Troubles

[deleted276313]

I'm a college student that is just finishing his 2nd semester at college. I had been very fixed on becoming a physician for some time. First semester I did excellent academically and was fully ready to start second semester with a science and math class. I even started volunteering over Winter Break in a hospital under a nurse manager that my mother knows professionally. I loved the work and the environment and was driven even more toward a goal of eventually going to medical school.

I'm very strong in math and have no problem with comprehension, but I had incredible difficulty with chemistry. No matter how much I tried to focus on the subject, it was as if there were some sort of mental block disallowing me from fully understanding it. Usually things just "click" into place for me eventually and I excel in the said subject. This just didn't seem to happen for the first 2 months of the class, and I was doing awfully. I ended up dropping the class after I took the first test and felt too weak to continue.

So now I'm stuck in a predicament of whether I should continue broaden my studies in psychology and aim for graduate school, or whether I should try and focus more time on getting help with chemistry and continue with the pre-allopathic area. It's a very difficult decision, specifically with weighing out the pro's and con's of each side.

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[Bernoull]

First I don't think u should change career plans based solely on performance on a single course. It's wayy too early to throw in the towel, talk to ex-classmates, ex-Prof, get tutoring, schaums, cliffnotes, online tutorials, something, anything but giving up.. I'm sure u'll do well next time around.

On the other hand, if you like psychology over medicine (independent of this chem issue), well u're a freshman and have ample time to learn about the profession, shadow and get career counselling. There's no need to make a rash decision.


Best of luck

 

[necoli]

If you can't hack freshman chemistry... then you are wasting your time as a pre-med. I would suggest trying the class one more time, just to see if it starts to "click" with you. If things start making sense, and all of the sudden chemistry is not as complicated as it used to be, then you know you can make it as a pre-med. Utilize the professor's office hours, hire a tutor, buy a chemistry for dummies book. By the end of your class make sure that you are able to do the work on your own, and that you weren't be relying on these resources like a crutch.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

If you can't hack freshman chemistry... then you are wasting your time as a pre-med. I would suggest trying the class one more time, just to see if it starts to "click" with you. If things start making sense, and all of the sudden chemistry is not as complicated as it used to be, then you know you can make it as a pre-med. Utilize the professor's office hours, hire a tutor, buy a chemistry for dummies book. By the end of your class make sure that you are able to do the work on your own, and that you weren't be relying on these resources like a crutch.

Chemistry didn't make much sense to me until Organic 2. About half way through the semester, I had an "oh, now I understand the last 1.5 years!" moment. OP, Bernoull gave some good advice in his (her?) first paragraph above. If I were in your situation, I would follow it.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

The reason your are having problems with gen chem is because it sucks. I am interested in the mechanisms of the body and how things really work. Gen chem can't be seen and understood until later years so they are forced to use the "trust us" method. When I enjoy what I am learning, I am doing well in the class. I didn't do well in gen chem.

 

[Bernoull]

If u want to understand politics, just follow the money!! For chemistry, follow da electron(s), and enlightenment shall follow....

 

[DrLuv]

Switch professors.

I had an absolutely awful GenChem prof who had just completed her PhD and had NO teaching experience. It was like a robot teaching--she had zero ability to impart the material conceptually. While I performed well on tests, I only had a superficial, purely memorized, understand of things.

Like someone mentioned earlier, it wasn't until Ochem that all the previous info TRULY click in my head. So don't be too hard on yourself--it might not necessarily be you.

 

[Tin Man]

If you can't hack freshman chemistry... then you are wasting your time as a pre-med.

Psh.

Swamp, assuming you're talking about gen chem, wait until organic chemistry to decide whether or not you're cut out for this path. Organic chemistry is a LOT different than general chemistry, and at the end of the day, it's going to be a bit more relevant to you than doing exact pH buffer equations. Gen chem isn't completely irrelevant to a physician, but you find that most of the number crunching is in the realm of pharmacists. Besides, you can't escape the chemistry in psychology grad school. The brain works on nerve impulses, which involves diffusion of potassium and sodium. General chemistry.

The pre-med courses aren't designed to teach you things you need to know for med school. They are designed to test your ability to deal with fairly difficult science classes and if you can understand the foundation upon which all medicine is based.

Having a tough time with general chemistry isn't an indication that you aren't cut out for med school. It's an indication that you have a weakness, and if you are cut out for medical school, you WILL find a way to overcome it. You already are showing that drive by looking for ways to fix the situation. I think you're on the right track. Find people who are smarter than you in chemistry, and hang out with them. Make sure you're reading the chapter before class. Work extra problems, even if they aren't required for homwork. If you don't do as well as you'd like, then take more chemistry later on to show you can handle the material. Rock the MCAT. Etc.

For what it's worth, it sounds to me like you just never developed good study habits. Expecting things to "click into place" sounds like you were good in high school and never had to study, and expected college to be the same way. I was just like that. For me, the wall was physics. I aced organic chemistry, but physics just never clicked for me. I think the goal for you should be focusing on learning HOW to study correctly. Experiment with different methods, and if you need to, enroll in a study skills class. I think if you learn how to study and stop trying to rely on your natural intelligence, you'll find that general chemistry is not an insurmountable obstacle.

Best of luck.

 

[guyski79]

Having a tough time with general chemistry isn't an indication that you aren't cut out for med school. It's an indication that you have a weakness, and if you are cut out for medical school, you WILL find a way to overcome it.

+1.

I had a really tough time with chemistry freshman year, so much so that I almost gave up on going to medical school.

That would have been pretty silly and shortsighted.

 

[deleted276313]

Switch professors.

I'm transferring schools, so that won't be too hard .

Having a tough time with general chemistry isn't an indication that you aren't cut out for med school. It's an indication that you have a weakness, and if you are cut out for medical school, you WILL find a way to overcome it.

That's an excellent way to put it, thanks.

I have a tough time due to disorted thinking from a mixture of self-esteem issues and depression; I'm trying to address this in therapy.

The reason your are having problems with gen chem is because it sucks. I am interested in the mechanisms of the body and how things really work. Gen chem can't be seen and understood until later years so they are forced to use the "trust us" method. When I enjoy what I am learning, I am doing well in the class. I didn't do well in gen chem.

Yes, I also have this issues. It's one of the main reasons why my high school GPA sucked; I didn't like any of the classes I took. When I reached college, I started enrolling in classes pertaining to my major and like some sort of miracle, I went from a 2.8 H.S. GPA to a 3.8 college GPA after the first semester.