Taking an Extra Course in Med School

[trevithick]

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Down the road I would like to enter academic medicine, but Im not going for a Phd. At my med school, there is a course in the attached university that I would like to take/audit that I think would be very beneficial, and is taught by one of the top scientists in the field. Attending the course would probably entail missing 2-3 hours of lecture a week, and occasionally missing this class (though the med school and university are on the same campus, so no time would be lost in transportation). I realize that first year is stressful, and that this would be additional work, but in the opinion of someone whos already experienced first year, is this a really bad idea? My background for the record; my undergrad degree was engineering and I regularly took 6-7 courses a semester undergrad (of which at least 5 were usually science/engineering).

 

[Perrotfish]

Will the course still be available in a semster or a year? I would suggest figuring out how you are adapting to medical school before adding extra cousework. At my school the policy is that you can't cross register in something like MPH classes until you've finished first semester. I think it's a good policy.

 

[trevithick]

Its offered second semester, which is good because Ill have an idea as to how Im coping, but bad because for one month I will be taking neuro. And yes, it's offered more or less annually, but I would like to take it before 1st year summer in case I do relevant research.

 

[Perrotfish]

Its offered second semester, which is good because Ill have an idea as to how Im coping, but bad because for one month I will be taking neuro. And yes, it's offered more or less annually, but I would like to take it before 1st year summer in case I do relevant research.

My vote would be to audit it in second semester, and to miss a few classes if neuro happens to get too rough (which I don't think will happen if you handled first semester well). Ultimately, though, you know yourself best.

 

[trevithick]

Thanks for the advice.

Also, why was this thread moved to the pre-med forum?

 

[majahops]

You'll get a great education in your first year of medical school, without any additional input. If you can appreciate and retain a good portion of it, you're ahead of the game. You really don't need to add anything extra on top. Use that time to socialize and decompress, or get involved with organizations. You can do whatever you want, but additional lectures is typically the last thing someone in the first two years wants on their plates, once they get started.