Taking Anatomy and Physiology for PreMed?

[Meticulouslykiwi]

I'm a beginning freshman on the PreMed pathway. I took Anatomy and Physiology in my senior year of high school and I found it absolutely intriguing to discover and learn the human body. However, the supplies such as books for the course are extremely expensive, and most importantly, I've read from multiple online sources that say Anatomy and Physiology is unnecessary and a waste and time. My question is: will taking Anatomy and Physiology help me either with the New MCAT or "bring out" my transcript if I earn a stellar grade in that course? Is Anatomy and Physiology worth taking? Thank you all in advance!

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[Catalystik]

I'm a beginning freshman on the PreMed pathway. I took Anatomy and Physiology in my senior year of high school and I found it absolutely intriguing to discover and learn the human body. However, the supplies such as books for the course are extremely expensive, and most importantly, I've read from multiple online sources that say Anatomy and Physiology is unnecessary and a waste and time. My question is: will taking Anatomy and Physiology help me either with the New MCAT or "bring out" my transcript if I earn a stellar grade in that course? Is Anatomy and Physiology worth taking? Thank you all in advance!

For the MCAT: Physiology, yes. Anatomy, far less so.

An A in an upper-level Bio class that's similar to a med school class is always a plus.

 

[Sardinia]

@Meticulouslykiwi I've found the .pdf copy of all my books off Scribd or websites of similar nature. And if you are a "book person" you can buy used off of Amazon or buy ink from a third party refiller for 1/4 of the retail price and print the entire textbook for at least 1/10 of the price if you're using a high output duplex printer.

 

[JustaDO]

Is Anatomy and Physiology worth taking? Thank you all in advance!

Freshman A/P means nothing and will not "bring out" your transcript.

 

[ed*26]

If you´re interested in it, take it. But taking as a freshman will do absolutely nothing for you except distract from your pre-reqs. Physiology is covered on the MCAT so it can be helpful for that, and I was told to take anatomy last so it would be fresh for medical school ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[idontwatchgreysanatomy]

I took upper division A&P because I wanted to. It has been my favorite class in all of undergrad and has come in handy for every research project I've been on. That being said, you'll have to determine if it's worth the risk to your GPA. At my school, class averages were around 40% on exams.

 

[Crayola227]

I don't think anatomy before medical school is much of a help at all.

This is based on what my compatriots told me, and my own conclusions learning anatomy in med school.

Physiology? I can't speak to its relevance for the MCAT.

My friends that took it in college found med school phys easier as a result, however they still felt that the added edge was not needed.

That said, #1) is GPA, #2) is MCAT, #3) actual prereqs. All that considered, take whatever the heck you feel like and have fun!

 

[RogueBanana]

Hey all,

I found physiology to be ridiculously helpful for the MCAT. I was required to take A/P for my major so I was lucky.

Seriously I have no idea how people taught themselves enough physiology to score high on the MCAT.

That being said I got a 512 (~90th percentile)

It was definitely worth it. But beware, most schools require anatomy before taking physiology. Depending on the school, anatomy is also a potential GPA killer (almost half of my class failed). Physiology isn't much better GPA-wise, though much more relevant to our studies. (About half my class failed physiology as well).

If you don't think you can hack it, just audit the course. AKA sit in on lecture just to learn for your own benefit. Don't trade your GPA for a benefit on your MCAT. Both are important, and a high sGPA is more indicative of academic success than MCAT scores.