Really confused about lab requirements for med school?

[sharona1121]

Can someone help answer this question?

I'm really confused as to whether lab work is a prerequisite for med schools? Some med school websites seem to indicate that only biology and chemistry is needed... others don't seem to specify? Does anyone know what exactly the requirement is?

For those of you who did it in one year, did you guys take 3 labs and 3 science classes each semester? That seems like a lot.

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[moneduloides]

Can someone help answer this question?

I'm really confused as to whether lab work is a prerequisite for med schools? Some med school websites seem to indicate that only biology and chemistry is needed... others don't seem to specify? Does anyone know what exactly the requirement is?

For those of you who did it in one year, did you guys take 3 labs and 3 science classes each semester? That seems like a lot.

The one year programs include labs. So, yes, three lectures and three labs. I won't start my post-bac until this summer, but IIRC from my undergrad institution it wasn't really an option to take the lecture without the lab or vice versa (at least for the pre-med requirement courses). In fact, the lab grade was a % of your total grade for the 4 credit course (4 credit lecture, required 0 credit lab). Other schools may do it differently than this, however.

 

[DrMidlife]

Pick up an MSAR to see what the published requirements are. (School websites are still the best source, though.)

In my view it would be foolish NOT to do the labs. That would be poor planning, since the majority of schools list the labs as required.

On the one hand, you should do the prereqs at a speed to succeed: get A's or go home, basically. On the other hand, med school is WAY more intense than taking 3 classes with labs at once. More like taking 6 science classes with 3 labs. For two years straight. And then it gets hard. So getting used to what it takes to succeed under a heavy science load might be good for you. But get A's.

Best of luck to you.