study histology in college for med school prep?

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Should you study courses like histology, iimmunology, or genetics to get ready for med school even though they are not a requirement?

 

[maestro1625]

Should you study courses like histology, iimmunology, or genetics to get ready for med school even though they are not a requirement?

1 word answer: yes.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Only if you're interested in them prior to medical school. You don't "need" this leg up to do well first year. I've known plenty of English and Business majors who do just fine without this kind of prep.

 

[Law2Doc]

Only if you're interested in them prior to medical school. You don't "need" this leg up to do well first year. I've known plenty of English and Business majors who do just fine without this kind of prep.

Agreed. Med school will teach you all you need to know, and then some. I really can't think of a bigger waste of time than trying to get ahead on histo. This is absolutely the kind of class you want to learn once, and even then only for a very brief period of time.

It's natural to want to try to get ahead. But it's usually a waste of time. And once you get to med school, you will see that the trying to get ahead you did in undergrad most frequently was the equivalent of playing Pop Warner Football to try to prepare for Spring Training tryouts for the NFL. It's just not worth the aggravation. Spend your credits taking something you will never get a chance to take again, not something you are going to take again at a whole new level.

 

[Quix]

Agreed. Med school will teach you all you need to know, and then some. I really can't think of a bigger waste of time than trying to get ahead on histo. This is absolutely the kind of class you want to learn once, and even then only for a very brief period of time.

It's natural to want to try to get ahead. But it's usually a waste of time. And once you get to med school, you will see that the trying to get ahead you did in undergrad most frequently was the equivalent of playing Pop Warner Football to try to prepare for Spring Training tryouts for the NFL. It's just not worth the aggravation. Spend your credits taking something you will never get a chance to take again, not something you are going to take again at a whole new level.

Seconded. There are few (if any) courses that translate directly into a medical school level curriculum; the depth of the information increases significantly (well beyond undergraduate levels), and it typically is given a particular spin/twist which makes even familiar information/topics different from what was presented as an undergraduate.

The bottom line is that you can't really front-load a lot of information for medical school, so enjoy your undergraduate experience while you still have some academic (and social!) freedom.

 

[adamMD]

Should you study courses like histology, iimmunology, or genetics to get ready for med school even though they are not a requirement?

I love histology and study it for fun. But if you don't have a microscope/slides there's hardly a point to studying it. Focusing on immunology would be a great head start for med school.

 

[Jacks Mannequin]

I took Anatomy and Physiology 2nd year and don't remember anything...waste of time IMO.

 

[Law2Doc]

Focusing on immunology would be a great head start for med school.

Except that quite a few schools don't teach it until second year and you will have forgotten everything useful by then. Additionally almost no college course is going to cover the level of detail of med school. I wouldn't bother.

 

[MDpride]

I took Anatomy and Physiology 2nd year and don't remember anything...waste of time IMO.

Same here.
Now, finishing the sequence of 2 sem. A & P course.


taking music theory and other next sem.

 

[antihero94]

Should you study courses like histology, iimmunology, or genetics to get ready for med school even though they are not a requirement?

From a graduating 4th year medical student: Don't do anything in undergraduate specifically to get into, or to get a leg up on medical school. Do things you enjoy. If you do that you will more likely be successful at them, and stay involved with them. Use electives in college to learn about things you may never get the chance to learn about again (philosophy, theology, geophysics, under-water basket weaving, whatever works for you). I do some interviews and I can always tell things people have done just to get into medical school. It's listed on their application but they have no resolve about it. Or it's a class they took and ended up getting a B in it because it was torture. If you are smart enough, work hard enough, you will get into medical school and excel. And if you happen to be fortunate to have somethign else that makes you shine (like being an athlete, musician, etc.) you are going to look even better on an interview. Plus that interesting class you took may be what people want to talk about on an interview. It may shed some light on your depth as an individual. No one wants to talk histology on an interview.

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

Branching of the OP's question, what about taking a grad level neuroscience course next semster (Spring semester of my senior year?) Am I wrong to think grad level might be pretty good med school prep?

Or do I take Astronomy? Note that I think I would probably enjoy both classes, but astronomy is a 100 level course, and neuro, again, is grad level. Thanks for opinions.

 

[docbot]

I would also think that medical students in general are notorious for talking up how hard medical school actually is. The subtext here is plain.... "look how smart I am, I'm doing this thing that's really hard, soooo much harder than undergrad, nothing can compare to it." While I'm not about to say that medical school isn't going to be challenging, to say there is no overlap between an undergrad vs. a medical school science class screams exaggeration to me. I'd take it with a grain of salt.

Now, I understand that I'm "just a pre-med" and have broken the fourth wall on this one. Let the flames begin....

 

[WiscDoc]

It is true that your medical school will teach you everything you need to be a competant doctor. It is also true that if you NEEDED these courses to succeed in med school, they would have been required. With that said, in my class, people who had ONE biochem course in undergrad even 4 years ago are having a much easier time than those that had none before. Students who had histo study the night before the quiz and a couple of days before the exam, my studying is much more than that (never had it). IMHO, having immunology, anatomy.... etc will make med school somewhat easier. You will at least know the basics of that subject, and that should, atleast reduce your anxiety. It is true that most students make it through med school, but i would bet that those with more medically relevant backgrounds (who have had simpler courses in undergrad and claimed to have forgotten everything since), are less likely to be that 1% of the class that fails a given exam or entirey course/year. If you have time for these courses, you will be glad later.

 

[WiscDoc]

I would also think that medical students in general are notorious for talking up how hard medical school actually is. The subtext here is plain.... "look how smart I am, I'm doing this thing that's really hard, soooo much harder than undergrad, nothing can compare to it." While I'm not about to say that medical school isn't going to be challenging, to say there is no overlap between an undergrad vs. a medical school science class screams exaggeration to me. I'd take it with a grain of salt.

Now, I understand that I'm "just a pre-med" and have broken the fourth wall on this one. Let the flames begin....

It's an exaggeration to me too. My classmates who had anatomy in undergrad were much more relaxed than I was during anatomy. Same with histo. In biochem, the first 3 units (out of 5 units total) that we covered in med school were even SIMPLER than what my ONE biochem course of undergrad contained. I was not a biochem major either.

 

[Law2Doc]

With that said, in my class, people who had ONE biochem course in undergrad even 4 years ago are having a much easier time than those that had none before. Students who had histo study the night before the quiz and a couple of days before the exam, my studying is much more than that (never had it). IMHO, having immunology, anatomy.... etc will make med school somewhat easier.

The flaw with that logic is that people who had courses before and did well will say it helped but there are ALWAYS going to be people who took the same classes who end up in the bottom of the class, and are ALWAYS some people who never took such courses in the top. I wouldn't bother. If you take it, it may help you but probably not. Take stuff in college you enjoy or stuff you will never have the opportunity to take again.

 

[Law2Doc]

I would also think that medical students in general are notorious for talking up how hard medical school actually is. The subtext here is plain.... "look how smart I am, I'm doing this thing that's really hard, soooo much harder than undergrad, nothing can compare to it." While I'm not about to say that medical school isn't going to be challenging, to say there is no overlap between an undergrad vs. a medical school science class screams exaggeration to me. I'd take it with a grain of salt.

Now, I understand that I'm "just a pre-med" and have broken the fourth wall on this one. Let the flames begin....

Wait till med school. You will have a very different perspective. Maybe 10% of stuff you do in undergrad will be helpful if you still remember it, while 90% won't. So it's just not worth trying to get ahead. Do the prereqs and you are set.

 

[smq123]

I would also think that medical students in general are notorious for talking up how hard medical school actually is. The subtext here is plain.... "look how smart I am, I'm doing this thing that's really hard, soooo much harder than undergrad, nothing can compare to it." While I'm not about to say that medical school isn't going to be challenging, to say there is no overlap between an undergrad vs. a medical school science class screams exaggeration to me. I'd take it with a grain of salt.

Now, I understand that I'm "just a pre-med" and have broken the fourth wall on this one. Let the flames begin....

Congratulations for saying that you already know what med school is like, without having spent a day in it. I wish I had your keen sense prediction! 🙄 I suggest that you demonstrate your amazing ability to predict your resident's future when you are a lowly MS-1. (If you get into med school, that is.) I'm not as good at predicting the future as YOU are, but I can guarantee that they will LOVE that!!!

(Hey, you asked for it. It may "just be an opinion," but it doesn't mean that you need to share it, particularly if you KNOW that it is not necessarily well-informed or likely to get people riled up. Just a tip for MS-3, when you're on your surgery rotation.)

Seriously - there's some overlap, but, in many cases, not enough to make it worthwhile. Actually, the material in med school isn't that hard - but when you get 5 hours of it thrown at you, and you know that you'll have another 5 hours thrown at you the next day, that's when it can get challenging.

It's an exaggeration to me too. My classmates who had anatomy in undergrad were much more relaxed than I was during anatomy. Same with histo. In biochem, the first 3 units (out of 5 units total) that we covered in med school were even SIMPLER than what my ONE biochem course of undergrad contained. I was not a biochem major either.

* Did they do better than you did? Just being more "relaxed" doesn't necessarily mean much.

* Eh, n=1. I took 2 semesters of "advanced" biochem in undergrad. I still sucked at med school biochem because the focus was different. We never learned anything about Marfans/Tay-Sachs/homocysteinuria/kwashiorkor, etc, during undergrad. That's most of what we focused on in med school.

 

[jochi1543]

A friend who was a biochem major in uni says her med school classes (she's an M2 now) covered about 5% of the biochemistry she learned during undergrad. She explicitly told me not to bother taking even intro biochem (I have to do it anyway, though, b/c one of my top choice schools requires it). So it doesn't necessarily go into more detail than undergrad.

I find that a lot of med students say "I wish I had taken......it would've made life so much easier!" but I've never heard anyone say "I'm SO glad I took.....it has helped me so much in med school!"


Here in Canada, half the schools don't even have ANY pre-requisites. You could get in without ever having taken a science class. Since these schools produce match lists comparable to those of the schools with 12 pre-reqs, it's obvious that their education is in no way subpar.

 

[docbot]

Congratulations for saying that you already know what med school is like, without having spent a day in it. I wish I had your keen sense prediction! 🙄 I suggest that you demonstrate your amazing ability to predict your resident's future when you are a lowly MS-1. (If you get into med school, that is.) I'm not as good at predicting the future as YOU are, but I can guarantee that they will LOVE that!!!

(Hey, you asked for it. It may "just be an opinion," but it doesn't mean that you need to share it, particularly if you KNOW that it is not necessarily well-informed or likely to get people riled up. Just a tip for MS-3, when you're on your surgery rotation.)

Seriously - there's some overlap, but, in many cases, not enough to make it worthwhile. Actually, the material in med school isn't that hard - but when you get 5 hours of it thrown at you, and you know that you'll have another 5 hours thrown at you the next day, that's when it can get challenging.

You'll notice I made no such predictions, nor did I claim to know what med school is like, but I am aware that there are some sensitive types out there who become threatened when the conventional wisdom is questioned, hence the disclaimer. Clearly, medical students get so much mileage from the "med school is so hard," line that it is becomes hard to swallow at times. "If" I get into medical school, obviously I'll see for myself, but chastising the ignorant pre-meds is probably a past time I'll be giving a pass.

 

[smq123]

Clearly, medical students get so much mileage from the "med school is so hard," line that it is becomes hard to swallow at times. "If" I get into medical school, obviously I'll see for myself, but chastising the ignorant pre-meds is probably a past time I'll be giving a pass.

It is questionable how much "mileage" I could get from that "med school is so hard" line when there are many people (pre-meds and non-pre-meds alike) who are so willing to tell me "Oh, pssh - I'm sure it's not that bad." I get much less sympathy than you would think.

Everyone says that residency is hard, too. Everyone says that the surgery rotation and the OB/gyn rotation are hard as well. I suppose that they're wrong?

I sincerely hope that you find that med school is easy. Many of us here do not.

Sorry if you felt like I was "chastising" you for demonstrating your ignorance so openly. The first two years of med school WERE hard for me, and sorry if I get p!ssed when someone tells me that I "exaggerated" how hard it was. Trust me - you do not want to hear the somatic evidence of how bad med school was for me at times.

 

[maestro1625]

Wait till med school. You will have a very different perspective. Maybe 10% of stuff you do in undergrad will be helpful if you still remember it, while 90% won't. So it's just not worth trying to get ahead. Do the prereqs and you are set.

I suppose that's a good way of looking at things too. Though with APs I had more credits than I knew what to do with... so it depends on your situation. Physio did save my ass on the Bio part of the MCAT though. It felt like 50% of the material.

 

[docbot]

It is questionable how much "mileage" I could get from that "med school is so hard" line when there are many people (pre-meds and non-pre-meds alike) who are so willing to tell me "Oh, pssh - I'm sure it's not that bad." I get much less sympathy than you would think.

Everyone says that residency is hard, too. Everyone says that the surgery rotation and the OB/gyn rotation are hard as well. I suppose that they're wrong?

I sincerely hope that you find that med school is easy. Many of us here do not.

Sorry if you felt like I was "chastising" you for demonstrating your ignorance so openly. The first two years of med school WERE hard for me, and sorry if I get p!ssed when someone tells me that I "exaggerated" how hard it was. Trust me - you do not want to hear the somatic evidence of how bad med school was for me at times.

I do not doubt that this stuff is difficult and never claimed to believe it would be easy for me. The only "exaggeration" I mentioned might be happening is with the claim of zero relevance of undergrad science classes to med school classes. I'm sure that each stage of the process has its difficulties and challenges.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Get ready for a medical career in a meaningful way by learning a language or golf.

Or take a lighter load and use the time you save to have some fun.

 

[smq123]

I do not doubt that this stuff is difficult and never claimed to believe it would be easy for me. The only "exaggeration" I mentioned might be happening is with the claim of zero relevance of undergrad science classes to med school classes. I'm sure that each stage of the process has its difficulties and challenges.

It isn't that there is "zero" relevance. (And no one really claimed that there was zero relevance....) There's some - but not enough to justify taking the class for only that reason.

For instance - you could take histo as an undergrad. It will probably be a difficult course. Your GPA might suffer because of it, causing increased anxiety when you apply.

Then, let's say you go to my med school, where histo is practically an after-thought, and not even an individual course on its own. (Sorry maestro1625 - it's actually calculated into your physio grade, although you do need to pass histo. It's a little complicated.) Was it really worth taking an entire semester of histo, just for that one class?

I took genetics in undergrad. Did fine in it. However, genetics at my school is integrated with other biochem subjects, and I could have done fine even if I hadn't taken the class. I should have used that time to study Spanish, German literature, or fencing or something fun.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Okay I'm going to chime back in.

I was the ultimate "get myself ready for med school kid". I took in no particular order in undergraduate:

Anatomy
Embryology
Microbio
Immunology
Biochemistry (Oh wait...that was my MAJOR)
Medical Ethics
Abnormal Psychology
And a couple neuroscience courses.

Did they help? Questionable. The classes were either much less detailed than medical school (anatomy, microbio) or were detailed in an area that was never discussed in medical school, i.e. they were directed for PhD's in the field and not a medical student (Biochem and Immunology especially).

Now, I did well in the prep classes and well in first year. But you know what? I know several people who thought "Oh, I took *blank* or *Blank* was my major so I'm set" and BOOM they get destroyed by the engineers or the english majors. Maybe they were overconfident and didn't study. I dunno, but preparation no way correlates with success.

And I'm not even going to touch the "Med students talk med school up to much". I don't know what kind of student you are. Maybe you're a mega genius who is going to blaze through (they exist). But I see a lot less of them compared to guys who thought they're going to coast through and get humbled.

 

[docbot]

So I suppose the consensus is that I'm going to get owned because I dared to question the irrelevance of undergrad science courses. Perhaps I won't even get into medical school at all, as I'm clearly too cheeky. Maybe you're right. We'll just have to see.

 

[Instatewaiter]

So I suppose the consensus is that I'm going to get owned because I dared to question the irrelevance of undergrad science courses. Perhaps I won't even get into medical school at all, as I'm clearly too cheeky. Maybe you're right. We'll just have to see.

No you probably wont get 'owned' but you will probably be surprised at the amt of work you need to do. We have 4-7 hours of class per day, and unlike in undergrad, the professors cant cover every nitpicky detail because of the breadth of the subject. You end up having to study a lot on your own. With 4-7 more hours the next day, the material comes very fast. The first day doesnt seem that bad but before you know it, 2 weeks has past and you have 600 syllabus pages to memorize.

I think there is benefit to taking some courses in undergrad. If nothing else you will be familiar with the nomenclature and general organization of how the course has been traditionally taught.

Classes to possibly take
Physiology
Anatomy
Biochemistry
Neuro- Very hard at my school, could possibly take it but i doubt there will be enough detail to be worth it

Classes not to bother with
Histology- rote memorization, you'll forget it
Genetics- you'll get most of what you need in intro bio or studying for the MCAT
Embryology

 

[Law2Doc]

If nothing else you will be familiar with the nomenclature and general organization of how the course has been traditionally taught.

Sure, but then we are talking about taking a semester long course in undergrad in the hopes that it will save you about an hour in med school. Not really that valuable.

 

[Profligate]

i don't think so. if it isn't on the mcat, then you should be able to learn in med school (provided you get in). and depending on what year you are by the time you would need to use the histology info you learned you will have long since forgotten it.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I find that a lot of med students say "I wish I had taken......it would've made life so much easier!" but I've never heard anyone say "I'm SO glad I took.....it has helped me so much in med school!"

I'm SO glad I took undergrad biochemistry - it helped me so much in med school! Not that I didn't know people who did fine without biochem, but in my MS-I biochem/moledcular genetics class we covered an entire semester of undergrad biochem in about four weeks. I was glad I had seen it before.

If you're bright enough to get into med school, you can do fine with or without advanced courses. I don't think it hurts at all to have a couple - but it's not necessary.

In order of how valuable the course is, I would rank them from most to least: 1) biochemistry, 2) cell biology, 3) genetics, 4) immunology, 5) microbiology.

Histology - I wouldn't bother unless it's exclusively human tissue - and, even then, I'd probably not worry about it. Systems-based anatomy is a complete waste of your time - although I did know some people who had real cadaver-based regional gross anatomy and they had far less grief than I did. Physiology - very doubtful it'll be at a medical school level.

 

[45408]

Or do I take Astronomy? Note that I think I would probably enjoy both classes, but astronomy is a 100 level course, and neuro, again, is grad level. Thanks for opinions.

Take astronomy. Enjoy college.

 

[45408]

Clearly, medical students get so much mileage from the "med school is so hard," line that it is becomes hard to swallow at times.

Clearly, ignorance is bliss. 😉 Come back in a few years and see what you thought.

Let's just say that I crushed undergrad biochem, in a big way, less than three months before starting med school biochem. I scored something like a 97th percentile on a national standardized biochemistry exam for undergrads, and I landed a little below the average in my med school biochem class, despite spending a LOT more time studying for med school biochem.

 

[HumidBeing]

So, are some of trying to tell us that even though specific classes won't help us very much, that perhaps taking 5 to 7 hrs of classes per day would be a good idea? You know, just to get us accustomed to the grind?

(asks Humid as he shuffles his feet, eyes turned downward, pretending to be an unsuspecting tool)

 

[0Complications]

From a graduating 4th year medical student: Don't do anything in undergraduate specifically to get into, or to get a leg up on medical school. Do things you enjoy. If you do that you will more likely be successful at them, and stay involved with them. Use electives in college to learn about things you may never get the chance to learn about again (philosophy, theology, geophysics, under-water basket weaving, whatever works for you). I do some interviews and I can always tell things people have done just to get into medical school. It's listed on their application but they have no resolve about it. Or it's a class they took and ended up getting a B in it because it was torture. If you are smart enough, work hard enough, you will get into medical school and excel. And if you happen to be fortunate to have somethign else that makes you shine (like being an athlete, musician, etc.) you are going to look even better on an interview. Plus that interesting class you took may be what people want to talk about on an interview. It may shed some light on your depth as an individual. No one wants to talk histology on an interview.

I think this is good advice, but what if what we enjoy about school relates directly to medicine and the like? I can't even tell you how many neuroscience, A&P and other bio courses I've taken and TAed for just simply because I love the material and i want to spread the love (I think people are more inspired to learn from people who are truly passionate about the subject matter). I think the body/brain is the most fantastic machine on the planet and I love reading/talking about it.

So for instance, this semester I'm taking Advanced Human Physiology which uses two required texts (Boron and Guyton), it is a very involved detailed course, but I didn't take it to get a leg up on Med school, I am taking it just because I enjoy it. So, how would you look at that in an interview setting? Would you just assume I took them to prepare for med school or would you ask about them?

 

[jochi1543]

I think this is good advice, but what if what we enjoy about school relates directly to medicine and the like?

If you look at the beginning of his/her post, it addresses that:

Don't do anything in undergraduate specifically to get into, or to get a leg up on medical school. Do things you enjoy

 

[MDpride]

Hii

Taking A&P, Biochem etc.. may help somebody make decision to pursue medical school or not.

If someone can't even make B in these classes in undergrad, what are the chances that they will get by medical school ?

 

[smq123]

So, are some of trying to tell us that even though specific classes won't help us very much, that perhaps taking 5 to 7 hrs of classes per day would be a good idea? You know, just to get us accustomed to the grind?

Sorry - I'm not sure what will really get you accustomed to the grind of med school. Just like nothing can really prepare you for 3rd year, and nothing can really prepare you for internship, nothing really prepares you for first year. Sorry. 😳

Just taking a huge number of hours of class a day isn't really the issue (well, it's only part of the issue) - it's that you move much faster than the average undergrad class does. For instance, in undergrad neuroscience, the professor spent a total of 120-145 minutes on action potentials. In med school, it was closer to 45 minutes, total.

I don't know why it has to be like that.

When you get to med school, just be prepared to hit the ground running - study for your first test as if you were studying for a cumulative final in undergrad. Then, after you get your grade back, you can re-assess your study technique and decide if it was overkill or not.

 

[Rotinaj]

I'm actually pursuing a Biology degree because Biology and Chemistry interest me, and my pre-med advisor was hell-bent on me taking Biochemistry, Histology, Embryology, etc... All of those classes are pretty hard to take without at least minoring in Bio due to pre-reqs. Still, my Chem and Bio classes are what keep me going to school while I sleep through Econ and other 100 level courses.

Hearing from a lot of the medical students is really nice, because anyone who has been in med school for more than a month has more personal experience than a college counselor will ever get from volunteering.

Still, I think if you hate the sciences, then med school is probably as bad of a choice as taking classes to get a leg up. It's like going to law school if history and/or politics bores you.