What are med school classes like compared to undergraduate classes?

[mrh125]

I'm about to graduate from college and am going to med school in a little over year. Im wondering how med school classes compare to undergrad courses and if you have to study differently for med school classes. Pretty much every undergraduate biology class I've taken has essentially been "memorize everything on the powerpoint slides and make flashcards". Are there a lot of classes like that? I really don't mind that at all because I have a good memory and it makes it easy for me to do well. Also, how much math and physics do you have to use in classes? I hated physics but it's cool actually learning how it applies to things that actually exist (I really enjoyed studying physics for the mcat because they actually told you how electricity and magnetism applies to stuff like the central nervous system, how flow rate applies to blood pressure etc)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[StIGMA]

Everything is more advanced. Advanced Medical O-chem was the worst, learning how to synthesize all the drugs we learn about in pharmacology. Good luck!

 

[mrh125]

Everything is more advanced. Advanced Medical O-chem was the worst, learning how to synthesize all the drugs we learn about in pharmacology. Good luck!

Thanks! Advanced medical organic chemistry sounds really cool! I loved ochem XD. Actually learning mechanisms and syntheses for things that are actually used sounds amazing. Lot of memorization though I bet.

 

[reverieinvictus]

You'll apply some physics concepts in cardiovascular and respiratory physiology the most.

You'll also apply some kinetics and rate reaction stuff in pharm, but I think that's more chemistry (from what I remember doing in undergrad chem)

 

[Doctor Strange]

Thanks! Advanced medical organic chemistry sounds really cool! I loved ochem XD. Actually learning mechanisms and syntheses for things that are actually used sounds amazing. Lot of memorization though I bet.

I think you're being trolled.

Compounding and drug synthesis are not part of any MD curriculum I've ever seen...

 

[Packman2003]

...He's joking. You are done with O Chem. You will not need a good chunk of it ever again. There is minimal physics or math involved. If you did well enough on the MCAT to get into medical school you are good. You don't need to remember any details from that stuff, just general principles and concepts.

The main difference is that you get a whole lot more information every day that you have to synthesize and retain efficiently, because you will get even more the next day, and the next day, and it keeps going. On top of this, you will have clinical stuff. If you have a good memory that helps tremendously. You need to find a way to keep all of this information organized in a way that works for you. You will have far less free time, especially if you want to stay in the top half of your class.

 

[notbobtrustme]

depending on the lecturer, lecture is only 25-50% of the material you need to know for exams. The rest comes from assigned notes/readings/problems.

The pace is much faster as well. We covered all of undergraduate immunology in less than three weeks.

 

[Ismet]

Everything is more advanced. Advanced Medical O-chem was the worst, learning how to synthesize all the drugs we learn about in pharmacology. Good luck!

 

[Donald Juan]

depending on the lecturer, lecture is only 25-50% of the material you need to know for exams. The rest comes from assigned notes/readings/problems.

That sounds school specific. We have very, very little that isn't covered in lecture.

 

[def1]

depending on the lecturer, lecture is only 25-50% of the material you need to know for exams. The rest comes from assigned notes/readings/problems.

The pace is much faster as well. We covered all of undergraduate immunology in less than three weeks.

I agree the pace is much faster but the detail is not as in depth in my opinion.

Sure you probably go over a semesters worth of immunology concepts in 3 weeks but not at the depth of a regular course. There is just no way.

Also that sucks about you're lecturer. I'd say 90% of the material I need to know comes straight from the powerpoints.

 

[AlmostAnMD]

pretty much 100% at Toledo

two older professors insist on using the overheard with fill-in-the-blank handouts, but other than them it was all in the ppt with the books only as a reference if you want them/are a millionaire

 

[HLxDrummer]

Pretty much the same but a lot more of it. 4-6 hours of detail everyday plus community service/shadowing/small groups/studying/lab/meeting with preceptor/etc.

You are very lucky with the memorization. I hate it and suck at it so I'm miserable lol much rather do physics or something conceptual (loved physio)

 

[Arkangeloid]

The professors dump a mountain of info on the powerpoints and fly through them. Thank God for pause buttons.

 

[mcloaf]

depending on the lecturer, lecture is only 25-50% of the material you need to know for exams. The rest comes from assigned notes/readings/problems.

That's rough. All of our exam questions come straight from the powerpoints.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Pretty much the same but a lot more of it. 4-6 hours of detail everyday plus community service/shadowing/small groups/studying/lab/meeting with preceptor/etc.

You are very lucky with the memorization. I hate it and suck at it so I'm miserable lol much rather do physics or something conceptual (loved physio)

We are pretty lucky in that we don't have any of that garbage for 2nd year. There's 1/week small group sessions/clinical skills class, but that's it, at least for fall quarter.

 

[D elegans]

Everything is more advanced. Advanced Medical O-chem was the worst, learning how to synthesize all the drugs we learn about in pharmacology. Good luck!

 

[EnergyDrink]

At my school, a single lecture is about a weeks worth of undergraduate material.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Everything is more advanced. Advanced Medical O-chem was the worst, learning how to synthesize all the drugs we learn about in pharmacology. Good luck!

It took me like a week to learn how to synthesize hydrocodone but once I figured it out it was totally worth it.

 

[D elegans]

It took me like a week to learn how to synthesize hydrocodone but once I figured it out it was totally worth it.

Penicillin has been most useful for me

 

[GUH]

At my school, a single lecture is about a weeks worth of undergraduate material.

that feels about right

 

[Mountaineer12]

I'm only 2 weeks into MS1 and I can already tell you it's pretty different, at least the amount of information. I had a tried and true method for studying in undergrad and that's already had to go out the window because it took way too long. Just yesterday be learned a handful of signal transaction pathways in one hour that an undergrad class would have taken at least half the semester to get through. I'm assuming you start to get used to it though.

 

[tco]

I'm only 2 weeks into MS1 and I can already tell you it's pretty different, at least the amount of information. I had a tried and true method for studying in undergrad and that's already had to go out the window because it took way too long. Just yesterday be learned a handful of signal transaction pathways in one hour that an undergrad class would have taken at least half the semester to get through. I'm assuming you start to get used to it though.

As soon as you get used to it, it gets worse.

 

[Mountaineer12]

As soon as you get used to it, it gets worse.

Haha don't tell me that!

 

[Textbookversion]

Haha don't tell me that!

It's pretty true. Every time you are like "oh okay I think I've got a handle on it" they up the speed on the treadmill.

 

[mcloaf]

It's pretty true. Every time you are like "oh okay I think I've got a handle on it" they up the speed on the treadmill.

I'm getting that impression from watching the M2's.

 

[Oo Cipher oO]

As soon as you get used to it, it gets worse.

They can always hurt you more....

 

[Ismet]

It's pretty true. Every time you are like "oh okay I think I've got a handle on it" they up the speed on the treadmill.

Yep. Came into ms2 thinking I finally had my study strategy figured out, then we have 2 exams within the first 2.5 weeks of school and I'm struggling. At least summer was fun, I guess! 😀

 

[HLxDrummer]

I'm only 2 weeks into MS1 and I can already tell you it's pretty different, at least the amount of information. I had a tried and true method for studying in undergrad and that's already had to go out the window because it took way too long. Just yesterday be learned a handful of signal transaction pathways in one hour that an undergrad class would have taken at least half the semester to get through. I'm assuming you start to get used to it though.

Hey I saw you are at the same school I am! Congrats on getting in and good luck! Don't take it too seriously 🙂

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

Our first block is like 80-90% stuff I learned in undergrad. Apparently I retained waaay more than I thought because I've had to do minimal studying for our first unit. I've been cherishing it while I can haha

 

[Frazier]

The professors talk 2.5x quicker in med school during lecture than they did in undergrad.

HTH

 

[Ismet]

The professors talk 2.5x quicker in med school during lecture than they did in undergrad.

HTH

Are you 2.5x speed-ing the podcasts or do you really think Dr. Schumann talks fast?

 

[yehhhboiii]

The professors talk 2.5x quicker in med school during lecture than they did in undergrad.

HTH

huh
professors tend to talk slow at my school but somehow still manage to cover a boatload of information every day

 

[Frazier]

huh
professors tend to talk slow at my school but somehow still manage to cover a boatload of information every day

Are you 2.5x speed-ing the podcasts or do you really think Dr. Schumann talks fast?

heh, yeah, I was hinting at the power of podcasts. 😀

 

[sinombre]

heh, yeah, I was hinting at the power of podcasts. 😀

You really go up to 2.5? I don't think I've ever sped something up more than 2x... and I do a lot of pausing/replaying. Or do you only speed it up that fast if you're hearing the lecture for a second time?

 

[yehhhboiii]

You really go up to 2.5? I don't think I've ever sped something up more than 2x... and I do a lot of pausing/replaying. Or do you only speed it up that fast if you're hearing the lecture for a second time?

at 2.5 you can understand if you concentrate and there are topics that you already know

 

[JackD]

For me, med school was just a lot more work than undergrad. When I was an undergrad I did more studying and work for school than anyone I knew. I tried to do the same amount of work I did as an undergrad during my first few weeks of med school and fell very far behind. I am surprised that I didn't fail anything during the first semester.

Really it is all about commitment. You have to really commit the time and energy into the program. I would say the average week, between lectures, labs, and studying at home, I am at at least 80 hours of school work. It sounds daunting but you get used to it eventually. You just kind of adapt and learn how to balance everything. Now i can work 80+ hours on school and still have a reasonably active social life. The question just ends up being if you can stomach sitting around for that many hours per week reading and studying and listening to lectures?

The guess the overall answer to the question is, med school is just way more work than undergrad. The material is more advanced, sure, but not all that difficult to understand. There have been very few points where I have thought "god, I do not get this stuff at all". It has been more like "god, how am i going to learn all this stuff by next week?!". The real difference is the amount of work you have to do just to get through it doesn't even compare.

 

[Mountaineer12]

Hey I saw you are at the same school I am! Congrats on getting in and good luck! Don't take it too seriously 🙂

Thanks 🙂 I'll try! Sorry for the delayed response, our first test is this coming Friday so it's been nuts!

 

[shibby1111]

If undergraduate is like drinking from a water fountain, med school is like drinking from a fire hydrant. And there is no way to grasp all the material, you just have to pick and choose what's the most important. Every night feels like exam week. What you covered over a week in undergrad, you'll cover even more in a 2 hour lecture, then you have 3 more two hour lectures on top of that, and it's only monday. Fun stuff fo sho!!!....better than my last job.

 

[shibby1111]

Also, we were told by a professor during the intro to one of our courses, "Don't try to explain how hard it is, no one will understand."

 

[Koalafied]

The professors dump a mountain of info on the powerpoints and fly through them. Thank God for pause buttons.

Are you 2.5x speed-ing the podcasts or do you really think Dr. Schumann talks fast?

heh, yeah, I was hinting at the power of podcasts. 😀

You really go up to 2.5? I don't think I've ever sped something up more than 2x... and I do a lot of pausing/replaying. Or do you only speed it up that fast if you're hearing the lecture for a second time?

Y'all, what are the types and koalaties of these podcasts/recordings like? (MP3 320kbps, FLAC, 1080p/4k, etc.?)

 

[mvenus929]

I agree the pace is much faster but the detail is not as in depth in my opinion.

Sure you probably go over a semesters worth of immunology concepts in 3 weeks but not at the depth of a regular course. There is just no way.

I dunno. I took an immunology class in undergrad, and I think we covered almost everything in those 3 weeks we had immunology first year. In some cases, there was new stuff too.

 

[IonClaws]

It's not really fundamentally harder than undergrad, just more work. At my school, we have 15-20 hour-long lectures per week in the basic sciences. It's manageable so far.

 

[Frazier]

You really go up to 2.5? I don't think I've ever sped something up more than 2x... and I do a lot of pausing/replaying. Or do you only speed it up that fast if you're hearing the lecture for a second time?

at 2.5 you can understand if you concentrate and there are topics that you already know

This.

I have to concentrate for the duration (since topics go so fast) and it helps that the subject matter is not something that necessarily needs in depth explanation.

The perks: get through 2 hours of lecture in ~45 min. 😀

That said, if I was having a hard time grasping something and needed a thorough walk-through... I'd def tone it down from 2.5x

 

[yehhhboiii]

I agree the pace is much faster but the detail is not as in depth in my opinion.

Sure you probably go over a semesters worth of immunology concepts in 3 weeks but not at the depth of a regular course. There is just no way.

Also that sucks about you're lecturer. I'd say 90% of the material I need to know comes straight from the powerpoints.

yes the professors don't go through all the details but they assume that you have the background to understand it all without them needing to going through it explicitly. so they'll talk about a topic that isn't difficult to understand by itself but if you're seeing it for the first time, it can be hard to follow. that's why people who majored in the sciences start out with a little leg up because they don't have to waste time learning the underlying concepts. but as you get through the material, it evens out between people with different strengths because once you understand it, you're at the same level

 

[SamFujiyama]

the professors dump a mountain of info on the powerpoints and fly through them. Thank god for pause buttons.

qft

 

[notbobtrustme]

I dunno. I took an immunology class in undergrad, and I think we covered almost everything in those 3 weeks we had immunology first year. In some cases, there was new stuff too.

****, there is a bunch of stuff in our medical immunology course for this first test that I saw in my graduate course in immunology when I was pursuing my PhD.

 

[neurodoc]

I don't know if my experience in the 80's is relevant but my UG college courses in the pre-req sciences (chem, o-chem, biochem, physics, calculus, biology, etc.) were way more scientifically rigorous (and academically difficult) than my MS 1&2 basic sciences, with the exception of anatomy & pathology, which are like nothing else in the UG curriculum. The med school science curriculum assumes you know the college subjects and goes on from there to bombard you with all sorts of "clinically relevant" details. When you take med school biochem, for example, you won't have to sit through exams and lab experiments where you have to show that you can work out difficult problems and compete with a hundred or so undergrads for that "A" you need to get into med school. You're already there! But there will be a ton of stuff to remember and it won't always be clear how it all fits together, unlike your college courses where learning tends to progress logically step by step, as when you study physics or chemistry. So it does require a slightly different approach.

The good news is that by the third year you get into the clinics and wards, and that's when all the basic science starts to come together and make good sense. All of this is to prepare you for your internship and residency, which is just a continuation of med school, designed to make you a practicing physician.

Everything learned along the way, from college, through med school, through post-graduate medical training is essential to producing competent physicians.

Some folks (Lewis Thomas for one) have criticized the emphasis on undergraduate science education in selecting medical students. You don't need to be a science major to be a good physician. You can major in Music or Literature. But there is a good reason for med students to demonstrate UG competence in the BCPM AMCAS "prerequisites." Med school basic science courses are not meant to be a mere summary rehash of UG science courses, and a med student without any experience in these subjects will find it extremely difficult to get through them.