this is probably a basic question, but i initially thought that physio and anatomy were important classes we should take to apply to med schools. However, barely any schools ask to have it on their MSARs. Am I way off? It seems more schools require psychology than anatomy or physio?!?!
physio/anat important?
- Thread starter tonberry
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I think that undergraduate and medical school anatomy and physio classes are fundamentally different, so there's no point in it being recommended before entering medical school.
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487806
Med schools do not require, or even recommend, anatomy or physiology
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So I guess I could save A&P for an elective senior year or something? Because I mean... It's interesting and I'd like to take it. Even though I'd be going into more complex stuff in med school the following year. Haha
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487806
Yep. Perfectly fine
I told myself I would do this too for anatomy, but it just didn't happen. I thought it would be interesting to take and might help ease the learning curve for medical school anatomy. It wasn't required for my major so i put it off... Then senioritis hit me. I didn't want to voluntarily take a course with a 4 hour lab per week when I could fill my schedule with other interesting classes with less class/lab commitment.
Take it if you want OP, it wont make or break you as long as you have all the other prereqs. Some schools do require anatomy though (Ohio state) and some require biochem (Hopkins) for example.
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Physiology helps for the bio portion of the MCAT, but I have never heard of it being a highly recommended course for admission. Take it if you're interested and if you think you will do well, it will aid your sGPA.
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Anatomy and Physiology will help a tiny bit on your MCAT. That being said, the biggest help you'll get from these classes will be in medical school. If you take these classes earlier, you'll already know some of the information going into medical school. This should give you a bit of a jumpstart. If you've already taken them, I'd argue that looks pretty good to any medical school.
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Physio would be helpful, anatomy almost certainly would not (unless you have a super memory).
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University of Arizona Phoenix requires physiology... and as far as I know it's the only school that requires it.
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Why are you listed as a "Medical Student" yet presumably haven't even started medical school yet? If this is the case, you're not offering insight as a current medical student, rather a future medical student so I just dont understand.
To the OP, anatomy and physiology is not required by medical school. These classes are way more intense and actually very different in medical school versus taking them undergrad. In medical school, even if youve taken these before, it'll be like you're learning a whole different subject from scratch
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I agree that Anatomy was a completely weaker experience in undergrad, but my physiology course was actually spot on. Most of first year physio was quite boring to me because I'd already seen it all before. Anatomy and Histology (along with a little Pharma) were new and extremely interesting!
Even though undergrad physio has been helpful, I'd actually recommend NOT taking it. Either it will be too little information to be helpful, or it'll be the same information and will make you bored during your first year, which also sucks.
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I couldn't respectfully disagree anymore with you on this.
I took anatomy as an undergrad and it helped tremendously before medical school. Much of anatomy is just figuring out the language of it and being familiar with a lot of the basic anatomy will help you out. My experience was undergrad anatomy just did a basic overview of anatomy, medical school just did everything.
I didn't take physio before medical school so I can't comment on that.
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My school does require anatomy before matriculation. I think it is the only school to do so.
False. Some schools indeed recommend A&P along with other upper division biology courses, perhaps statistics, logic, et cetera.
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They don't require it because med schools teach it the way doctors need to know it. Undergrad AP is essentially useless.
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This.
They're going to teach you, and charge you to be taught, Anatomy and physiology.
Don't ask, because I don't 100% understand it, but I've had people tell me not to take undergrad A&P because then you have to learn it a completely different way.
I took Comparative Anatomy--which is really 1/2 embryo 1/2 anatomy. It was great in that you learn a lot of key anatomy concepts and vocabulary.
I wish I had taken histology in undergrad. That might be worth taking.
I also took a physio class--I think mammalian physiology or something along those lines. Good foundation.
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I took physiology in undergrad, and it looks like students at UNM SOM use the same physio book I had to read cover-to-cover in undergrad (far right, purple book "Costanzo Physiology"). Dear god, I hope all that pain will at least help me out a tad bit for med school.
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Could you name a few that recommend it? I couldn't find any when I last searched
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This doesn't make much sense. If this were the case, we would only take organic chem and biochem and those would be the only prereqs. And why do we take physics ? Of course it's good to take a&p .. Even if they are not nearly on med school level. I find it strange that they aren't pre reqs
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Multiple advisers said not to take it because it's fundamentally different. Not trying to be cute or funny, but that's my real life experience.
And, you take physics because it's on the MCAT. I mean, it won't kill you to know the Law of LaPlace, but you could never have a day of physics and thrive in medical school. I can't tell you how few times I've calculated when a car needs to stop or where a punted football would land. They may talk about circuits or conductance, but you're not going to miss a multiple choice question because you didn't understand capacitance in depth.
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487806
That's vague... Are you referring to state schools? I checked the MSAR for the private schools, and they don't require/recommend anatomy. Could you give an example that does require it?
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487806
Sorry but anatomy and physiology should definitely not be prereqs. Keep the prereqs as biology/physics/gen chem/orgo/english. Medical schools handle anatomy and physiology differently, and it's better for nonbio majors to focus on their own interests than on what would help them for medical school. College is the time to focus on our own interests when we have the time, and I'm sure many of us would avoid anatomy (although physiology may be useful) to take the classes we enjoy.
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Just wondering, but did you take either before medical school?
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Ohio State does. It's a pretty innocuous requirement, though, because they allow you to take it online or at a CC after you're accepted.
Ah, this again.
You really don't need to take them, but if you feel like it, go nuts. Honestly, I think it's better to take something that you are interested in and never will get to do again (history, astronomy, etc) or take a language.
Seriously, you are going to get a ton of this stuff. No need to rush into it. I didn't take anatomy and I took a semester of physio for non-majors. You get through it. I don't know how much better I would have done if I had taken the courses before. However, based on my experience and many of my classmates, having any preknowledge of anatomy or physio was unnecessary. I'm sure it would help somewhat, but is it really worth doing it over something else?
You really don't need to take them, but if you feel like it, go nuts. Honestly, I think it's better to take something that you are interested in and never will get to do again (history, astronomy, etc) or take a language.
Seriously, you are going to get a ton of this stuff. No need to rush into it. I didn't take anatomy and I took a semester of physio for non-majors. You get through it. I don't know how much better I would have done if I had taken the courses before. However, based on my experience and many of my classmates, having any preknowledge of anatomy or physio was unnecessary. I'm sure it would help somewhat, but is it really worth doing it over something else?
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I didn't take anatomy and any physio I had was from my major classes (upper level bio classes). I'm not really sure how helpful it would've been to take it in undergrad because the depth of information you'll be getting in med school is probably far beyond what undergrad will teach you. Physio might be a good idea because it might be something you'll remember, but I don't think there's a point in taking anatomy.
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As far as biology is concerned, all I took was zoology ("general biology") and botany-- 2 freshman level courses. No admissions office batted an eye.
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I'm taking Mammalian Physiology next quarter! I hope it's as helpful as you say it is. 😀
