacalaca]

Once things got past calculus, i thought that math became stupid and abstract and I hated it.

 

[SFGuy2011]

During my first undergrad degree I absolutely hated math, and it shows. I took Calculus three times, dropping it twice and failing it once. This time around, I took Statistics, Trig, and Calculus - and although I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it - I pulled A's.

Sometimes you have to do what you need to do - so that you can do what you want to do. I think math courses are like that for a lot of us who need to take them for medical school. On the positive side, I think taking the above math courses helped me with the MCAT in some ways - just because I got more familiar with the whole sin/cos/tan thing, as well as doing calculations in my head.

 

[gravitywave]

I've always been good at math but I know plenty of people who hate it and are in med school now.

me too.

it's pretty funny, people here always stiffen up when told that calculators will be provided for the exam. I've never used it - the math so far has been of the plug n chug variety that a lot of people can just do in their head.

but yes, plenty of people loathe math in med school, and are doing just fine. it's a very small part of what you're tested on.

 

[circulus vitios]

me too.

it's pretty funny, people here always stiffen up when told that calculators will be provided for the exam. I've never used it - the math so far has been of the plug n chug variety that a lot of people can just do in their head.

but yes, plenty of people loathe math in med school, and are doing just fine. it's a very small part of what you're tested on.

What kind of calculations do you do in med school? Unit conversions for dosages or something?

 

[gravitywave]

What kind of calculations do you do in med school? Unit conversions for dosages or something?

so far there are equations for pharmacodynamics and physiological relationships that we must know and be able to manipulate at what i'd say is an eighth-grade algebra I level. clearance, pulmonary function tests, loading dose, steady-state concentration, etc

 

[Lil Mick]

I live and breathe mathematics. However, I never liked math classes much until the end of college (repetitive, pendantic, and slow-moving lectures) and usually ended up truant for my math-heavy classes. However, I learned some math on my own (ironically, after getting side-tracked while studying for the MCAT) and have settled on this area of research. If you're hoping to delve into advanced material and don't have the time to take classes, I'd highly recommend the Dover series (comprehensive review of each area of pure and applied mathematics). I've learned so much from those books since finishing undergrad...

That being said, very few of my classmates share my love of math. Of those who do, most are MD/PhD students or our class's superstars. If you are not a math-lover, don't worry--the only math necessary to do well in medical school is algebra (even then, it's debatible--I've started quizzing my doctors before they prescribe me any medications these days). And some of us mathy students love tutoring our classmates 🙂

 

[elmnt61]

I've always liked math, but hated applying it to chemistry.

 

[curlytop]

Just accepted this cycle, and I've never been a fan of math. I can do it, it just doesn't come as naturally to me as other things.

In the same vein, I also don't like physics. I hate physics.

 

[HolySmokes]

Considering the second post is from a pre-med, I figured I could chime in.

I can only assume you're talking about me, and if you bothered to notice my signature, I've been accepted for next years class. OP doesn't specify only people who are currently in medical school.

 

[Oryza]

+1 for the above post about dover books. I believe what/who your teacher is/was matter a lot. I used to hate math and physics with passion before i found out about Richard Courant and Richard Feynman. Now I think of both as a very beautiful subjects and do it in my leisure time. Of course part of it because i'm interested in biomedical engineering/technology.

 

[Sid Farkus]

For those who made it to medical/dental school, do you not like math or struggled with math?

So if I like math or did well in it, I would not make it to medical or dental school??

😀 Just kidding... Although, it DOES come off like you're a math snob looking down med & dent students. lol For the record, I liked math and did well in it... Took it on as a major, then didn't like it quite as much.

 

[ReptarBar]

i enjoy math and physics the most, but i feel that if i would hate upper div math/physics classes. i would probably deem them "useless" and get bad grades...

 

[LEUNIT]

Math makes no sense to me.

 

[eli20]

I never had a problem with math although I never took anything more difficult than Calc 2. Despite managing to get good grades I hate it and am not naturally talented.