Med School Pre-Req question

Started by i5hina
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
i5hina

i5hina

AllopathicJay
Verified Member
10+ Year Member
Hi, I'm currently taking my pre-req classes in preparation for the MCAt and was wondering if one year of anatomy and physiology would count towards the medical school requirement of '1 year of general biology'?


Thanks in advance
 
i5hina said:
Hi, I'm currently taking my pre-req classes in preparation for the MCAt and was wondering if one year of anatomy and physiology would count towards the medical school requirement of '1 year of general biology'?


Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Most likely not; you are a nursing student. To prep for the MCAT, the gen bio courses would be more useful at any rate than your anatomy and phys courses.
 
Most medical schools do not count it as a bio class. A few may but I haven't heard of any that do. Look at the school catalog for the school you plan on attending, it will say it in there. They usually say A & P are recommended but doesn't replace bio.
 
if you are taking a special A&P, you might get some credit, but if you are taking the same style of A&P as every other nursing school in the entire country, they won't even count as science classes. they usually count as preprofessional classes.
 
The other posters are correct that "general biology" usually means a course titled "General Biology" or similar that is taught for biology majors. Most universities have this. "General Biology" is where you're supposed to learn about antiporters, counter current exchange systems, basic biochemistry, etc. etc. ... in other words, general biology.

Medical schools don't usually require (or even explicitly recommend) A+P because they're going to teach that to you after you get into medical school.

But this part:

FrkyBgStok said:
if you are taking a special A&P, you might get some credit, but if you are taking the same style of A&P as every other nursing school in the entire country, they won't even count as science classes. they usually count as preprofessional classes.
Click to expand...

Is demonstrably incorrect. When AMCAS verified my application, my A+P class was definitely recorded as a BCMP course for GPA purposes!
 
hopefuldoc97239 said:
Is demonstrably incorrect. When AMCAS verified my application, my A+P class was definitely recorded as a BCMP course for GPA purposes!
Click to expand...

were your A&P part of a nursing program or are they part biology department. a large amount of nursing A&P classes are put on by the nursing departments and not the science departments, in which (as I last understood it), it is not part of the BCPM. maybe this has changed.
 
At my school they only offer one A&P sequence, put on by the science department, and the nursing students take it. Usually most of the class is nursing.
 
My classes were most definitely part of the science department. Most schools in my area only offer a dumbed down version of Chemistry, and not A&P. However my Chem class still transferred as departmental credit.
 
Easiest thing would be to contact the schools you're planning on applying to, and ask them. More often than not, it won't. But chances are you're going to take more than one BIOL class anyway and can use the higher ranked ones.
 
Pons Asinorum said:
Good point: to even be considered, they would both have to have lab components. But even then, it's a stretch, especially if they are nursing-track courses.

(Sits back and waits for usual nursing flame spray.)
Click to expand...

😉--->

Depends on the program, but it's always best to check w schools.
 
RNwantDO said:
My classes were most definitely part of the science department. Most schools in my area only offer a dumbed down version of Chemistry, and not A&P. However my Chem class still transferred as departmental credit.
Click to expand...

So were mine. Anything else is stupid IMHO. All sciences and stds were set by science dpts.

I had a b buster for microbiology, but I killed the 15 page essay final, and ended up loving the course.
 
I took A+P 1+2 within the bio dept also. It doesn't towards reg bio requirement, but I have seen some schools mention it as recommended courses.
 
Thanks guys for all the answers...i get it. A&P doesnt count towards pre-med requirements. i was just asking, since im taking bio right now, but i have already completed A&P 1 and 2 with the lab components, to be accepted into the nursing school. So im not 100% if it counts, but either ways, i still see it as beneficial for the MCAT's.

And all of those that are hating on us nursing majors; keep it up..it's kind of funny how much criticism nurses and nursing students get when they decide to go to med school. i see why, but come on.

In conclusion, thank you all.
 
i5hina said:
And all of those that are hating on us nursing majors; keep it up..it's kind of funny how much criticism nurses and nursing students get when they decide to go to med school. i see why, but come on.
Click to expand...

I actually thought this thread went quite well from a bashing-nursing standpoint. Look through some of the other nursing-centric threads and see what normally goes on. Or go to Allnurses and read through a thread about MD's if you really need some stronger stuff. Most of the criticism that you will get for your decision to pursue medicine will come from your nursing peers, not from pre-meds/medical students/physicians if history is a guide.
 
I have to admit that you're right. It goes both ways, but since I'm an advocate of myslef and myself only, I personally am not one to bash doctors or medical students. But there's a reason I'm on sdn, instead of allnurses, or other nursing threads. This post was way better compared to my last one bashing me because I'm a nursing student but thank you for not ripping my major apart too much. Lol.
 
it isn't that people hate on nurses. the fact is nursing majors seem to have one of the hardest times actually getting into medical school. there are many reasons. some say med schools don't want to take you from a field you are trained in that is shorthanded. others say nurses generally have an entitlement about them. personally, i think it is because there are far too many people that don't take the time to check into their classes and see if they are valid. and the problem is most of them are not.

we do wish you the best. i didn't see much nurse hating at all. some people get lucky and go to a school where they say, "we don't feel like making a seperate class, so just take the normal ones." That is great, but many nursing schools do offer dumbed down subjects. it isn't right, but it is a fact.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.