Undergrad Sciences

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HookEm14

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  1. Pre-Health (Field Undecided)
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I was wondering how much the undergrad sciences relate to med school curriculum. How much of what I learn in undergrad will I use or need to know for medical school?
 
Well now sir, that would depend on which science courses you take 😀
 
just your basics, general bio and chem, orgo, and physics...thats about as far as I have gotten in my premed curriculum so far.
 
just your basics, general bio and chem, orgo, and physics...thats about as far as I have gotten in my premed curriculum so far.

From reading the old threads, I think the consensus is that bio will relate very slightly, biochem is important, and all else that's not medical based is worthless. It's only use is to have something to judge you against other applicants.

Now enough stalling for me, back to my review for physics test tomorrow...
 
just your basics, general bio and chem, orgo, and physics...thats about as far as I have gotten in my premed curriculum so far.

Really depends on your school! My school doesn't offer really any (that I have found) upper level classes that focuses on humans in particular. So these classes are only marginally helpful down the road. Some people around here have said that genetics can help in medical school as its reviewed quickly, but that's just hearsay 🙂 My advice - take classes you'll enjoy and that aren't too difficult (has really helped me out along the way to NOT take classes that give out a ton of Cs 😎). Good luck!
 
well med schools cover upper division biology (cell bio, genetics, biochemistry, a&p, neuro/psych, immunology, virology, histology, etc, etc) but in much greater detail.

things ive heard:
taking biochemistry in ugrad usually helps a lot because of how quickly it is covered in med school..
taking genetics can be useful for the same reason
DONT take a&p, as it's likely nothing compared to med school a&p,
then from there on take w/e interests you, but i also hear neuro is one of the tougher topics so you might want to take a few courses if the subject interests you.
 
well med schools cover upper division biology (cell bio, genetics, biochemistry, a&p, neuro/psych, immunology, virology, histology, etc, etc) but in much greater detail.

things ive heard:
taking biochemistry in ugrad usually helps a lot because of how quickly it is covered in med school..
taking genetics can be useful for the same reason
DONT take a&p, as it's likely nothing compared to med school a&p,
then from there on take w/e interests you, but i also hear neuro is one of the tougher topics so you might want to take a few courses if the subject interests you.


WOAH WOAH WOAH! Ok, I think I had asked several weeks ago if majoring in physiology would be a good or bad in terms of medical school admissions, and the consensus I received was that it all was about how well you do, not about what you do. Is this right? Gaaaah now I'm all confused.😕
 
lol sorry i'm just repeating what i've heard. to be fair i think the people who gave me this advice were trying to dissuade people from taking a&p to get a leg up on everyone else in medical school. i think they were saying it's not worth it for med school (and maybe mcat) prep, but take it if you want to take it out of personal interest.
 
and yea in terms of admissions your major doesn't really matter- your gpa does. that is pretty much accepted as fact by everyone.
 
Chances are you aren't going to retain a lot of the little details you're covering now in undergrad so whatever extra you do or don't take isn't going to make or break you come med school time.

I think if there is an advantage, it's covering the basics of a specific field (genetics, biochem, etc...) and becoming familiar with the overall processes, mechanisms, pathways rather than making sure you memorize every little detail. Med school will pretty much cover most of the upper level bio courses you could take, but it's going to focus on the medically relevant aspects of course, so at this point becoming familiar with the general aspects of whatever course you take can be helpful.

In undergrad I took some extras like genetics, virology, physio, and neuroanatomy/neuropsych and I wouldn't say it gave me any measurable advantage, but it was nice to have some basic concepts come back to me as I cover it again now.
 
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