Guest pilotgrrl Posted June 15, 2003 Report Share Posted June 15, 2003 Hello!! Just wondering if anyone is currently studying Physics with the intention of going into medicine. I've just finished first year, majoring in Physics at UT and concerned (or more like bloody scared) that courses like Multivariable Calculus and upper year quantum courses will bring my GPA down significantly. Especially since med schools don't take your program into consideration? Okay, thanks. 8o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UTMed07 Posted June 15, 2003 Report Share Posted June 15, 2003 Physics is a tough road and I have heard some stories about the partial differential equations course they make you do (if you're at U of T). That said, if you enjoy physics and are doing reasonably well there isn't any reason you shouldn't stick with it. I did engineering and, while I didn't plan on med school 'til later, I can't say that I'd have done it differently if I'd known that medicine is my ultimate destination. Yes... the GPA might be a bit lower, but I don't think you're at any disadvantage on the MCAT vis-a-vis biology majors. The physical sciences grouping (which engineering students belong to as well) on average do better -- even in the biology section (8.3 vs 8.6 -- see MCAT data). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mitchie41 Posted June 15, 2003 Report Share Posted June 15, 2003 Yeah...physics is pretty tough. I was going to go into physics, but I changed it because I heared some REALLY bad stuff about upper-level courses in the physics programme(ie. the partial differential equations course). but if you really like physics and medicine, you should look into the biophysics programme. i've acctually heared lots of good things about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lakers4life Posted June 15, 2003 Report Share Posted June 15, 2003 There are quite a few engineers and comp sci majors in med school who would have similar courses. If you enjoy physics then you should do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pilotgrrl Posted June 15, 2003 Report Share Posted June 15, 2003 Thanks for the help everyone! I believe the killer course that you're referring to is MAT 244 -- Ordinary Differential Equations. That is, you learn about first and second order differential equations (so you can solve the Schroedinger equation...yay!). I'm planning on taking it next summer so that the UT med school won't count it. The MCAT statistics on physical science majors does look promising, however. I think the reason why those in the physical sciences and mathematics do consistently better than bio majors is because it's difficult to obtain a competitive GPA (required for med school) in those programs, especially math and engineering! So it's not surprising that those who do, do better in the MCAT. Biophysics, eh? I think they take different physics courses (like Physics for Life Science I and II) and I prefer the hardcore physics courses like Electromagnetic Theory, Electronics Lab, etc. It's a program that I don't know a great deal about...I'd imagine that they take courses in biomechanics, medical imaging, etc? Is that correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mitchie41 Posted June 15, 2003 Report Share Posted June 15, 2003 Yeah.....in biophysics, the students learn about physical phenomena that pertain to medicine\bio. so, you take courses that deal with MRI, Dosimetry and stuff. It's a really good idea to take the tough courses in the summer. Most schools won't count them in the calculation of your grade point average(except UBC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EMHC Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Whoa.... Mitchi41: UBC considers the courses that you take during the summer session?!:| EMHC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UTMed07 Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 The MCAT statistics on physical science majors does look promising, however. I think the reason why those in the physical sciences and mathematics do consistently better than bio majors is because it's difficult to obtain a competitive GPA (required for med school) in those programs, especially math and engineering! So it's not surprising that those who do, do better in the MCAT.IHMO the MCAT scores basically give you the applicant pool. My interpretation (of the data) is the unconventional students (non-biology, non-health sciences) are on average sightly better students and/or more practised at problem solving and pattern recognition (both of which are useful for the MCAT). I believe the killer course that you're referring to is MAT 244 -- Ordinary Differential Equations.I'm not sure... the engineers have their own math courses. What I can tell you is, partial differential equations (PDEs) are generally considered much more difficult (than ordinary ones), 'cause they have two or more independent variables. Actually, PDEs are often decomposed into ODEs. That said, ODEs can still be scary stuff... especially if the words "non-linear" make an appearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mitchie41 Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 hey EHMC, Yes....UBC counts your ENTIRE academic record when calculating your overall average. So all the sumer courses are a part of that. I guess it's just one of the downsides of using the % average instead of GPA to calculate your academic rank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OU812 Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 I have often heard and experienced first hand that it is much easier to get high marks in Health science courses (Kines, Anatomy, Chem, Bio) in comparison to pretty much any other program courses. I have had friends who took business courses and achieved 70's. When they switched into Biochem and Bio they were getting mid 90's. Same goes for a philosophy majour that got high 70's in phil courses and ended up acing Science courses with 90's. So there may be some truth to the poster that said students who are not health science, Bio majours score better on the MCAT because they are generally better students (academic aptitue wise) to be able to get higher GPA's in their programs that are alot tougher than Bio, Biochem, Kines etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lakers4life Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Computer Science majors have the highest admission rate into med school [something like 60% of the appilcants] and they also do very well once in medical school, so bio majors aren't neccessarily the be-all-and-end-all of getting in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest walton1 Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Hi pilotgrrl, I'm in an interesting position to comment on your post. I took physics in undergrad, and I'm starting med school at Dal in the fall. Presently I am working on a masters degree in medical physics, which I must finish in order for my offer of admission to be valid. Physics IS hard and I do have a lower-than-average GPA. By the time I graduated, I had an average in the low 80's (3.5 to 3.6-ish), but, indeed, my marks in some of the more difficult 3rd and 4th year courses were much lower than my average -- in the 70's and two even in the 60's. My transcript looks inconsistent. I applied to a bunch of med schools after undergrad and had no offers, not even any interviews. This year, 2 years into my MSc, I applied again and had an interview and offer at Dal alone (NB: I am a Maritime resident). I am ecstatic and deeply relieved and grateful. My view is that I got into to med school DESPITE my undergrad performance, not because of my undergrad performance. A low eighties average is pretty marginal, med-school-applicant-wise. Perhaps Dal took my field of study into account; my average is not too bad for physics. But of course I wasn't at the top of my physics class, either. Physics tends to attract students with several different levels of achievement. One student in my year made marks in the mid-nineties for all of his 2nd year electricity & magnetism and mechanics courses. This is impossible -- you will realize this when you eventually take the 2nd year courses -- and you will likely be amazed by the brilliance of some of your classmates, even if you were the best physics student at your high school. (If you are one of these 'impossible' physics students, fill your boots, you'll do really well!) I think the problem for me was that some time in 3rd year, I realized physics wasn't really for me. It was a field where I would never spontaneously pick up a book -- perhaps A Brief History of Time or one of Feynman's books -- and just read it for kicks. But at that point I just decided, heck, it's another year and a half, I'll just finish the degree. I am pleased where my physics degree led me -- I'm pretty happy in medical physics -- but I think if I could do it over again, I would have switched into Statistics in 2nd year of undergrad. I find Stats fascinating. It is also applicable to just about every field of study, so there's a clear path to a backup career. But that is my preference, not yours! Strangely enough, I am grateful that I was rejected after undergrad. Over the last two years I've learned a lot about medical physics. I've also become familiar with a hospital environment. Indirectly, I've learned a lot about the health care system. I also have two more years of valuable 'Life Experience.' Medicine is truly the career I wish to pursue. The initial rejections helped me to appreciate that more, I suppose. Being stuck in grad school purgatory for 2 years has been *good for me*. In defense of physics: Just as an orchestra needs bassoonists as well as violinists, I think medicine needs physicists as well as biologists. (Please accept my apologies for the cheesy analogy.) So you are not wasting time 'playing the bassoon,' but make sure it's for you! (Darn double-reeds!) best wishes & good luck wally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HP Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 Lakers4Life - Where are you getting that stat from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lakers4life Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 I actually am quoting that from 2 years ago...someone posted a link on the review.com forum that mentioned that the admission rate for comp. sci majors is 60% of those that apply. Plus, once in medical school, on the average theya re amoung the top students in the class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay computer science! (I have no idea if the stats are true or not, but I sure do like'em ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HP Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 Gotcha. I mean, that makes sense - they must be working pretty hard to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lakers4life Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 I am pretty sure about the first one being 60% [includes the US though] b.c I did read the article 2 years ago. The other part about doing well in meds was more an informal thing that was talked about with faculty, that said that that was their observation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest V Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 I doubt that Computer Science makes up 60%.... definately a mistake. Out of over 100+ students I know (in my class and at other schools, I still have only met 1 comp sci major). I think that # should mean SCIENCE major. I checked out a link from our med school and there have only been 5 comp sci majors in the past 4 years (~500+ students). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 Hi V -- I think Lakers meant that 60% of computer science majors who apply are admitted, not that cs majors make up 60% of the class! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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