Undergrad struggling in mathematics

[Washington Rose]

Hi everyone! I'm new to SDN and am happy to be here. I am a junior at my university majoring in psychology and biology. I do well in all of my classes except for math. I struggle with it so much and it takes up alot of my time. If you are or have felt my pain, please share. It would be most useful.

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[notdeadyet]

I don't know if this helps, but I will say that once you make it into medical school and forever beyond, you will use very, very little math.

An understanding of statistics (at a pretty basic level) is necessary to read the research effectively, but other than that you'll almost never use math beyond what a high school senior would be expected to know.

 

[scudiera]

Dropped out of freshman multivar when I had a C- average, (also finished that year with a C+ in genchem). Hasn't held me back one bit. If you're worried about standardized testing, I've scored at or above the 90th percentile on the MCAT and Step 1/2CK. If you're worried about clinical work, there is zero bearing beyond basic highschool math and beginners statistics. Try your best to understand statistics beyond simply p<0.05 = significant, but if it's not making sense just yet don't worry because your medschool evidence-based medicine/stats class will review all of this material and cover the straightforward, necessary formulas you should know.

 

[SmallBird]

This forum is really losing focus!

 

[Shikima]

This one time, in Ochem, I got an A.

 

[JKinSC]

This one time, in Ochem, I got an A.

And then Ochem II started...

 

[DD214_DOC]

Hi everyone! I'm new to SDN and am happy to be here. I am a junior at my university majoring in psychology and biology. I do well in all of my classes except for math. I struggle with it so much and it takes up alot of my time. If you are or have felt my pain, please share. It would be most useful.

Sorry to hear. I aced physics and even ended up taking calculus and astrophysics for fun while in undergrad, even as a psych major. Unfortunately, your struggle is clear evidence that your hopes and dreams of becoming a psychiatrist are crushed, much like they've crossed the event horizon of a supermassive black hole. Fret not, however, because those of us watching from the other side of the event horizon will surely get a kick from watching your never-ending descent towards oblivion, suspending the reality of knowing it all actually ended long ago at this very moment ... at least for you.

 

[Washington Rose]

That was very deep HooahDOc. However, I can't read on weather that was meant to be encouraging or an insult. Please respond. If you do not, I will assume the latter.

 

[Washington Rose]

Thank you. It is encouraging.

 

[Washington Rose]

Thank you scudiera.

 

[Ismet]

Moving to pre-allo

 

[Fission Chips]

It is totally okay if you struggle with math, it is a difficult subject. I have always held the view that math is the fundamental basis for all science. Math gives meaning to Physics, which defines chemistry (hence Pchem, which gives meaning to Ochem), which yields the basics of Biology, which is the basis of medicine. It is kind of funny because at the root of it all, math rules everything, but as a physician you may never use it.

I would suggest studying math 1-2 hours per day. Go over your notes, read the text, and do the practice problems in the back of the book every day. This may seem like a lot, but I PROMISE you it will pay off come finals. Think of it as pre-investing in your future investment of becoming a physician (which is a substantial investment.)

 

[hmockingbird]

I don't know if this helps, but I will say that once you make it into medical school and forever beyond, you will use very, very little math.

An understanding of statistics (at a pretty basic level) is necessary to read the research effectively, but other than that you'll almost never use math beyond what a high school senior would be expected to know.

Agree with this. You need it for the MCAT but there's little applied math in most fields of medicine besides calculating doses (obviously there is math to the science behind medicine). On tests, you might be asked to use the Henderson-Hasselbach equation (first two years) or calculate things like anion gap or osmolality which are really basic equations that you can memorize for the tests (b/c IRL you're probably getting those from the lab and/or can google it).

My medical school taught us stats, I'm not sure if this is standard. I would recommend a stats class if you need a second math class. #1, I found it easier than calc just in terms of the actual math required. #2, it's more about understanding how it's applied, than memorizing equations, so I think a lot of people who traditionally struggle with math do well in stats, and #3 it's definitely important to understanding research.

 

[DD214_DOC]

That was very deep HooahDOc. However, I can't read on weather that was meant to be encouraging or an insult. Please respond. If you do not, I will assume the latter.

It was a joke. Well, not the part about physics and stuff but the rest. A good foundation in math and certain areas of physics can actually make most of physiology stupid easy but a lack thereof won't hold you back. Understanding physiology at that level, however, negates the need for a lot of memorization if you actually understand the physics behind it. Hence the physics premed requirement. In retrospect, I actually found biology to be the least useful premed requirement.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Agree with this. You need it for the MCAT but there's little applied math in most fields of medicine besides calculating doses (obviously there is math to the science behind medicine). On tests, you might be asked to use the Henderson-Hasselbach equation (first two years) or calculate things like anion gap or osmolality which are really basic equations that you can memorize for the tests (b/c IRL you're probably getting those from the lab and/or can google it).

My medical school taught us stats, I'm not sure if this is standard. I would recommend a stats class if you need a second math class. #1, I found it easier than calc just in terms of the actual math required. #2, it's more about understanding how it's applied, than memorizing equations, so I think a lot of people who traditionally struggle with math do well in stats, and #3 it's definitely important to understanding research.

Or, you know, all that other stuff like fluid dynamics, gradients, pressure differentials...

 

[whatever5]

What math class is it? There's a big difference between not be able to hack algebra vs calculus

 

[TallPreMed]

Mathway. It's saved my grade. Math is not a strong point for me either but mathway has helped SO much. It gives you the correct answers 95% of the time and if you get a subscription it'll explain it step by step for you too.

 

[Washington Rose]

For me, there has been no lack of trying. I do everything that is recommended. This math course is precalculus 2. I did not test into this. I started my math journey back in community college, math 96 (intermediate algebra). I've been climbing since then. So I suppose if I look at the big picture, I have accomplished more in mathematics already then I ever have before. It can be part of my motivation on this long but exciting journey. And thank you HooahDOc for responding back.

 

[Washington Rose]

I think the problem is that this math course is heavy in trigonomity. I had no previous experience in trig.

 

[Washington Rose]

Your right. It is all linked to math. I can thank this subject later when I'm taking all the chem & bio.

 

[NotWayneBrady]

If that picture is your face I highly recommend you change it. Anonymity is pretty important on message boards.

 

[zaztong]

I wouldn't write off math just yet. You should attempt to do as broad of a range of practice problems as you can. I know many people that were struggling and did much better by massive amounts of diverse problem solving. The structure of diagnostic medicine is founded on evidence based logic that you will gain from learning math.

You'll need it for physics and chemistry and that's for the MCAT. You need to have a basic college level knowledge of statistics and you may need math in certain areas of medicine when you get into med school. Hope calculus goes well.

 

[Washington Rose]

Copy that.

If that picture is your face I highly recommend you change it. Anonymity is pretty important on message boards.

 

[Lawpy]

Hi everyone! I'm new to SDN and am happy to be here. I am a junior at my university majoring in psychology and biology. I do well in all of my classes except for math. I struggle with it so much and it takes up alot of my time. If you are or have felt my pain, please share. It would be most useful.

There are many online resources to help you with math. I sucked in math back in high school, so I relied heavily on Math Advantage CDs to guide me through. In college, I stuck with assigned textbooks or Khan Academy (which is really great btw).

For calculus, I used Paul's Online Math Notes and Visual Calculus. Very helpful in getting difficult concepts clarified.

And of course, you can utilize your professor's/TA's office hours to ask for any clarification/help. It helps because you get a personalized feedback/instruction on topics that weren't covered well in lecture.

I think the problem is that this math course is heavy in trigonomity. I had no previous experience in trig.

Trig sucks. It really does. All the stuff on building triangles and deriving random identities is a total waste of time. But there are resources you can use (including those I mentioned above).

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/trigonometry/trigonometry-right-triangles

 

[Washington Rose]

There are many online resources to help you with math. I sucked in math back in high school, so I relied heavily on Math Advantage CDs to guide me through. In college, I stuck with assigned textbooks or Khan Academy (which is really great btw).

For calculus, I used Paul's Online Math Notes and Visual Calculus. Very helpful in getting difficult concepts clarified.

And of course, you can utilize your professor's/TA's office hours to ask for any clarification/help. It helps because you get a personalized feedback/instruction on topics that weren't covered well in lecture.



Trig sucks. It really does. All the stuff on building triangles and deriving random identities is a total waste of time. But there are resources you can use (including those I mentioned above).

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/trigonometry/trigonometry-right-triangles

Thank you! That was very helpful.

 

[hmockingbird]

Or, you know, all that other stuff like fluid dynamics, gradients, pressure differentials...

Granted I haven't done an ICU rotation but beyond the occasional Aa gradient I'm not sitting there calculating that stuff on my rotations and don't see my residents doing that either. (I'm a fourth year.)Even on nephro, I didn't do that much math actively - granted I was only there for two weeks so we didn't get that detailed into running dialysis. There are more equations used but I just gave the most common examples. My point was more that in most specialties, there is not a lot of advanced math you have to do on a daily basis. I've discussed this with attendings as well bc Ive had patients ask about he math we do lol. Even what we learn in the first two years, at least at my school, was not calculus based and was concentrated mostly in cardio and biochem. I was trying to give a general idea that you don't need to be a superstar at calculus to be a doctor and most fields are not going to require an overwhelming amount of math on a daily basis. Also, most formulas involve little more than basic addition/subtraction/multiplication/division. I think the challenging thing here, especially for basic pathophysiology, is being able to understand basic physics because that is where a lot of the concepts come from. I got the impression it was more just advanced math, but if OP struggles there, I could see it being more of an issue.

Obviously you need to take math (usually calc) as a prereq, I don't have any particular resources that I remember so I hope the other suggestions help. Just trying to reassure OP that most of us did not find the math actually in medical school to be overwhelming

 

[Washington Rose]

Ok. I've picked up from everyone that I won't be using copious amounts of math in medical school or my chosen career. However, considering I'm no natural in this subject, my metric are not impressive here.. Is this subject something medical schools look closely at or just your metrics as a whole?