Wait, really?

[FulfilledDeer]

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Okay, so I'm a little non-trad. I just took the MCAT and did really well, but I'm 2 years out of school and it was a huge effort to study for the MCAT (I just didn't remember some of the stuff). I'm going to take for granted I'll get in somewhere (anywhere). My question is: do you really not use the stuff you learned in pre-med undergrad?

I wanted to post "what should I study to not forget stuff in my year and a half off", but I've read all the posts saying "LIVE! FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS WORLD, LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!"

So.....really? I don't want to get ahead or anything like that. While it would be cool to feel like I'm working at stuff, I have no illusions that anything I learn will really help me or not be covered in 1 class. I'm just worried about not remembering some of the basic stuff that I've already forgotten once. Even some basic-ish stuff like pH, pKa, basic theories, and especially Orgo stuff. A year and a half is a long time without any exposure to this stuff (since I'm out of school). Or is it really not that necessary?

Thanks!

[Edit: I should also mention I took the bare minimum pre-med classes in college since I wasn't a science major]

 

[NotAsking4Much]

Okay, so I'm a little non-trad. I just took the MCAT and did really well, but I'm 2 years out of school and it was a huge effort to study for the MCAT (I just didn't remember some of the stuff). I'm going to take for granted I'll get in somewhere (anywhere). My question is: do you really not use the stuff you learned in pre-med undergrad?

I wanted to post "what should I study to not forget stuff in my year and a half off", but I've read all the posts saying "LIVE! FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS WORLD, LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!"

So.....really? I don't want to get ahead or anything like that. While it would be cool to feel like I'm working at stuff, I have no illusions that anything I learn will really help me or not be covered in 1 class. I'm just worried about not remembering some of the basic stuff that I've already forgotten once. Even some basic-ish stuff like pH, pKa, basic theories, and especially Orgo stuff. A year and a half is a long time without any exposure to this stuff (since I'm out of school). Or is it really not that necessary?

Thanks!

[Edit: I should also mention I took the bare minimum pre-med classes in college since I wasn't a science major]

You probably need the first few weeks for organic chemistry. pH, pKa, and basic chemistry you will revisit, particularly in subjects like Acid-Base Physio, Biochem, etc. Physics and 90% of Orgo...no. Random biochemical pathways from Undergrad? No. Way too detailed.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I'd say my undergrad education as it pertained to med school, which included 2 biochem classes, genetics, molecular bio, etc., was covered in 30 to 35-ish lectures. That's about 2 weeks of med school. It's nice to have a bit of intro to the subjects, but don't count on learning all that much that'll carry you through med school while in undergrad.

 

[cowme]

Any incremental benefit that refreshing your pre med knowledge gives will be over within 2 weeks of med school. Trust me, it is a pointless effort, as you will be re-taught any concept that you need. Enjoy your time off.

 

[shepardsun]

Any incremental benefit that refreshing your pre med knowledge gives will be over within 2 weeks of med school. Trust me, it is a pointless effort, as you will be re-taught any concept that you need. Enjoy your time off.

This. For the love of God don't spend your last true free summer/couple of months before med school studying stuff that they're just going to teach you differently anyway.

 

[redsquareblack]

This. For the love of God don't spend your last true free summer/couple of months before med school studying stuff that they're just going to teach you differently anyway.

Thirded.

 

[WashMe]

Thirded.

👍

 

[Knicks]

Undergrad,, lol,,,, what a rip-off/scam.

EVEN IF you were never exposed to the very few "necessary" things from undergrad, you would still be just fine in med school.

 

[Danlee07]

I know you're ranting, but I don't get why people always complain about the years before the current level they're at. I've even heard some people saying elementary school is useless.. Really?

Maybe the material is easy, but it's the process of going through those years that gives you time to learn how to adapt your study method, manage time, etc.

 

[FulfilledDeer]

Thanks for the responses!

I think I understand now: it's not that you don't use some stuff they teach you in undergrad/need for the MCAT, it's that the go over again anyway (albeit quickly), and possibly in their own way. That makes way more sense to me. No worrying about it for me!

 

[MilkmanAl]

No, actually, the only things the MCAT tests that you'll need for med school are some of the human-related bio concepts and the most basic chemistry concepts. That's a very small portion of the test. Most classes have a bunch of non-human mumbo jumbo that you can ignore. In any event, everyone is correct that you should definitely be relaxing.

 

[BigRedBeta]

What everyone else said, with one MAJOR exception...

As a resident, I'd argue that the information I use from pre-med the most (and I'm talking orders of magnitude more than everything else) is stuff from physics. And I mean near direct application of concepts without much alteration. Most of WHY of cardiopulmonary physiology in the ICU or CVICU setting goes back directly to Ohm's law - although tweaked for fluids. I'm not sitting there plugging numbers into equations, but conceptually, it's vitally important. I was talking with some pediatric cardiologists recently and we even started getting into series vs parallel circuits while discussing the physiology of single ventricle heart kids (ie Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome).

 

[thechad]

What everyone else said, with one MAJOR exception...

As a resident, I'd argue that the information I use from pre-med the most (and I'm talking orders of magnitude more than everything else) is stuff from physics...

...conceptually, it's vitally important...

No, it's not.

 

[MilkmanAl]

It certainly helps, and I'd say physics is probably more important to med school than most other pre-req classes, assuming you bother to actually learn during it. Vitally important, though? No chance. Think about how many people in your class applied their biology skills to the laws of nature and just memorized their respective ways through physics 1 and 2. They didn't learn jack about physics or conceptualizing, but they're still cranking through med school just fine.

 

[Jolie South]

This topic is more suited to Pre-Allo. Moving.

 

[gravitywave]

It certainly helps, and I'd say physics is probably more important to med school than most other pre-req classes, assuming you bother to actually learn during it. Vitally important, though? No chance. Think about how many people in your class applied their biology skills to the laws of nature and just memorized their respective ways through physics 1 and 2. They didn't learn jack about physics or conceptualizing, but they're still cranking through med school just fine.

i wonder if you're actually the right guy to listen to on this subject, given that you were a physics major in college. no disrespect intended. very few people in medicine need to understand electromagnetism at the level of vector calculus, it's true. but so far as understanding physiology, a lot of this stuff is intuitive if you had a good conceptual grasp of physics and gen chem when you started.

it doesn't mean go out and study it over again during your MS0 summer, the concepts will come right back when you see it again in med school. it does mean less monkey-memorization and more understanding once you get here.