No Humanities?

[eejaay91]

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How important are humanities classes to medical school?

I just finished my sophomore year and have only taken one semester of english. For my planned junior year schedule, I'm only going to take one more course in english. I'm a chemistry and math double major so I don't have that much room in my schedule

Will this put me at a disadvantage if I apply next year?

 

[Evergrey]

People say that humanities classes help develop a) a sense of awareness for the struggles that humans undergo and b) good writing and communication skills. I guess it's up to you whether you agree with that statement or not, or even think whether those two traits are valuable for future physicians. I would personally say that at least a handful of humanities classes are an integral part of ANY college education, regardless of your major or career plans. Don't you have general education requirements?

Also, keep in mind that several schools require substantial humanities coursework. Emory requires ~18 credits of non-science courses, for example.

TLDR version: Yeah, you will probably be at a disadvantage.

 

[calbears08]

If you're worried about the course load, many schools will count AP and P/NP courses towards their humanities and social science requirement. You can call the admissions office to be sure.

 

[WuMedic]

I"m going to say yes, at least slightly, maybe majorly. Like someone said some schools require a lot of humanities. Others will questions whether you are someone they want as a doctor who has not been exposed to a lot of humanities.

 

[Cypher321]

How important are humanities classes to medical school?

I just finished my sophomore year and have only taken one semester of english. For my planned junior year schedule, I'm only going to take one more course in english. I'm a chemistry and math double major so I don't have that much room in my schedule

Will this put me at a disadvantage if I apply next year?

On behalf of the SDN Board of Parks and Tourism, Welcome to SDN! Enjoy your stay in our quaint community.

.....Med schools are looking for doctors who aren't only knowledgeable in the hard sciences but also that possess an understanding of the human condition with the reasoning that this will help to more fully treat and work with the patients in their care. My question to you is why the double major in math and chemistry? Are you truly passionate about these fields or was your intent to do something to set you apart from the pack? At the very least it would be worth your while to take a few humanities/sociology/psych/etc classes to round out your app.