Medical Microbio

[raycharlie]

I am taking a medical microbio class which is suppose to be beneficial for medical school. After a couple of classes, I realized this class might not be for me. First, there is no textbook and lectures are taught by different researchers in their respectful particular fields. Second, they emphasized that a B or higher should be attained in intro bio I and II in order to well in this course. And lastly, the first day the professor in charge of organizing this course kept repeating how hard of a class this is. My concern is that I haven't done particularly well in my intro science classes, particularly biology, and will have to retake a couple of them. This would be my first upper level biology class. What are your suggestions? Should I take this class or drop it?

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[Chimichica]

I have taken that course, first i dont understand if it is medical micro why researchers are teaching it. Second phDs make the worst teachers EVER!!!! So if they say its a hard class its because they are making it hard with their teaching style, lastly its one of the easiest of the higher level bio classes. It should not be difficult, but there is a lot of memorization.

 

[medic86]

I am taking a medical microbio class which is suppose to be beneficial for medical school. After a couple of classes, I realized this class might not be for me. First, there is no textbook and lectures are taught by different researchers in their respectful particular fields. Second, they emphasized that a B or higher should be attained in intro bio I and II in order to well in this course. And lastly, the first day the professor in charge of organizing this course kept repeating how hard of a class this is. My concern is that I haven't done particularly well in my intro science classes, particularly biology, and will have to retake a couple of them. This would be my first upper level biology class. What are your suggestions? Should I take this class or drop it?

Well, how did you do in the introductory biology courses?

Ultimately, this is entirely up to you to figure out.

Are you still in the add/drop period?

 

[Goro]

Drop it. Stat. Take Genetics, Biochem or Cell Bio.

I am taking a medical microbio class which is suppose to be beneficial for medical school. After a couple of classes, I realized this class might not be for me. First, there is no textbook and lectures are taught by different researchers in their respectful particular fields. Second, they emphasized that a B or higher should be attained in intro bio I and II in order to well in this course. And lastly, the first day the professor in charge of organizing this course kept repeating how hard of a class this is. My concern is that I haven't done particularly well in my intro science classes, particularly biology, and will have to retake a couple of them. This would be my first upper level biology class. What are your suggestions? Should I take this class or drop it?

 

[Kaelis]

I have taken that course, first i dont understand if it is medical micro why researchers are teaching it. Second phDs make the worst teachers EVER!!!! So if they say its a hard class its because they are making it hard with their teaching style, lastly its one of the easiest of the higher level bio classes. It should not be difficult, but there is a lot of memorization.

This amuses me. I agree completely with everything stated, but all of my professors in undergrad were PhDs. A few were really quite good though.

 

[mehc012]

I have taken that course, first i dont understand if it is medical micro why researchers are teaching it. Second phDs make the worst teachers EVER!!!! So if they say its a hard class its because they are making it hard with their teaching style, lastly its one of the easiest of the higher level bio classes. It should not be difficult, but there is a lot of memorization.

Wait, how do you have professors who AREN'T Ph.Ds? I mean, I understand that in med school you'll end up with some MDs as well, but I thought a terminal degree was pretty much required to be a professor at most places.

To me, saying 'Ph.Ds make the worst teachers EVER' is like saying 'JDs make the worst lawyers EVER!!!!' Either that, or you're saying that non-college teachers (e.g. your high school teachers) are generally better than college profs.

As for the rest, well...most profs like to say/pretend their class is super hard, or at least high-volume. That's just how it goes. Teaching style is really irrelevant for a memorization-only class like this.

 

[Roxas]

I am taking a medical microbio class which is suppose to be beneficial for medical school. After a couple of classes, I realized this class might not be for me. First, there is no textbook and lectures are taught by different researchers in their respectful particular fields. Second, they emphasized that a B or higher should be attained in intro bio I and II in order to well in this course. And lastly, the first day the professor in charge of organizing this course kept repeating how hard of a class this is. My concern is that I haven't done particularly well in my intro science classes, particularly biology, and will have to retake a couple of them. This would be my first upper level biology class. What are your suggestions? Should I take this class or drop it?

This is exactly how med school micro is, so get used to it. If you really don't feel like you can hack it, I guess your only option is to drop.

 

[jqueb29]

I am taking a medical microbio class which is suppose to be beneficial for medical school. After a couple of classes, I realized this class might not be for me. First, there is no textbook and lectures are taught by different researchers in their respectful particular fields. Second, they emphasized that a B or higher should be attained in intro bio I and II in order to well in this course. And lastly, the first day the professor in charge of organizing this course kept repeating how hard of a class this is. My concern is that I haven't done particularly well in my intro science classes, particularly biology, and will have to retake a couple of them. This would be my first upper level biology class. What are your suggestions? Should I take this class or drop it?

This is exactly how my current micro class in medical school is organized.

I have taken that course, first i dont understand if it is medical micro why researchers are teaching it. Second phDs make the worst teachers EVER!!!! So if they say its a hard class its because they are making it hard with their teaching style, lastly its one of the easiest of the higher level bio classes. It should not be difficult, but there is a lot of memorization.

Currently in a 5 week micro/immuno class in medical school, and all but maybe 2 or 3 of the lectures have been given by researchers/phDs. In fact, more than likely the majority of your lecturers in medical school will be phD's or other non-MD's. We've had a decent amount of clinicians in some classes as guest lecturers going over the clinical side of what we are learning, but the science itself is almost always taught by a phD specializing in that specific area.

 

[AlteredScale]

I am taking a medical microbio class which is suppose to be beneficial for medical school. After a couple of classes, I realized this class might not be for me. First, there is no textbook and lectures are taught by different researchers in their respectful particular fields. Second, they emphasized that a B or higher should be attained in intro bio I and II in order to well in this course. And lastly, the first day the professor in charge of organizing this course kept repeating how hard of a class this is. My concern is that I haven't done particularly well in my intro science classes, particularly biology, and will have to retake a couple of them. This would be my first upper level biology class. What are your suggestions? Should I take this class or drop it?

I would drop it. If you don't have a strong handle in molecular/cell biology (lower div) then this course might shake you up a bit because there's a good amount of that in this type of course.

 

[Low Flow]

I would drop it. If you don't have a strong handle in molecular/cell biology (lower div) then this course might shake you up a bit because there's a good amount of that in this type of course.

Agreed. I'm taking medical micro at the moment as well, and it's pretty much all molecular biology so far. Antibiotic mechanisms in detail, cell wall synthesis in molecular detail, toxin production/secretion in detail, etc. It's my favorite class I've taken thus far, but it would definitely be significantly more difficult if I hadn't already taken molecular bio/genetics/biochem I and II (this is my last semester of undergrad). In the end, it's up to you. This class is fascinating, though.

 

[AlteredScale]

Agreed. I'm taking medical micro at the moment as well, and it's pretty much all molecular biology so far. Antibiotic mechanisms in detail, cell wall synthesis in molecular detail, toxin production/secretion in detail, etc. It's my favorite class I've taken thus far, but it would definitely be significantly more difficult if I hadn't already taken molecular bio/genetics/biochem I and II (this is my last semester of undergrad). In the end, it's up to you. This class is fascinating, though.

The class is definitely fascinating. We have some wonderful microbiologist/immunologists at Salk Institute and La Jolla Institute for A&I who come to our class to present their work. It's made all of us aware that there is a huge sink of knowledge to be discovered in regards to the immune interactions with microbiota.

I always freak out about this field haha.

 

[Eppur Si Muove]

+1 Med Micro is pure awesomeness. However, as others have said, I would suggest dropping at this point if you have not taken a cell bio class or have been exposed to hardcore molecular biology in some format. This is probably the last class I would want to take as a first upper-level bio with only intro class experience.