g_easy Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 A bit of background.... I'm several years out of school, with an academic background in the humanities. I haven't taken any of the basic sciences since high school. Now that the shock of being accepted to Mac Med is starting to subside, I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to ease the academic transition. Current students: do you think it would be worth it for me to go over some of the curriculum during the summer? If so, any thoughts on where I could start? I realize that this probably sounds extremely keen and premed, but I just don't want to be completely overwhelmed in September. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
criston Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 A bit of background.... I'm several years out of school, with an academic background in the humanities. I haven't taken any of the basic sciences since high school. I'm in the exact same boat on this - we'll probably meet at Mac! I'd like to hear some thoughts too on some possible preparation, especially from students who are from a non-science background! i.e. skimming over MCAT science material? Getting familiar with some basics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edict Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 A bit of background.... I'm several years out of school, with an academic background in the humanities. I haven't taken any of the basic sciences since high school. Now that the shock of being accepted to Mac Med is starting to subside, I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to ease the academic transition. Current students: do you think it would be worth it for me to go over some of the curriculum during the summer? If so, any thoughts on where I could start? I realize that this probably sounds extremely keen and premed, but I just don't want to be completely overwhelmed in September. Thank you! I recommend getting a copy of Gray's Anatomy for Students or Netter's Anatomy and reading through that. Anatomy is an important foundational tool because it is the basis for which you can use to think about medicine. Clinically relevant anatomy is very important as well. Knowing referred pain, dermatomes, myotomes and acronyms like NAVEL, where you can feel your pulses, where are your anatomical landmarks like ASIS and your vertebrae i.e. C1-S4/coccyx. A lot of clinical medicine is first principles and anatomy is very good for that. The other thing I would recommend is reviewing basic physiology. Important physiology that isn't covered well at McMaster includes muscle and exercise physiology and neurophysiology. Know your parasympathetic, sympathetic, somatic nerve systems and know your action potential, bouton, receptors etc. If you have the time look at cardiac and respiratory physiology and also renal and GI physiology. A lot of what you learn and are expected to know in medical school is how to keep a patient alive. They won't expect you to know how to treat their specialized complex conditions, but they do expect you to recognize when a patient needs help, so the acute conditions like MIs, Stroke, DKA, Meningitis, Sepsis, Shock, ARDS etc. and having a good differential for abdo pain and chest pain are important. Also knowing your chronic common conditions well like Diabetes, HF, COPD etc, but all this you will learn in medical school for sure so none of this is necessary for you to learn right now. Lastly, go over pharmacology if you have time, it is a topic not covered well at McMaster. With that being said, pharmacology itself is a topic often learnt on the wards. You don't need to know which drug is necessarily used where, it is better to learn the mechanism of action of different drugs. Especially important are: B-blockers, ACE inhibitors, NSAIDs, Opioids, Sympathomimetics/Parasympathetic drugs and their antagonists. That serves as a good foundation. You will hear people tell you to enjoy your summer. I agree with that fullheartedly, but I agree that it is valuable to do some reading as well, especially if you are going to a 3 year school, so spreading out your workload a bit helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchEnemy Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 Congrats on your acceptance. I would actually recommend that you thoroughly enjoy your summer. Spend time with family. Travel to somewhere far for a few months. Pick up a hobby. Learn a new language. Your summers will never be as carefree/guilt-free as this summer again. Don't worry about the transition. There are quite a few of my classmates with Humanities / Social Sciences background, and they did well at UofT (which covers more basic sciences in its curriculum). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Organomegaly Posted May 13, 2017 Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 Congrats on your acceptance. I would actually recommend that you thoroughly enjoy your summer. Spend time with family. Travel to somewhere far for a few months. Pick up a hobby. Learn a new language. Your summers will never be as carefree/guilt-free as this summer again. Don't worry about the transition. There are quite a few of my classmates with Humanities / Social Sciences background, and they did well at UofT (which covers more basic sciences in its curriculum). agreed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intrepid86 Posted May 13, 2017 Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 A bit of background.... I'm several years out of school, with an academic background in the humanities. I haven't taken any of the basic sciences since high school. Now that the shock of being accepted to Mac Med is starting to subside, I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to ease the academic transition. Current students: do you think it would be worth it for me to go over some of the curriculum during the summer? If so, any thoughts on where I could start? I realize that this probably sounds extremely keen and premed, but I just don't want to be completely overwhelmed in September. Thank you! Pre-studying is a waste of time. It's never efficient, because you don't know what's important and what isn't. Enjoy yourself before school starts. Just come ready to learn on day 1. You'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edict Posted May 14, 2017 Report Share Posted May 14, 2017 Some people are the work hard play hard type, and they will benefit from playing during the summer and working hard during the school year, but others like myself like to play while they work. I would feel empty if I did no work at all during the summer and I would feel overwhelmed if i didn't give myself enough chance to have fun during the school year. If you are like me and studying a bit in the summer doesn't feel like it ruins your fun at all, then do it. Everyone has their own way of getting the same job done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted May 14, 2017 Report Share Posted May 14, 2017 I agree with all of the above... it really depends on whether you find you are able to retain things you've read on your own. In terms of material, basic anatomy and physiology will invariably be useful as a foundation. For some people, having seen a concept / term before will help them pick it up more quickly the next time they encounter it. Even 20 min a few days a week will add up given spaced repetition. But if learning without context is difficult, then it may not be the best use of the last chunk of free time you'll have for a while. I was given advice to look at some medical terminology before starting medical school, and I can't say it was that high yield. You can test it out yourself, perhaps with some interactive or case-based resources in addition to traditional texts. I'm sure there is a ton of stuff online. See how much sticks when you return to the material after a day or two. Should give you an idea if this is a good use of time or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thestar10 Posted May 14, 2017 Report Share Posted May 14, 2017 Go travel! you have 7 weeks of vacation over the 3 years. Don't waste your last bit of freedom studying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g_easy Posted May 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 Thank you all so much for your feedback! I am definitely on-board with the idea of taking some time off, and I think I might try to do a bit of basic learning relevant to MF1 just so that I'm not totally lost from the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.