Prior in-depth knowledge in med school.....

[fonzy]

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Hello,

My background is engineering. Now I am taking minimal biology and chem classes [some thru' placement] just to meet the requirement so that I could try to get into med school.

I am wondering how much of previous knowledge is required to do well in courses in med school. Could one grasp and learn course material in MD program without much of previous background in bio and chem?
I have taken cellular and molecular biology. It was different from engineering courses but I did well. I had to memorize a lot though.

Do they teach the basics in med school?
Could one start from the scratch and do well there?

Thanks

 

[jekel]

My impression is that they do teach the basics, but move very quickly through it. There have been some other threads regarding studying the summer before med school. Most people advise against it, so I would assume that it is not needed.

 

[8744]

You will do fine. There was nothing in the first two years that required a deep understanding gained from exposure as an undergraduate.

The pre-requisites are enough, which are why they are called pre-requisites. If you ask me, even those are not all necessary.

Also, don't study anything the summer before medical school. People have said this a thousand time but this might be the last completely free summer of your life. Enjoy it. Nothing you read now is going to stick anyways.

 

[QM6]

Originally posted by Panda Bear
Also, don't study anything the summer before medical school. People have said this a thousand time but this might be the last completely free summer of your life. Enjoy it. Nothing you read now is going to stick anyways.

Or, study someting you wish you took if it weren't for all the pre-med pre-reqs, or that you'd prolly never study if you never had the "certainty" of med school ahead - like a language class, or something creative... If you're just finishing up undergrad, it's usually pretty easy to take a summer class right after, plus it gives you extra time to move out from where you were living.

 

[monique]

fonzy,

i graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and am now a first year. i also only took the minimal prerequisites and in the beginning, it was a little frustrating because many of my biology-major classmates were a little ahead of the game, but that advantage soon dissappears. If you can handle engineering, you can handle anything. good luck.

 

[fonzy]

Thanks for such encouraging response!

How much attendence is required in course work there? I really do not like to sit in a classroom unless required. I love to study on my own.
What exactly is a passing grade?

thanks

 

[8744]

It depends on your school. At my medical school we have mandatory attendence. You are allowed to miss five percent of the lectures for any given course. This works out to about five lectures for a typical six week course.

Fortunantly, or unfortunantly, the attendance policy has never been enforced and nobody's grade has ever been lowered because of excessive absences. Only one professor in the last two years has even asked to look at the attendence sheets.

So towards the end of second year we had people skipping like big dogs.

I understand that most medical schools do not have mandatory attendance and it is not unusual for a professor to lecture to a mostly empty hall. We never really had that problem, probably because we knew instictively that if there were to many empty seats the administration would start enforcing the policy.

Don't decide whetheror not you will skip lectures until you sit through a few of them. Some of them can be very good and if you sit in the front and really pay attention it will decrease the amount of time you need to study on your own.

Of course, many lecturers just read from their Powerpoints which are always posted on our website. So sitting in on that lecture really makes no sense, especially if you are a fast reader.

I probably only missed ten lectures in two years. This is more because, as I have a wife and three kids, I pretty muchhave to get out of the house in the morning and might as well go to class.

I can understand how some of you younger, single people would rather stay up late studying (like I am doing now, Step 1 Next week) and sleep in a little.

At my school, a passing grade is a 70. Some things, like Standardized Patient exams, are pseudo-pass-fail. That is, you get a grade but you have to pass to move on.

It is not hard to pass. I am not even close to the top of my class. My test averages hover around the mid-seventies to low eighties. I would not say that I put too much effort into studying. Maybe two or three hours a day, but I am consistent.