Starting MS w/o taking key science classes

[Hokie06]

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I was wondering if not have taken microbiology, immunology, and neuroscience will make things more difficult for me in medical school. I didn't major in the sciences in college so I'm worried I might facesome serious touble starting school this august. It would totally suck if i have to spend 4 more hours studying because I had not taken these classes before! I have taken some upper level science classes such as physiology, biochemistry, and genetics. Would any current med students comment on this? Thanks!

 

[JenHeart]

I took the bare minimum requirements and did fine in my first two years. I think beyond the first lecture in each course (biochem, etc.) in med school - I was on a level playing field. I would not recommend taking all those extra courses in undergraduate just to 'prepare' for med school. Just my .02 based on my experiences.

 

[spicedmanna]

I was wondering if not have taken microbiology, immunology, and neuroscience will make things more difficult for me in medical school. I didn't major in the sciences in college so I'm worried I might facesome serious touble starting school this august. It would totally suck if i have to spend 4 more hours studying because I had not taken these classes before! I have taken some upper level science classes such as physiology, biochemistry, and genetics. Would any current med students comment on this? Thanks!

I wouldn't obsess over it. I mean, obviously, it probably helps to have a bit of a background, but it won't be the end of you, if you don't. My observation is that folks who took micro/immuno in college probably had a somewhat of an easier time assimilating the material as it was presented in class, because medical school moves at warp speed, but once everyone got on the same page, that advantage wasn't as significant. You may end up doing a bit more work initially, but it'll level out, is what I mean. In general, medical school classes take it to a few steps above what is presented in undergrad. You may get the basics in your undergrad class, but it is not ordinarily as clinically focused, which is the usual bent in medical school. In that sense, it is new material for most everyone, even if they have a background in such and such.

That said, you may want to supplement w/ some good basic resources, when classes start, to help your understanding. For example, Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple is a good book for micro concepts, especially if you don't have a background in micro. Get a simple to understand immunology book and peruse through the basics, so that when stuff comes flying at you, you won't be like, "whoa..." That's about it. Oh, and neuro, at least at my school, is tough for nearly everyone, whether you have a background or not. I thought I had a pretty strong neuro background, but the medical school version was probably the hardest B I've ever earned in my life. Word. I had to use several supplemental resources for neuro, including, but not limited to, BRS Neuroanatomy, Rapid Review Neuroscience, Cranial Nerves in Health and Disease, Clinical Neuroanatomy Made Ridiculously Simple, and a bunch of websites.

 

[JenHeart]

That said, you may want to supplement w/ some good basic resources, when classes start, to help your understanding. For example, Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple is a good book for micro concepts, especially if you don't have a background in micro. Get a simple to understand immunology book and peruse through the basics, so that when stuff comes flying at you, you won't be like, "whoa..." That's about it. Oh, and neuro, at least at my school, is tough for nearly everyone, whether you have a background or now. I had a pretty strong neuro background and the medical school version was probably the hardest B I've ever earned in my life. Word.

Great advice here. These helped me a lot too 🙂 And neuro, let's not go there.

 

[engineeredout]

I was wondering if not have taken microbiology, immunology, and neuroscience will make things more difficult for me in medical school. I didn't major in the sciences in college so I'm worried I might facesome serious touble starting school this august. It would totally suck if i have to spend 4 more hours studying because I had not taken these classes before! I have taken some upper level science classes such as physiology, biochemistry, and genetics. Would any current med students comment on this? Thanks!

Just so you know I'm in the same boat not taking more biology courses than needed. Just wasn't time for me to do so, though I wish there was. Hell having taken biochemistry you have more than me. I'm a little worried about it as well. I just keep telling myself if it was really necessary, then immunology, neurobiology, biochemistry, anatomy etc... would be the prereqs for med school instead of just general biology.

I took the bare minimum requirements and did fine in my first two years. I think beyond the first lecture in each course (biochem, etc.) in med school - I was on a level playing field. I would not recommend taking all those extra courses in undergraduate just to 'prepare' for med school. Just my .02 based on my experiences.

Makes me feel better, thanks👍

 

[bleeker10]

I have taken anatomy, two physiology courses (Human and Comparative), Micro, Immunology, Mechanisms of Human Movement (deal with muscles and their actions), Neurobiology, Molecular Cell Biology, etc. I don't think I'll have that much of an advantage over people other than I have had a previous look at the material. But my classes only go into so much depth and I know med school will delve much much deeper. The only class I think that will help me a lot is the Medical Terminology class I took because I learned a lot of words and word roots for the body. Now I can look at a medical term and figure out what it means based off the breakdown of the word.

 

[Eudjinn]

you will surely die!!

seriously though, I didn't take a single science class besides pre-reqs (no biochem, no physio, no immuno, no neuro, nothing!) and I've managed just fine. I've done better than people I know who have taken all these classes. Maybe they studied less? Who cares! You will be studying most of the time anyway... it's not like having taken these classes would have made it such that you can chill out for a few months and breeze through the exams anyway.