Question about non-science majors

[SyrianRenegade]

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What non-required classes should I take as a social science major? Signing up for classes for next sem...I'll be taking orgo and physics and that will be wrapping up the requirements for me. What other classes should I be looking at?

 

[RySerr21]

What non-required classes should I take as a social science major? Signing up for classes for next sem...I'll be taking orgo and physics and that will be wrapping up the requirements for me. What other classes should I be looking at?

well technically thats all you need to have. Everything else will be for your own benefit so try to find science courses that you find interesting. Human phys is a pretty good class to take, others like taking biochemistry. Its really up to you.

 

[mtnman12]

I just think everyone should take human phys and a semester of biochem... I don't know how far along you are in school, but I talked to one university who said they are going to start requiring them within the next 1-2 years, along with cell biology. Otherwise - genetics if you haven't, embryology would give you a head start, and I definitely recommend classes like medical psychology or medical anthropology if you can find anything like it. I used some material from those classes in interviews. Maybe also TA anatomy?

 

[BigRedBeta]

As someone with a social science degree...

I recommend genetics and a semester of biochem - but in general I wouldn't get to worked up about trying prep for med school, but these two might help on the MCAT just a little (it's been a while since I looked at the content trends, but several years ago, genetics and molecular bio/biochem were becoming more and more prominent on the MCAT). If there are any offerings that combine medicine/science with the social sciences or humanities at your school, take those - I took a health and illness in literature class which was great as well as a sociology of health and health professions class (which was less great).

 

[tiedyeddog]

You need biochem for most med schools.

Also, I would take molecular genetics and physiology but you don't absolutely have to have either.

 

[hedgehog1]

I vote cell bio and biochem. It'll help you have a greater understanding of stuff you are learning in your other science classes, and if you do well, it'll bump your BCPM.

Keep in mind you are already taking two prereq classes next semester though. It's important to do well in those, so you might want to hold off on taking superfluous (to your degree) science classes.

 

[RySerr21]

You need biochem for most med schools.

Also, I would take molecular genetics and physiology but you don't absolutely have to have either.

no you dont. not even close. It might be on the way to becoming that way, but as of now an overwhleming majority of schools DO NOT require biochemistry. Many more recommend it though.

 

[Double A]

Don't throw in another heavy science class if you don't need to, say if you still have a couple of semesters left. Look into a bioethics class. I'm in one now and I love it.

 

[tiedyeddog]

I was wrong, many schools don't require but most do recommend it. I would say you almost need to take it.

http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/premed_coursework.html

Here is a guide that has compiled some info from the MSAR.

 

[RySerr21]

I was wrong, many schools don't require but most do recommend it. I would say you almost need to take it.

http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/premed_coursework.html

Here is a guide that has compiled some info from the MSAR.

" I would say you almost need to take it."

What does that even mean? When you cut around the BS, it means "You dont need to take it." Advice for applicants: check out the requirements for the schools you are applying to. If it happens that some of the schools you are interested in require biochem, then you should probably take the course. If not (which is likely since not every many require it) then I wouldnt worry about trying to fit it in. If you get around to it, sure, it will be a useful class. But its not going to make or break your application.

 

[Law2Doc]

What non-required classes should I take as a social science major? Signing up for classes for next sem...I'll be taking orgo and physics and that will be wrapping up the requirements for me. What other classes should I be looking at?

Ignore a lot of the premed posts of what you "need" or what is beneficial in med school. All you need are the prereqs. Med school will teach you all you need to know, and then some. Some schools have made biochem a prereq, for those that don't they teach with the assumption that some in med school won't have taken it. Most med school courses outpace anything you have learned in a college class in the first week, so any advantage folks think they have is often short lived. And a lot of things people seem to like to take end up being second year courses so folks don't remember them anyhow. When you get to med school, you will find that an equal number of science majors who took lots of medicine type courses are struggling than not. Why? Because the biggest challenge in med school is not the material itself, it's about learning how to study effectively for the pace of med school. For every person on allo who posts that they felt advantaged by having a strong undergrad physio course, there will be someone who took the same kind of course and still ended up at the bottom of the med school curve. Because college isn't med school, and you can't really "get ahead". It's the same kind of point that all the folks who tell you not to spend your summer before med school trying to "prepare". It doesn't work. The prereqs are the prereqs for a reason. If medicine felt you needed physio or genetics or anatomy as a prereq, they would ask you to take it (as some places have done for biochem). I wouldn't waste your time.

The single most useful course you can take when going into medicine is Spanish (or whatever second language is most spoken in the region you are interested in going to school). The second most useful course would be statistics. The third most useful course would be an intro business course. These are the things that you won't get taught but might actually find a need for in medicine. All the other stuff, if you need it, will be taught to you. And you will have ample time to learn it because you will be doing nothing else for the next few years. Don't kid yourself into thinking you can get ahead, or that you free up more time. In college, the level of detail is different, the amount of material is minute, and the things focused on are often not the same. Sometimes the approach is just wrong, and bad habits are harder to break than to start fresh. And in most cases by the time you get to that material, you will have forgotten most/all of it. I say don't bother.

 

[Law2Doc]

I was wrong, many schools don't require but most do recommend it. I would say you almost need to take it.

http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/premed_coursework.html

Here is a guide that has compiled some info from the MSAR.

Recommend means you don't have to take it, but that many of your class mates will have, so you may need to spend a few extra hours during the first week or so because the prof will move a bit faster -- nothing to sweat about, and many of the folks who took it also will be spending that extra couple of hours because their undergrad course will generally have been lacking in multiple aspects, even if they remember it. After that all will be pretty even. Required means you need to take it.