Question for those non-science majors in undergrad

[dizzyorange]

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For those who were non-science majors in college, what subject did you find the most difficult in medical school?

I know most people suggest having fun the summer before med school, and I certainly intend to do that, but I want to pre-study a subject that might give me fits if I went in cold.

 

[Blade28]

Most subjects in med school are going to be difficult for most people.

PLEASE don't "pre-study." It's not worth it, nor will it really help much.

 

[Jwax]

Most subjects in med school are going to be difficult for most people.

PLEASE don't "pre-study." It's not worth it, nor will it really help much.

As a person with a BA in sociology/criminology....Really, truly don't bother. One of the more important aspects of medical school is learning how to adjust to learning such a vast amount of material in a short time. Even if you do manage to "pre-study" for one subject for one semester, you will be shorting yourself when you hit second semester and haven't had the opportunity to pre-study (because there is no way on earth you will study over xmas break... seriously). So - do yourself a favor and learn to adjust like everyone else. It's all hard b/c there are so many details to know for every class that even if you were a biochem major, you'll have a hard time with it (according to all the biochem majors I've talked to). Same for phys or really just anything! I had anatomy in UG and I still got a B in it in med school.

 

[Flopotomist]

Philosophy major here - gotta join the "don't prestudy" crowd.

If you were accepted, a group of highly trained admissions people identified you as somebody that WILL succeed in medical school. Trust the process. Study hard once you get there, and you will be fine.

 

[Law2Doc]

For those who were non-science majors in college, what subject did you find the most difficult in medical school?

I know most people suggest having fun the summer before med school, and I certainly intend to do that, but I want to pre-study a subject that might give me fits if I went in cold.

Also suggest not prestudying. There were nonsci majors who were among the top students in every first year subject. There were science majors who were among the bottom students in every first year subject. Point is, it doesn't matter what you did before. You are going to have to hit the ground running and work really hard. Very few people find that they showed up to med school "more ready" because of their undergrad. They get their honors by working for it once med school starts. Rest up. You are going to have to work hard when you start. No point tiring yourself out beforehand.

 

[njbmd]

There is nothing that you can prestudy for medical school that will make a significant difference in your performance once you start medical school. It doesn't matter if you are a non-science major or science major.

If you medical school sends out some reading or study material, then by all means complete that but don't try to read texts or study notes. It's a total waste of time.

 

[kdburton]

For those who were non-science majors in college, what subject did you find the most difficult in medical school?

I know most people suggest having fun the summer before med school, and I certainly intend to do that, but I want to pre-study a subject that might give me fits if I went in cold.

I was a non-science major and I thought the biochemistry portion was the hardest... I even took biochem as an undergrad as a pre-req for one of the schools I was applying to and I did very well. I had to study a lot more in the med school version, but I guess they did cover a lot more ground. Otherwise the rest hasn't been that bad. The hardest part is just having to memorize a ton of stuff, in which case your non-science undergrad major might not be a problem. Pre-studying probably won't help much (if at all) because you don't know what they're going to focus on in your classes and you'll probably forget it all by the time you start school anyways. You're going to be doing a lot of school when you start med school, so theres no sense in starting before 🙂

 

[dizzyorange]

My inner voice tells me going in without knowing jack about physio or biochem is going to kill me.. but everybody can't be wrong, I trust you guys.

On the interview trail I was shocked by how much everybody else knew about medicine, whether it was the latest research on a hot topic or the big names in their field of interest etc.. Comparatively, I'm a total newb. I never shadowed or had any clinical experience (quite lucky to have been accepted without that).

I feel like I should be reading something medically-related these months before school starts. I graduated last year so I don't have any college-courses/fun to take up my time. Tonight I started Harvey Cushing - A Life In Surgery. Figured history is as good a good a topic as any to start with.

 

[kdburton]

My inner voice tells me going in without knowing jack about physio or biochem is going to kill me.. but everybody can't be wrong, I trust you guys.

On the interview trail I was shocked by how much everybody else knew about medicine, whether it was the latest research on a hot topic or the big names in their field of interest etc.. Comparatively, I'm a total newb. I never shadowed or had any clinical experience (quite lucky to have been accepted without that).

I feel like I should be reading something medically-related these months before school starts. I graduated last year so I don't have any college-courses/fun to take up my time. Tonight I started Harvey Cushing - A Life In Surgery. Figured history is as good a good a topic as any to start with.

Honestly the material isn't very difficult, its the volume that is killer. Theres nothing that I've come across that, if tricky or completely foreign at first, I wasn't able to understand after studying it a bit. The initial problem I think a lot of people come across in med school is that you need to have a good/efficient method for studying, and that differs for every person (and for me it differs with every class haha). You really can't figure this out until you start school and begin trying out different methods. This is the reason why pre-studying before med school is a waste of time. In my opinion the only way that pre-studying will help you out is if you simulate real med school conditions and study a crazy person and see if you're able to recall hundreds of pages notes by the end of a week. Light reading of Lippincott's Biochem Review when you have a couple hours to kill every once in a while over the summer won't do you any good because you'll essentially do much much much more than all of that combined in the single week before your biochemistry test when you're actually in medical school.

 

[Tiger26]

Government major here (only did the prereq, hell I only had 6 of them done when I was even accepted)

Agree w/everything else. DON'T prestudy. You don't know the pace yet, so even if you feel like you're learning a lot, you'll get to the first week and realize that you learned enough material to cover a few lecture hours at most and will be pretty jaded by it.

Plus, by the time you get there, you'll likely forget most of the details anyway. I feel pretty confident in saying that halfway through med school, I've managed to forget at times more than most people ever learned in college. I currently working on getting that back for step 1, however.

 

[Orthodoc40]

Well to answer your question, everything has been hard for me. Anatomy was like going to Mass in Italy where you thought you knew what was supposed to happen and you're there ready with your "I can do this", but then you couldn't understand a word anyone was saying. So maybe take a latin course. HA HA. Just kidding.... sort of.

It helped people in class who had anatomy or biochem or whatever, before, but if you haven't had it, there's nothing to do about it now.

 

[vtucci]

I was also a non-science major. I agree with earlier comments that the pace will be something that you are not prepared for. However, it is much easier for people who have had the material before.

I had my butt nearly handed to me by anatomy. Even if you only cover a few chapters, anatomy is like learning a foreign language-- you get better with practice. Many schools use Moore's anatomy text. Mini-moore is a doing read over the summer.

Good luck. Try to have some fun. Your time will not be your own for a while.

 

[Rhuby]

Very odd non-science major here. To echo everyone else, don't pre-study. I tried. To be honest, not very hard, but I got through about 100 pages of a book before school started. That was "the reading" for the first day. Don't bother!

Since you are concerned about a lack of clinical experience, read those books this summer if you have the time. There are TONS of medical narratives out there that I always found to be very interesting. Also, set up shadowing with doctors in various fields. This can also give you a better feel for the whole situation, and it can often be fun depending on what field you are spending a day or two with.

Good luck in the fall! Try not to stress about it too much right now, you will have plenty of that in a few months. Enjoy yourself while you still can!

 

[Law2Doc]

My inner voice tells me going in without knowing jack about physio or biochem is going to kill me..

Your inner voice is likely a demon; don't listen to it. They used to bleed people to get rid of these negative inner voices. People like Son of Sam listen to these inner voices, not future med students. When you get to psych you will learn all about folks who have voices in their heads telling them to do bad things.😀

 

[MossPoh]

Hmmmmm. So are you guys saying I shouldn't start studying for the boards yet? Damn, I just got all the books...

 

[Flopotomist]

On the interview trail I was shocked by how much everybody else knew about medicine, whether it was the latest research on a hot topic or the big names in their field of interest etc..

This is a thinking error that med students are notorious for. We all see that what our peers know that we don't know, and feel challenged (or inferior). What we FAIL to see is what our peers do NOT know.

Learn early to run your own race. Don't compare yourself academically to your peers - just do your best. In fact - never tell people where you actually stand on the bell curve.

 

[sprinkibrio]

Biochemistry was difficult for me not only because of volume but because conceptually nothing clicked. I knew this coming into school having literally failed it in undergrad (and never having to repeat it because it was a half of a class, the second half of which was physiology).

Although having never taken anything like anatomy I rocked it because I spoke it's language. The logic of biochem to me was like word soup. I know that I would have enjoyed and perhaps then worked harder at biochem having felt more confident in it. If you understand the general importance of things, the general structure of what goes on, it's a lot less frustrating to try to place what seem to be random details in your memory come August. Maybe my schools never taught it well, who knows, but I wish I would have leisurely read Lippincotts before school... trying get a better grasp on the logic, not the detail. The authors of that book present it in a way I can understand, and I didn't have time to read 90% of it when class actually started.

Now it's time for me to get yelled at... but I don't see anything wrong in trying to become familiar with a topic that can help you in your future career. Trying to become proficient to boost a grade is, of course, foolish.

As a nonscience major I feel much better prepared for problem solving classes like genetics and multidisciplinary classes like human behavior and psychopathology.

 

[Law2Doc]

Now it's time for me to get yelled at... but I don't see anything wrong in trying to become familiar with a topic that can help you in your future career.

The thing wrong with it is it's a total waste of time, and it's a waste of the last totally free time you are going to have for a while. You get far more value having a nice time for the next few months and show up revitalized. The worst thing you can do is show up burnt out on med school stuff. Sort of like having a late lunch before an all you can eat dinner. You are always better off showing up hungry.

 

[samenewme]

I will confess that I spent some time over the summer reading a biochem textbook written for med students, but not the one used in my school. I read it, quizzed myself just a little bit on the topics in the chapter, and probably put in oh, 20-30 hours on it over the course of the summer. It was not a complete waste of time in the sense that I am a huge worrywart and it made me feel better to think I was accomplishing something.

BUT I WASN'T. I saw those same topics again in lecture and thought, "That's that thing with that stuff!" And that's about all I got from it. It's okay to read if you want to. You won't ruin your last free summer on this earth, and your brain won't explode. But my experience was that I did not get as good a use from that time as I had hoped, and my expectations were pretty darn low.

 

[mahasanti]

I don't really agree with everyone here that it is a horrible idea to "pre-study." Like everyone else said, I do think you will do fine in med school, but personally, I found that any exposure (even a small amount) I had to the material made it that much easier to understand when it was presented in lecture.

For instance, I was working the year before med school and I made some amino acid flash cards and worked on memorizing those during down times. Did it make a huge difference? no... but it was nice to be able to not have to worry about later.

Having had no experience with anatomy as an undergrad I do wish I had used some of the free time I had before school started to at least look over anatomy. I think it would have made anatomy that much more bearable. But I listened to all the advice on SDN that practically screamed that any pre-studying is rediculous. I think most SDNers just like to discourage people from pre-studying because it makes them feel lazy...

So, if you are really bored or just really set on getting ready for school maybe consider getting a set Netter's flash cards or maybe getting a review physio or biochem book or something. If you don't have any physio or biochem it might be useful to at least have a basic idea of some fundamentals. As for anatomy, any memorizing you do beforehand only means it will be that much easier later.

Just make sure you have plenty of fun too!