Physiology vs. Molecular Biology Major

[tmiller696]

Hi! I was just accepted to the University of Colorado yesterday as an Integrative Physiology major. I come from a family with a few physicians and scientists, and I am very well aware of the long process. I will be focusing my undergraduate work with the primary intent being medical school. I do have a backup plan if that does not work, but I am very excited. Now, I know you can major in whatever you want, but I love science. Colorado has two majors that interest me. The first is the Integrative Physiology program, which says is deigned to help kids trying to enter medical school and other graduate health schools. It focuses on taking anatomy and physiology classes, and has all the pre-reqs except orgo.

It seems like the ideal program, except the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology major seems extremely interesting also as find this field of biology highly interesting. However, I can see it being slightly harder to maintain a high GPA with this major. Also, as stupid as this sounds, Integrative Physiology is the university's second most popular freshman major, and I would imagine that a good majority are pre med. I am already sick of the pre med talk, as kids at my high school like to brag about "majoring in pre med next year" lol, so MCDB has the factor that less people are in the program.

Which would you pick?

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[Hockeyguy]

I would go with MCDB. You will be challenged more academically but that will only prepare you all the more for your MCATs. Best of luck in boulder and.....
Go Rams

 

[BuckyBadger!]

I'd take phys because phys is everything! It is truly integrative by nature and you will be applying molecular bio along the way. BUT to be honest, you shouldn't even bother asking what other people would do because it's totally up to you, and there's no wrong answer Best of luck!

 

[allantois]

Start by taking Gen Chem and Gen Bio.

A premed program that doesn't include Orgo is nonsense. You will still take all your prerequisites with other pre-meds.

 

[Eppur Si Muove]

Start by taking Gen Chem and Gen Bio.

A premed program that doesn't include Orgo is nonsense. You will still take all your prerequisites with other pre-meds.

Agree with this. Its pretty early to definitively say which one until you get your hands dirty with some experience. Take gen bio 1/2 and see from there where you want to go. Either are fine choices and should prepare you. Really comes down to personal choice

 

[Holmwood]

Well... since you'll be taking a lot of physio in medical school, it seems redundant to be taking physio as an undergrad.

Of course I'm biased because I took MCDB. : P


MCDB coursework will likely touch upon really cool research tools. Ex: Crispr (gene editing), DREADD (designer receptors), Optogenetics (activating/deactivating brain regions with light), etc. Some of the things you read up on may not be immediately relevant to human physiology (Ex. yeast...), but can still have broad implications for medicine. The applications are, however, broad and can extend well beyond medicine... like terraforming deserts or providing alternative energy.

Integrative physio will also be molecular heavy, but seems to be targeted at understanding the molecular processes that underlie physiology. Though a dynamic field in itself, it doesn't seem to go beyond the human body in terms of applications. That may be a plus or minus for you depending on your preference.

TLDR:
Look up the relevant coursework for each major and see which one interests you. Looking just at the names will hardly give you a very good picture about what the major is about. Choose the major based on the coursework essentially.

Don't worry about the MCAT as basic physio is also a part of MCDB I believe (as a prerequisite for developmental bio).