Should I take advanced math courses for a math minor? Will it be useful at all?

[Macromind101]

I am a first-year pre-med student who is doing a Mathematics minor. My goal is to get an MD-PhD so yes, I plan on doing research alongside my clinical duties. I was wondering if, based on my career goals, it is worth going for a Math minor. Here is my situation:

My high school offered advanced math courses that other high schools typically don't offer, including Calculus III, Differential Equations and Linear Algebra, available to take after AP Calculus BC. I took those math courses and enjoyed them since I enjoy math. So bottom line is: I enjoy math and I have previously taken a fair amount of collegiate-level math courses that are required for a math minor so some courses will be more or less a review for me.

Here are the math courses I need to take for a math minor: Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Introduction to Mathematical Proofs, and Partial Differential Equations. Only two of the courses I listed will be new topics for me. So I was wondering if, since I have some math knowledge anyway, I should just go for the minor. And if advanced math topics will be useful for the research aspect of my career.

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[xffan624]

I am a first-year pre-med student who is doing a Mathematics minor. My goal is to get an MD-PhD so yes, I plan on doing research alongside my clinical duties. I was wondering if, based on my career goals, it is worth going for a Math minor. Here is my situation:

My high school offered advanced math courses that other high schools typically don't offer, including Calculus III, Differential Equations and Linear Algebra, available to take after AP Calculus BC. I took those math courses and enjoyed them since I enjoy math. So bottom line is: I enjoy math and I have previously taken a fair amount of collegiate-level math courses that are required for a math minor so some courses will be more or less a review for me.

Here are the math courses I need to take for a math minor: Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Introduction to Mathematical Proofs, and Partial Differential Equations. Only two of the courses I listed will be new topics for me. So I was wondering if, since I have some math knowledge anyway, I should just go for the minor. And if advanced math topics will be useful for the research aspect of my career.

How the heck would we know what your research topics will be? In general, the only advanced math used for research is statistics, which I don't see listed there, so other than that, I would say "no". But I'm sure there's some esoteric clinical research papers out there that have Calc III topics (whatever those are) in them, so how can I say you won't use them? If you like it and find it interesting, then go for it.

More importantly, you should stop as soon as possible the habit of considering every academic decision by what will help you get into medical school or help you in medical school. It's not healthy.

 

[mimelim]

I am a first-year pre-med student who is doing a Mathematics minor. My goal is to get an MD-PhD so yes, I plan on doing research alongside my clinical duties. I was wondering if, based on my career goals, it is worth going for a Math minor. Here is my situation:

My high school offered advanced math courses that other high schools typically don't offer, including Calculus III, Differential Equations and Linear Algebra, available to take after AP Calculus BC. I took those math courses and enjoyed them since I enjoy math. So bottom line is: I enjoy math and I have previously taken a fair amount of collegiate-level math courses that are required for a math minor so some courses will be more or less a review for me.

Here are the math courses I need to take for a math minor: Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Introduction to Mathematical Proofs, and Partial Differential Equations. Only two of the courses I listed will be new topics for me. So I was wondering if, since I have some math knowledge anyway, I should just go for the minor. And if advanced math topics will be useful for the research aspect of my career.

Why do you plan on doing research alongside your clinical duties?
Why do you need to do MD-PhD in order to do research alongside clinical duties?
What do you plan to do research in/on?

You should take classes that enrich your understanding of science, the world, yourself and others. You should take classes that you enjoy taking in whatever field they may be in, because you will never get an opportunity to do it again. You will also learn things that will help you in whatever you do in the future. The content of a Math minor outside of pre-reqs will not help you with what 99.9% of physicians do. That means 1 in 1000. Do it because you enjoy it. Not because you 'need it'.

 

[Lil Mick]

Ditto on do it because you enjoy it. If you're not pursuing a PhD in math, it probably isn't useful outside of being interesting. If you plan to pursue the PhD, you may want to major in it, as it is easier to complete the graduate courses having had a solid undergraduate education in math.