Hello to everyone, and Happy Autumn!
I’ve got a question about Physics. All of the med schools here in my home state of Pennsylvania require 2 semesters of Physics in order to be considered for admittance. I’ve never had Physics. Why is it important in the study of Medicine? How “math-based” is it? Will I have to do some preliminary work, or can I go into a lecture and lab “cold”?
Also, I meet with the pre-med advisor next week, to map out a plan for doing the sciences, but will I be able to start in January, or did I miss the sequence of lecture/lab that begins in the Fall semester? I’m planning to do this all through summer, as well, but I’m wondering if I’ll have to put the sciences on hold until then. Any thoughts on this?
Also, can someone explain to me about the year-lag between applying to med school, and waiting to get in? I can’t get into a formal post-bacc program, due to no letters of recommendation, so I’m doing my own post-bacc program,( and will secure letters of recommendations from the professors that I meet, hopefully) but I’m not really familiar with “what I have to take when”. Given my age, the thought of having to sit out a year between applying to med school and actually starting classes is not appealing, but there isn’t anything that I can do. The formal post-bacc programs have agreements with med schools so that you don’t have to wait to get accepted, but that avenue is closed to me. Any advice or thoughts on this subject? Thanks so much! Siobhan
Whether you can start in January depends on your school. I started my prereqs in January, with first semester general chemistry. Most of the time the core science courses are popular that they offer them constantly.
You will need a good solid grasp of algebra even for general chemistry, and you’ll need that plus good solid trig for physics, so if your math is very rusty you may want to take some math before you get into those sciences. Biology you could come into cold.
It’s hard to avoid that “glide” year because you are so much better off finishing the core courses before you take the MCAT. There are lots of valuable things you can do with that time: more volunteer or clinical work, working to sock away a few more pennies before med school, taking some advanced biology classes like genetics, immunology, physiology, biochemistry, or cell biology to help you feel more prepared for med school, etc.
You’ll need to take gen chem followed by organic chem, two semesters of each. You’ll also need two semesters of physics and two semesters of bio, which you can fit in wherever. You’ll need labs for all these courses. Some med schools have additional requirements such as calculus or biochemistry, so look into that as you go. You can take those additional courses during your application year.
Denise has some excellent advice. As she said, whether or not you can start the series in January depends on whether or not your school offers it then.
Another factor to consider is pre-reqs to the pre-reqs. At my school, there was a math pre-req for both Chemistry and Physics. Also, Chemistry was a pre-req for Bio. You don’t say what math you’ve had before. At some schools, if you haven’t taken the math pre-req for chem and physics, you will not be able to enroll in them. Usually the pre-req is Algebra and Trig.
The math for Chem and Physics is all pretty basic Algebra and Trig. A good working knowledge of logs and trig rules will help you out tremendously.
If you start in January, you can take the second semester of Gen Chem in the summer, and start organic next fall. You can spread your bio and physics out, or, if you are like me, you want to be a full time student, so you take them all at the same time.
Either way, the chemistry requirement probably puts you at taking the MCAT in April 2006 for 2007 admission, if you don’t start until January. As Denise mentioned, get the Medical School Admissions Requirements (available on AMCAS’s website). A lot of schools are going to the biochem and calculus requirement (a few are adding genetics). Those can be taken during your “glide year”.
Hope this helps and isn’t too repetitive of Denise’s post!
Amy
Here’s a tip: Physics is not a science class! It is a fancy algebra class.
Therefore, you need to take college/intermediate algebra and pre-calculus first - and do well. (Some colleges say alg and trig, check this.) You don’t need calculus though unless 1) you want to take calc based Physics which med schools don’t require or 2) your med school of choice requires calc.
Some do, some don’t. My solution was just NOT to apply to any med schools that require calc. I don’t know of “many” med schools going to require calculus in the future that do not require it now. But, some med schools are considering adding biochemistry as a pre-req in the future (some require it now). My advice is to take a semester (or two) of it in your application year. Your first week of med school, you WILL NOT BE SORRY!
I ended up with 2 off years, one I took Biochem the other I homeschooled my kids.
Your other specific questions are a matter of what is offered at your school, and every school is different - even in the same city. Also, what you require as an individual is different. You’ll need intermediate Alg - then Pre-calc or trig (one semester each)- then Chem, Physics and Bio - then Ochem. Physics and Bio can be taken along with Chem or Ochem, but Chem must be taken BEFORE Ochem. Chem, Ochem Bio and Phys are all 2 semesters each.
The off year exists because you apply in summer for admittance the following year (fall). This summers applicants will get in Fall 05. It can’t be avoided.
Hello to all, and thanks so much for your replies.
My math is very rusty! I can handle algebra ok, but I’ve never taken trig,or calculus, not even in high school. I’m afraid that I fell into that category of being intimidated by math, and then developed a math phobia, so I guess I never wanted to challenge myself beyond what came easy. In any case, I’m wondering if I should find a tutor to get me up to speed with trigonometry, or is it better to just sit through a class? I’m trying to save a little bit of time and money, but I don’t know if that’s the best way to do it. A girl that I know studied herself into the sciences by taking old math books and learning it that way. She swore that she wasn’t a math genius, but I don’t know if that way is realistic. Thanks, as always, Siobhan
If you’ve never had trig, then you may be well served by either taking it or getting a good tutor. The amount of trig you need for physics isn’t much, but you do need it.
How about if you ask your advisor about a math placement test? They’re usually free or very cheap and that can be a good way to see where you are, mathematically. YOu can save yourself a lot of time and misery and some bad grades by getting your math polished up right at the start. YOu can take biology while you’re doing this so you’re not completely twiddling your scientific thumbs.
Great idea, Denise, thanks. Siobhan
I have two things to add. As far as why you need physics to be a doctor, I understand that it is not so much the specific concepts of physics that are important. Med schools want to see that you are able to use the smaller ideas and formulae to pull together the ‘big picture.’ It is more the conceptual part than the physics part, which is why you don’t need calculus-based physics. (I hope that all made sense) Secondly, I don’t know about schools near you, but I am in a post-bacc program in Chicago, and it has no official affiliation with any med school. Being in the program has no benefit to me as far as getting into any particular school. I hope that was all intelligible and helpful. Good luck!
Thanks so much! Your comment was very helpful! Siobhan
Quote:
Hello to everyone, and Happy Autumn!
I’ve got a question about Physics. All of the med schools here in my home state of Pennsylvania require 2 semesters of Physics in order to be considered for admittance. I’ve never had Physics. Why is it important in the study of Medicine? How “math-based” is it? Will I have to do some preliminary work, or can I go into a lecture and lab “cold”?
Also, I meet with the pre-med advisor next week, to map out a plan for doing the sciences, but will I be able to start in January, or did I miss the sequence of lecture/lab that begins in the Fall semester? I’m planning to do this all through summer, as well, but I’m wondering if I’ll have to put the sciences on hold until then. Any thoughts on this?
Also, can someone explain to me about the year-lag between applying to med school, and waiting to get in? I can’t get into a formal post-bacc program, due to no letters of recommendation, so I’m doing my own post-bacc program,( and will secure letters of recommendations from the professors that I meet, hopefully) but I’m not really familiar with “what I have to take when”. Given my age, the thought of having to sit out a year between applying to med school and actually starting classes is not appealing, but there isn’t anything that I can do. The formal post-bacc programs have agreements with med schools so that you don’t have to wait to get accepted, but that avenue is closed to me. Any advice or thoughts on this subject? Thanks so much! Siobhan
Hi there,
You need to have two semesters of General Physics with lab. This requirement need not be Calculus-based but you need to have excellent College Algebra and Trigonometry skills. If your math is rusty, you need to have it up to par before you undertake Physics as any Physics class is primarily math-based.
The time-line for application to medical school goes something like this: You need to complete two semesters of General Biology with lab; two semesters of General Chemistry with lab, two semesters of Organic Chemistry with lab and two semesters of General Physics with lab. These requirements take a minimum of two years to complete.
You need to take the MCAT or Medical College Admissions Test. This test is generally offered in April and August. The glide year exists because it takes two years to complete your pre-reqs; then you need to take the MCAT either in August after you are done with your pre-reqs or in April of the next spring. I would strongly caution you about taking the MCAT for practice in August because you are obligated to show significant improvement the next time you take that exam. Two mediocre scores are do not look good and could be a “death-blow” to your application.
If you take the August MCAT, you could apply the June before that exam but your application would not be complete until October after the exam. This places you in the “latter” pile of applicants which is not necessarily detremental if you are a very strong candidate. If you decide to wait until the next June then I would advise taking the MCAT during April of that year.
Waiting an extra year to complete pre-reqs, study and prepare well for MCAT is worth that time as it can mean the difference between acceptance and non-acceptance. It is easy to become impatient with this process but why invest thousands in tuition and taking the MCAT only to rush the process and not achieve admission. As many have said, “this is not a sprint, it is a marathon.”
Collect your letters of recommendation as you go through your pre-req classes. You need to be very pro-active about getting letters and meeting the requirements of any pre-medical advisory committees. Some medical schools will not accept LORs that are not submitted through a pre-med committee so investigate this while you have some time.
As a non-traditional student, you may want to invest some money in a professional premedical advisor like our Judy Coldwell. Since you are somewhat away from the academics, you should NOT try to navigate through this process alone. You can wind up investing thousands of dollars in attempting to prepare for medical school with no acceptances in the end. The cost of professional advise should be included in your budget for medical school preparation.
With the economy being poor, this is especially a competitive year with many people looking at medicine as a “sure thing” for high income. Sadly, most people currently in medical school are looking at six-figure malpractice insurance premiums and five-figure salaries in most states. Some states are downright dismal. (Do some homework and find out what practice conditions are in your state). I can tell you from experience, Ohio is dismal and I will not practice in this state without significant tort reform (not likely). West Virginia and Pennsylvania are worse.
Good luck!
Natalie
