Physics

[bbas]

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Is physics even used in med school? I can think of some specialities like radiology and radiation oncology where physics knowledge would be used, but other than that do doctors even use physics on a regular basis?

 

[Lilah]

Is physics even used in med school? I can think of some specialities like radiology and radiation oncology where physics knowledge would be used, but other than that do doctors even use physics on a regular basis?

No.
Much of what we take in undergrad. is useless when practicing medicine.
I think more than anything, they make us take classes like physics to see if we can handle the rigors of medical school.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

If you push a patient off of the top of a 100 foot building...
a. How long until he plummets to his death?
b. What is the terminal velocity of the body?
(extra credit) c. How long until you get sued for malpractice?

OF COURSE you'll use Physics in medicine 🙄
-Dr. P.

 

[rcd]

If you push a patient off of the top of a 100 foot building...
a. How long until he plummets to his death?
b. What is the terminal velocity of the body?
(extra credit) c. How long until you get sued for malpractice?

OF COURSE you'll use Physics in medicine 🙄
-Dr. P.

a. 2.5s
b. nei...
c. Forever, if you do it right.

 

[Flopotomist]

Here was a problem we faced recently that required (albeit basic) an understanding of physics (the nurse got the concept backwards). In order to NOT blow out a PICC line, you need to only use a syringe that will deliver fluid with the lowest possible force. Which syringe would be better, a 30cc or a 10cc syringe?

 

[OSUdoc08]

Is physics even used in med school? I can think of some specialities like radiology and radiation oncology where physics knowledge would be used, but other than that do doctors even use physics on a regular basis?

If you go into those specialties, you will learn what you need to know during residency.

Physics is just about as useful as organic chemistry, calculus, and music theory in medical school.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most useful, it is a 0.

 

[DesiMcatAcer]

Is physics even used in med school? I can think of some specialities like radiology and radiation oncology where physics knowledge would be used, but other than that do doctors even use physics on a regular basis?

At what angle does should the medicine leave the hand of the patient so that...naww forget it 🙂

 

[ShyRem]

Helpful in EM. Laugh if you want, but I've seen plenty of patients that were treated only on presentation and not on mechanism and ended up crashing.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Helpful in EM. Laugh if you want, but I've seen plenty of patients that were treated only on presentation and not on mechanism and ended up crashing.

Explain how a physics course would have been remotely useful in this scenario.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

as useless as it may be, if you are going to be a DOCTOR, its nice to have a wide background in these "useless" basic sciences for nothing else other than being able to say that you survived them ("ooh Dr. X passed orgo and physics, he must be smart!").

also, how else are you going to weed out thousands of potential applicants? clinical experience which everyone has? interview all of them? the person who can write the best essay gets in? if you can cut physics, orgo, and a little bio you should do fine in med school, if you can't, you still may be able to, but you're probably less likely to.

 

[ShyRem]

mechanism is all about transfer of energies through the different mediums in, say, an auto vs. telephone pole. Or man kicked in the chest by a horse. I've seen both cases where the patient presented as "fine" and two hours later was darn near dead because the doc didn't take into account the physical transfer of energies through the human body (in the case of the horse), or the different collisions of the organs of the body in the sudden cessation of movement in the case of the car vs. telephone pole.

It's physics. Simple physics, but physics nonetheless.

 

[OSUdoc08]

mechanism is all about transfer of energies through the different mediums in, say, an auto vs. telephone pole. Or man kicked in the chest by a horse. I've seen both cases where the patient presented as "fine" and two hours later was darn near dead because the doc didn't take into account the physical transfer of energies through the human body (in the case of the horse), or the different collisions of the organs of the body in the sudden cessation of movement in the case of the car vs. telephone pole.

It's physics. Simple physics, but physics nonetheless.

It's not physics that you need to take a class for. I doubt people would bust out with physics equations to solve those patients' problems.

 

[ShyRem]

It's not about the equations - it's about the concepts. And while you and I might say "it's common sense", it isn't that way for most people.

 

[OSUdoc08]

It's not about the equations - it's about the concepts. And while you and I might say "it's common sense", it isn't that way for most people.

Perhaps, but this basic understanding is taught in high school science, not a college physics course.

 

[Sundarban1]

Perhaps, but this basic understanding is taught in high school science, not a college physics course.

Guess who didn't do so well in physics?

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Perhaps, but this basic understanding is taught in high school science, not a college physics course.

hahahahhahahahahah

high school science?????

you've gotten be kidding me, high school science was a joke where I'm from!

 

[ShyRem]

Perhaps in your high school, osu. But I went to high school.. um.. a while ago, and I don't remember that being taught at all. Obviously I'm not alone in my lack of recollection of those "basic" science facts.

 

[shantster]

hahahahhahahahahah

high school science?????

you've gotten be kidding me, high school science was a joke where I'm from!

actually, my high school physics class was a lot better than the one I'm taking in college.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Perhaps in your high school, osu. But I went to high school.. um.. a while ago, and I don't remember that being taught at all. Obviously I'm not alone in my lack of recollection of those "basic" science facts.

Perhaps, but I sure didn't learn anything useful in my college physics. We learned something about circuits and swinging pendulums, but I've dumped that information long ago. All I know is we had to learn hundreds of useless equations that I'll never use.

 

[ShyRem]

algebra-based physics? I can see that. I took calc-based, which was more concept and problem-solving based. We "memorized" very few equations. Most of them you can figure out if you know the calc behind them anyway. My college physics class rocked... taught by a guy who worked on the original lunar landing module and was all about concepts and problem solving, and not necessarily about getting the right answer (although that was worth a lot of points on the exams). You could pass with a C (or even a B if you did enough) without actually getting to the final answer on any problem if you could show thought process, problem solving, and understanding of the concepts presented in each problem. He figured any monkey could "plug 'n' chug" into a memorized equation.

I loved physics class.

 

[OSUdoc08]

algebra-based physics? I can see that. I took calc-based, which was more concept and problem-solving based. We "memorized" very few equations. Most of them you can figure out if you know the calc behind them anyway. My college physics class rocked... taught by a guy who worked on the original lunar landing module and was all about concepts and problem solving, and not necessarily about getting the right answer (although that was worth a lot of points on the exams). You could pass with a C (or even a B if you did enough) without actually getting to the final answer on any problem if you could show thought process, problem solving, and understanding of the concepts presented in each problem. He figured any monkey could "plug 'n' chug" into a memorized equation.

I loved physics class.

Yup, I didn't take calc-based physics. I don't do math.

 

[ShyRem]

I hear you there - same problem run into by most folks in my physics class and definitely everyone else in my pchem class. Two classes where having more math background than stated as a prereq was a bonus and made life *very* easy.

 

[dbhvt]

Physiology is applied physics in several instances. I don't know how useful it will be in practice, but as far as I've been told it will be usefull in the first two years.

Cardiology, Renal, Neuro ---> physics
off the top of my head. might be other examples.


I have a theory that OSUdoc08 actually got some use out of his physics class, he just doesn't realize it cause he can't remember who the hell Newton was. Comeon man, it's not all chemistry.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Physiology is applied physics in several instances. I don't know how useful it will be in practice, but as far as I've been told it will be usefull in the first two years.

Cardiology, Renal, Neuro ---> physics
off the top of my head. might be other examples.


I have a theory that OSUdoc08 actually got some use out of his physics class, he just doesn't realize it cause he can't remember who the hell Newton was. Comeon man, it's not all chemistry.

Sure, I do!

 

[haleyrockx]

Perhaps in your high school, osu. But I went to high school.. um.. a while ago, and I don't remember that being taught at all. Obviously I'm not alone in my lack of recollection of those "basic" science facts.

Yeah, I didn't get taught that in high school either 12 years ago. We didn't even have physics as an optional course. I'm glad it's required, otherwise I wouldn't know a lot of the basic content, other than that I can decifer with common sense. Even with intuition, it helps to know why in case you have a tricky situation. You can't always use intuition or common sense.

 

[ShyRem]

LOVE the Newtons!!!

 

[haleyrockx]

Sure, I do!

 

[dbhvt]

Sure, I do!

OSUdoc08,

You ever hear about that russian doc who escaped from a soviet prison by pretending to be a doctor. He had NO formal education, but bullshiitted his way around long enough that he got to be a pretty good doc. Expert in something, or national position in something, I don't remember. I guess you don't need math, physics, chem, biology, or any of that shiit. Just get your arse on the wards and figure out how everyone else does what they do.

 

[mchee]

Wouldn't you need physics for ortho, too?

 

[rajad10]

yea ortho there is a **** load - impulse for fractures, youngs modulus

maybe even bernoulli's principle for blood flow

 

[OSUdoc08]

yea ortho there is a **** load - impulse for fractures, youngs modulus

maybe even bernoulli's principle for blood flow

You're never going to actually use any of those stupid equations in practice.

Ortho is all about using common garage tools.

 

[dbhvt]

Ortho is all about using common garage tools.

Ortho is all about being a *******.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Ortho is all about being a *******.

That is a common phrase from people with board scores too low to get into such a residency.

 

[dbhvt]

That is a common phrase from people with board scores too low to get into such a residency.

Ok. I fixed it for you.

Edit: nah, I like the way the first one sounded. You have to understand. Antagonism is all about aesthetics.

 

[Sundarban1]

You're never going to actually use any of those stupid equations in practice.

Ortho is all about using common garage tools.

To the contrary I was talking to a orthopedic surgeon here at the hospital and and I was telling him how I was in physics and skeptical as to how/when I would use this stuff again and he was telling me about a patient who had a broken limb repaired only to have the rods, etc. sheer within a few days.

He said the problem was the angle at which they were inserted and the fact that this doctor had not read up on his basic physics torque, lever arm etc. lol.

So, whether you want to ignore phyiscs or not is upto you. Clearly there are some here who would rather not think for themselves and rely on what others tell them and accept that to be truth. However, physics is the science of natrual phenomena and questioning such. You will encounter these phenomena as a medical student and future physician. Whether you choose to recognize it as is upto you.