microbio usefulness

[gracietiger]

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I am wondering if anyone could please share their thoughts on the usefulness of micro. It is not a prereq at the school I am applying to (penn). I am going to spend one or two semesters taking courses purely for their usefulness, and I notice that microbio is a prereq at many schools (which leads me to believe that it is very useful), but I wonder if my time wouldn't be better spent on other courses (I am already planning to take dev't bio, immunology, and histo... at West Chester - thanks to those who suggested it!!).

 

[Marsala]

Micro is useful for learning about the different kinds of microorganisms out there that can cause disease and how their biology affects treatment. It is important to be able to identify gram + vs gram - bacteria and the bacterial shape so that you know what you are treating. I am oversimplifying my answer here, but I think it's a big deal.

 

[Lissarae06]

I can't speak for the program at Penn, but I have found it useful so far at Ok-State. It was also a very interesting course. It was my favorite class from undergrad.

 

[LMMS]

I LOVED micro 😍. By far one of the greatest (if not the greatest) courses I ever took. I would say that it would be useful to you in that you learn cause and effect of disease as well as identifications of disease causing organisms and treatment. Learning the life cycles of bacterias and viruses is also helpful in my opinion. Like Marsala, I'm simplifying; but I think you get the idea.

 

[awaring1]

I think micro would be incredibly useful for any medical field. I know medical schools do not have microbiology as a pre-req but its only because it is so important that they want all the students to learn it in medical school. Perhaps the schools that have micro as a pre-req spend less time in their curriculum covering it since they assume you know it while other schools cover it in depth? (just a guess)

Anyway, even if your vet school does cover microbiology in depth, you can at least be comfortable with the material. I suggest you take it as it can only help you.

At my school I have to bend over backwards to take micro this upcoming semester even though none of my schools require it. I feel like it will be worth it 100%. I was also told by my mother (who has a degree in and teaches biology/chemistry) that any good science degree should include microbiology.

 

[squibby]

yes, yes, yes, take it!!!!

 

[gracietiger]

Wow, you guys are fast!!

I have heard micro is super fun, but for me, it would also be very expensive. I am most concerned about costs of classes in relation to their future usefulness.

I have taken genetics, and I felt my bio course was pretty heavy on the bacteria and microorganisms (though not the lab). I have been encouraged to take courses that involve more "processes" (like endocrinology, immunology) and not the ones that involve memorization (which I have been told the vet med micro is). I am wondering if I wouldn't be better served replacing the micro that I am considering with a cell bio, or endocrinology, or neuro course?

I know that this question has no answer, b/c any science course is going to be useful. I wish I could take them all!

 

[gracietiger]

I just read some of the posts that came up while I was typing my most recent one, and I am becoming quite convinced that micro may be very worth it. Thanks so much for all the opinions.

 

[twelvetigers]

As a now micro major, you probably know what I'll say... 🙂

 

[Dsmoody23]

I toured the Penn micro lab, and everything they were using was identical to the materials in my undergrad micro and med micro classes. It seems like you would have absolutely nothing to lose by taking the class, just to familiarize yourself with all the staining protocols.

I'd almost recommend it as an essential class for general preparation, regardless of where you go.

 

[kaydubs]

yes, yes, yes, take it!!!!

👍👍

Wow, you guys are fast!!

I have heard micro is super fun, but for me, it would also be very expensive. I am most concerned about costs of classes in relation to their future usefulness.

I know that this question has no answer, b/c any science course is going to be useful. I wish I could take them all!

I know cost is a major concern, but I agree with everyone else. I really enjoyed the course and took a lot from it. Whenever I read about microorganisms, I'm like "Wow, I know what that is." 😉 What are your other options? Like I'm sure you know, many biology classes will be helpful but micro is definitely a must-take in my opinion!

 

[gilch]

So I haven't taken vet microbiology but wasn't super impressed with my undergrad class and don't think it would be terrifically useful. There was a lot of memorization and I think the most useful aspects would probably be covered more in depth in other courses. I'd say go with immuno or endocrinology...or nutrition, a year long biochem, or a physiology class. Especially if you really have to take cost into consideration, I don't think micro would be a priority for me.

 

[twelvetigers]

True, but micro is often a prerequisite for courses like immunology. So... If you can skip ahead and feel comfortable doing so, that's also a valid option.

 

[168135]

Also... what if you decide you want to apply to additional schools and they require micro as a pre-req?

It would be nice to have your bases covered.

I had to take it for my school. I personally found it horribly boring... but hey... it was pretty easy and it counted towards my major 😛 Then again, it was a Public Health course and not a biology.

 

[gracietiger]

Thanks for all of your feedback. Gilch, do you feel like a cell bio and immunology course could cover similar material as micro?

I have heard about the micro course at my school, and most people describe it as easy. Hey, that sounds great for my GPA, but "easy" to me means that it may be easier material to learn later -- as opposed to cell bio and immunology which I have yet to hear described as easy.

I found a syllabus for the course, and do think that the first half I've had some exposure to (in genetics, mainly) and the second half looks like immunology. But so many people think this class is important, so I feel like I should heed everyone's advice!

 

[gilch]

Sorry for not responding for a while--school started up again! 🙂

Yeah, I would think that cell & molecular and immunology would cover a lot of the same things more in depth.

If this is something that you are independently interested in and not as concerned with usefulness or grade bump (I'd think cell & molec and immuno are typically harder), then go ahead and take it! And someone else said it is a prereq for a few schools, so that might be a good idea if you are looking to expand your options.

 

[awaring1]

One thing that is important to mention is what level the micro course is that you are looking at. At my school, micro is a 400 level class, but I know some other schools offer it as a 200 level (for me, cell bio was actually a pre-req for micro). Obviously the 400 level would be more in depth and may have a higher usefulness.

Overall, I feel micro may be more useful because I fee like more of your peers will have taken that class than the more specific classes like neuro (which was one of my favorite classes and hard for me to not recommend). There may be some professors that expect you to have some micro background, even if the class is not required. (This is of course all based on assumptions and not fact.)

If you are looking at micro vs. cell biology, that is a tough call. The majority of diseases are due to problems with cellular machinery so it would be good to be familiar with them. But then again, many vet schools have a "cell physiology" type class in the first year. This may mean that the material would be reviewed anyways so cell may not be as important to take before vet school.

Bottom line: Vet schools have certain pre-reqs for a reason. They can not hold you accountable for information covered in classes they do not require. The most useful class will be whatever class you want to take. If a class looks interesting and you think you will enjoy it, take it! None of the classes you mentioned will be wasted!


I am not sure if I helped or made it more confusing. Sorry!

 

[gracietiger]

Thank you guys! Very helpful!

I am still totally undecided over the whole micro thing. I think the problem is that I feel like I botched undergrad (many years ago) and now I have so much regret that I am in this position of having to basically do undergrad over again. I constantly ask myself why I wasn't wise enough to prepare myself in undergrad to have a lot of options in my future. Everyone advised me to take the "pre-med" classes - just in case - but nope, I went into humanities, though I had no idea what I wanted to do, just so I had more time to party.

So, the purpose of saying that is that I am in so much fear of making the same mistake with vet school. I would like to go into vet school (if that is to happen for me) as prepared as possible, so that I don't botch my grades and wind up looking back 20 years from now wishing I had better set myself up to specialize.

But, I am also constrained by time and finances, so I struggle so much deciding which of the courses that are recommended prior to vet school I should take. Microbio or cell bio? Neuro or endo? I know so many schools have microbio as a prereq, but they don't have immuno or cell bio. Would I be able to get the same use out of immuno and cell bio that I would out of micro? Or will I be missing out on lab techniques that I'll regret not having in vet school b/c everyone else knows how to plate, stain, KOH test, or whatever else you do in micro.

I know there are no answers, but that's just where I'm at. You guys have offered me so much perspective, it is so helpful and so much appreciated.

 

[eventualeventer]

It depends a lot on the professors and content at both your undergrad and your vet school. I have not taken vet school microbio yet, but I doubt my undergrad micro class will really be that useful compared to the cell bio classes I took. At UMd, micro was a standard 200-level pre-med or bio major class (not all bio majors had to take it, it depended on your track within bio) with HUGE lectures and so-so labs. More to the point, when I took it as a senior because Minnesota requires it, I was pretty bored with the shallow level of detail. It was more about processes and general physiology, and we learned about staining and culturing techniques in lab, half of which I had already learned by working at a vet hospital only with nicer equipment. We did not have to memorize anything about particular bacteria, their pathogenicity, staining patterns, etc., save for some very basic information about genera. It's nice to know that stuff, but it doesn't get you very far ahead WRT having to know the pathogenicity/susceptibility/typical and atypical presentations in multiple species, transmission cycles, typical susceptibility patterns, etc. Ask around and see if you can peek at the syllabus - it sounds like other schools are very different.

OTOH, I am very glad that I took cell biology twice in undergrad - I took the 200-level cell bio and the 400-level cell bio (and I think I sat in on some other cell bio stuff). I am a big-picture person, and having to remember the minutiae of location signals on proteins and deal with cell cultures that died half the time made me a wee bit grumpy, but having that stuff hammered in before I had to take UC Davis' physiological chemistry definitely helped me visualize the pathways and put it in a different perspective that I could at least sort of understand. I also had biochem in undergrad but it was an accelerated version which did not help me as other people who had taken full-year courses.

I guess the point to my long, rambling post is that I think it really does help to take the most rigorous upper-level (at least at UMd, there definitely is a real difference on average in rigor and therefore future usefulness between 200, 300, and 400 level courses) bio courses you can (and do well in them, of course) in terms of having things make sense and making it easier to remember in vet school. YMMV, what do I know, I'm just a first year on leave, etc.

 

[Ben and Me]

Micro at Penn is taken during 2nd year. If you're anything like me, most everything you learned in undergrad has been completely wiped from your brain by 2nd year. Sad, but true. That being said, I do think most folks in my class had taken micro in undergrad. From what I can remember, my undergrad micro class had very little in common w/ vet school, but I suppose it was nice to be familiar with gram negative/positive and LPS and the basics of gram staining.

I don't really think you can go wrong with either decision -- unless, as others stated, you need it to fulfill requirements at other vet schools. Never a bad idea in that case.

 

[BeagleVet]

When I was narrowing down which schools to apply to (considering OOS cost, living expenses, number of OOS spots avail, pre-reqs) the most common thing barring me from applying to programs was that I hadn't taken a Microbio course. I worked two jobs in college, while majoring in animal science with a minor in psychology so didn't have a lot of free time or extra units to work with, but it would have probably given me more options, however when it came to applications although about 50% of the vet schools require it, the schools I really wanted to apply to (except one) did not, so it didn't change much as far as the application process for me.

I can't speak on whether the information would be useful- I'm sure anything helps- but my main concern in your shoes would be to work from the top down and consider the top four vet schools you REALLY want to go to, and if more than one of them require it than it would definitely be worth it.