microbiology & anatomy?

[premed student]

Hi guys,

I'm a non-traditional student who was a non-science major in undergrad (UCBerkeley) and took all the premed req's at Cal State Fullerton. I already applied for the class of 2010 and waiting for interviews. Right now, I'm taking Genetics at a community college and working to pay bills. I was wondering if I should take Microbiology and Anatomy next semester before I start medschool or if I should just take it easy and enjoy my time before the school. Those two courses are offered in medschool and I heard that some med schools don't even recommend taking anatomy ahead.

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thank you! : )

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[karlin009]

I would take the classes. Since you're a non-science major, it may be helpful and you won't feel so overwhelmed.

 

[packerfan]

I would go on the sdn site and ask a student currently enrolled at the school you are going to what they would do. I have heard anatomy and biochem are the two biggies the first year.I am doing biochem (undergrad semester 1+2) so that I will be in good shape next year.My undergrad was in medical technology so micro was covered. I am twenty years after my undergrad degree and think the bugs have changed only a little.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi guys,

I'm a non-traditional student who was a non-science major in undergrad (UCBerkeley) and took all the premed req's at Cal State Fullerton. I already applied for the class of 2010 and waiting for interviews. Right now, I'm taking Genetics at a community college and working to pay bills. I was wondering if I should take Microbiology and Anatomy next semester before I start medschool or if I should just take it easy and enjoy my time before the school. Those two courses are offered in medschool and I heard that some med schools don't even recommend taking anatomy ahead.

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thank you! : )

I would take it easy for now. Med school teaches you everything you will need or want to know about the relevent subjects. As long as you have the prereqs you are fine. Sure, life would be a bit easier if you already had a strong handle on things like biochem, but it's certainly not a necessity, and you will have forgotten everything by the time that course starts. Anatomy at community college level will likely be so dwarfed by the volume of required info in the med school version that you will have wasted your time.

 

[blee]

I wouldn't bother with it either. In nine months, you will be asked to drink from a fire hydrant and retain everything you swallow. If you have the luxury of being class-free until then, don't stress yourself out.

In order to keep my brain somewhat sharp, I did audit a biochem class this semester. Maybe you can ask a professor if you could sit in on lectures, maybe even take exams, but not for credit. When it comes to med school topics, though, some schools give you a "summer reading" list a few months before orientation. I wouldn't bother taking biochem now if I knew that I'd have to re-preview the material, possibly with an entirely different text or approach.

 

[jbone]

Micro will definitely help you. If you are going to take either, take micro.
But then again, I like micro. So it's up to you. Good luck.

 

[kimmcauliffe]

I agree with most of them, as well. Ask admissions if you should take them. Medical schools offer an in-depth look at anatomy, but for your own good you might consider taking it anyway at a junior college. Best of luck to you!

 

[mshheaddoc]

If you got the basics from anatomy it would be one less thing to memorize. Also, not to be negative, but if you don't get in anywhere at least you have these grades to add to your transcript. Depends on how strong you think your chances are. If they are strong, you could just take it easy.

 

[Non-Trad DO]

I agree with most of the posts above though I can tell you from my experience that anatomy was definately the hardest thing that was asked of me in Med school. I have a wife and children though so I spent a lot of my time babysitting my child since my wife had to work so we could have health insurance. Looking back I wish I had taken an anatomy course other than the anat and phys that was requied of me for my Med Tech degree.

 

[cfdavid]

to me, it seems like a no-brainer. i've done the best in upper level courses where i've had a solid foundation from which to build on.

we all realize that med school courses are going to be way more voluminous and in depth, but nevertheless, how could it hurt to take some prep courses?

i plan on taking an immunology and microbio course this winter (at least), and i'll be going somewhere this fall. i think it'll help a lot. not to mention being generally interested in these courses anyway....

 

[dr4ku]

Ok... 1st thing is, having anatomy helps, but not much. All it really accomplished was an increase in my gpa. Unless...the course is a dissection course that is intensive. What I mean is material coming at you extremely quickly. Like learn the muscles, nerves, blood supply and return, lymphatics and the clinical correlations related to them. Then not only only memorize the list, but know the path of blood off this branch to that one and will annastomose with this one to enable blood flow to this part of your extremity if one area is ligated, the nerve follows this route and innervates this and this and this...., the action caused by this muscle, what happens when it is paralyzed, etc.. in 3 weeks Yeah, I'm laughing now, because that is what we just finished with. Extremities. Cool...you bet! An incredible amount of info...oh yeah!

Now, I had anatomy in the year between matriculation. It didn't help much.

This is what I would take! Why? It will help you tremendously in prep for mcat if you haven't taken it and in the first year, this will prove invaluable.

1. Take as high a level of microbiology or cell biology as possible.
2. Take as high a level of cellurlar or mammilian genetics as possible.
3. or take as high a level of immunology as possible.
4. Take as high a level of biochemistry as possible.
5. Take as high a level of physiology as possible.

Those are listed in order of importance. It was a tough choice between biochem and immunology, but...if you've had that high level of 2 of the top 3, biochem will be in it anyway!

good luck