Statistics (the math class) in medical school?

[Thangbill]

I am attending med school in August. I took lots of Calculus in college but none of Statistics. I actually never learned Stats before. The medical school requires either Calculus or Statistics as the requirement. However, now that school is about to begin, I saw a lot of my friends took Stats and am thinking about the importance of the undergrad Stats class.

1. Would I be at at a disadvantage not knowing Stats beforehand?
2. Does not knowing Stats cause any difficulty in learning in other classes (epidemiology, med school Stats, etc.) or Step 1?
3. Should I take the class at my college this summer instead of going on vacation?

Thank you for your time.

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[cbrons]

Med skoo stats is easy yo. U aint gunna need no extra class

 

[Kelevra]

It's extremely useful for conducting research/analysis, as well as reading articles and papers. I suggest you do it, if it's not out of the way. It's certainly important in the long run. Being research literate is becoming increasingly important.

You can learn stats online via opencourseware programs through MIT, Yale, etc., and they're free. You can also YouTube stuff.

 

[Jabbed]

Med school is a surprisingly math-free environment. People were on the verge of rioting when we were asked to do 3 digit addition on an epi test.

 

[Womb Raider]

1. Would I be at at a disadvantage not knowing Stats beforehand?
2. Does not knowing Stats cause any difficulty in learning in other classes (epidemiology, med school Stats, etc.) or Step 1?
3. Should I take the class at my college this summer instead of going on vacation?

Stats is ALL OVER medicine, especially if you want to do clinical research. Every study out there that guides EBM (evidence based medicine) relies on, at the very minimum, a cursory understanding of stats. Lucky for you, stats requires the brain power of something like algebra 1. So, if you aren't required to take it (Texas schools made it a requirement now, moving away from the "cal OR stats" criterium) I'd say just study on your own / go to Khan academy. Basic stats is honestly an extremely easy math course - it's all logic.

 

[MalibuPreMD]

If you want to kill 2 useful birds with one stone, take a sas or stata class. You'll know stats and be able to apply it in a practical way.

 

[JP2740]

Once you become an attending you gonna need math to count them $ bills don't you worry.

 

[Donald Juan]

I think stats is EXTREMELY important for a clinician. Without it, there is no way to actually understand the usefulness of tests or prevalence of diseases or how to effectively synthesize all your exam and lab findings and risk factors using the known data in the literature. It is also a key skill if you expect to do clinical research (or really, any kind of research). I promise you that PIs will be impressed if you can do clinical research and have a critical eye on your own and others statistical methods.

With that being said, I think if you can just get down p < .05 = statistically significant, you're probably on par for most med students.

 

[PL198]

Med school is a surprisingly math-free environment. People were on the verge of rioting when we were asked to do 3 digit addition on an epi test.

so pathetic.

 

[Low Flow]

With that being said, I think if you can just get down p < .05 = statistically significant, you're probably on par for most med students.

This. The only appreciable concept I remember from my stats course 2 years ago. UG stats is a joke, or at least it was at my school.

 

[alpinism]

Beyond anatomy and physiology, stats is probably the most important (and clinically useful) class 1st year.

At the same time the class itself is fairly easy and straightforward.

 

[Gator7]

Go on vacation!

The statistics for medical school and step 1 is quite basic. You shouldn't have a problem picking up the concepts as the year goes along.

With that said though, if you are interested in research it may be in your best interests to take a statistics course at some point during medical school. I took the stat course that my medical school offered between M1/M2 that taught how to use statistical software such as SPSS, which was highly beneficial for my research projects.

 

[DrEnderW]

I just had a Uworld question asking what the median of something like 7 numbers was. I think you'll be okay.