Guest dave927 Posted October 6, 2002 Report Share Posted October 6, 2002 Hello, let me first introduce myself to this board. My name is David and I'm currently an OAC student in Toronto, applying for university soon. I have my mind set on becoming a doctor and should be finished all my math and science courses by February. Right now, my mind is seperated on whether I should apply into physical or life science. Even though I enjoy biology, I find that my strengths and interests lie in the physical science department. Also, I know that med school does not care what kind of degree you have, as long as you have all the necessary prerequisites and marks to get in. However, what causes me to hesistate to write down physical science as my undergrad program is because the many things I hear from other people. First of all, I have talked to several university students who have taken a bit of physical and life science and claimed that physical science is a lot more difficult. This is because it is more math oriented and more intense. If this is the case, I am afraid that my GPA will suffer and will not meet the GPA cut off rate set by med schools. Secondly, I do not know how easy it would be for me to incorporate the necessary life science and humanities courses into my schedule in order to meet the prerequisites. Also, I was told that the workload might be a lot more than what the average university student has and since the program is not geared towards 'med' related things, it might put me to a disadvantage. Anyways, other than for these facts, I would have immediately put down physical science as my number one choice. Does anybody know if these are true? Also, since I'm applying to the UOFT Scarborough Campus, I'm considering going into the coop program. Also, if you had any experience in the physical science program, please tell me how it is. Thanks for reading! Much appreciated, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted October 6, 2002 Report Share Posted October 6, 2002 Ever thought about doing a combined honours or double major degree? That would let you study both, though would cut down on your electives. I'd say go with where your strengths/interests are. . . if you prefer physical sciences, then study that. Don't necessarily take someone else's advice on what's a "harder" degree. . . every person is different, and if you're more interested and more apt at physical sciences than the person giving the advice than maybe you'll find the opposite. Personally, I've found physical science classes tend to be more based on raw ability and practicing problem solving (ie math skills) whereas there was often more memorization in the life science subjects. But don't worry too much about it at this stage - wait until you've had some exposure to University courses. Worry more about which university you want to be at. At many schools it's pretty easy to switch majors before second year. For some schools, you're not even supposed to pick a major until second year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hmsdread Posted October 6, 2002 Report Share Posted October 6, 2002 Hi David, The general rule of thumb around here when deciding on what university program or courses to take is: "take what you are interested in". Your post makes it very clear that you are a physical sciences type of guy, so I'd recommend going that way. You are right, med schools don't care what degree you have so don't worry about getting a B.Sc. in physics or geology. As for squeezing in the pre-requisites, most programs offer substantial elective time, and if not, you could always pick them up in the summer. The GPA thing may be worrisome for you, but you'll probably find that you will do better in the courses that interest you the most, regardless of how tough other people claim they are. As for having "med related" courses - not necessary. Our intro to medicine quarter is just about wrapping up. There are a number of people at Western who have come from non-biology related programs and they are doing just fine. Its great that you want to be a doctor, but don't let that goal dictate how you spend the next four years. Hope this helps, and good luck! hmsdread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dave927 Posted October 7, 2002 Report Share Posted October 7, 2002 Thank you for all the advices! However, I have another question, I'm curious as to what a double major program is and how intense this would be. Would I still be able to take it if I wanted to take co-op at the Scarborough Campus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted October 8, 2002 Report Share Posted October 8, 2002 Taking a double major and/or honours does mean having less electives over all as you have more mandatory courses in the TWO subjects but usually means that you have less mandatory courses in EACH subject. It's a great idea if two subjects interest you. If >2 subjects interest you, some schools sometimes have "multidisciplinary honours" degrees that allow you to "honours" in >1 subject. These degrees are usually weak for getting into grad school (as you don't have a real major) but can be great for medicine. I didn't find the combined honours degree all that bad but then again I wasn't really looking out for the "bird" electives. Not sure about U of T, double majors or specialists or whatever they have, and how that fits into Coop. Might be a problem - someone else should comment or you might try asking at U of T Scarborough itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dave927 Posted October 13, 2002 Report Share Posted October 13, 2002 I apologize for the late response. Anyways thanks, I'm definitely going to talk to some UofT representatives who are coming to my school about this. Also, I'm just curious. If I had an equal interest in both physical and life sciences, should I choose life science because it is more medicine oriented? Or does it still not matter? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted October 13, 2002 Report Share Posted October 13, 2002 Hi David, It really doesn't matter. There are people from almost every undergraduate and graduate discipline that you can imagine who are applying to, and more importantly, gaining entry to Canadian medical schools today. With respect to physical sciences specifically, I have at least two friends who were engineers in their past lives who are now in first and third year at UofT's medical school. Therefore, it's wholly in your best interest to choose the program that interests you most and supplement that with the few biological/chemical/social science/English courses, etc., required by some medical schools for admission. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted October 13, 2002 Report Share Posted October 13, 2002 Do a degree in the physical sciences. I majored in math and physics and didn't regret it one bit. I still had time to take some biochem/cell bi/genetics, plus get a well-rounded education. I would even recommend doing an honors degree (if you have one) because it'll be much more interesting in that you would be doing more of the proofs and theory and less of the "plug and chug" mindless work lower division math courses tend to be. I am an M1 now and I found that the thinking developed in my undergrad courses have really helped me in med school. moo UBC--Class of 2k2 Northwestern University Medical School--Class of 2k6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wileycoyote Posted October 13, 2002 Report Share Posted October 13, 2002 Once you get your basic sciences in, you can pretty much apply anywhere. You can take any degree that you want, since no degree will have a higher weight than any other wrt admissions. That being said, there are two things you should look at when deciding. 1) What interests you? Interesting courses will be easier to ace, and keep up that all important GPA. 2) What will get you a job? Med school admissions are never a lock. It makes sense to take a degree that has a high employment rate after graduation. (so you can eat while taking stab #2 at the OMSAS, if it comes to that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Medhopeful Posted October 19, 2002 Report Share Posted October 19, 2002 Would a B.Sc psychology be considered a good choice? (sneak in biochem and the other pre-reqs in there). The only negative thing I've heard is that psychology is supposedly too easy .. not a "real" science major. :/ Any psychology majors in med school on this forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mirrille Posted October 20, 2002 Report Share Posted October 20, 2002 As was said before, any degree is fine, as long as you get all your prereques in there somehow. I know people who have gotten into med school as psychology majors, so it doesn't seem to be a problem at all. People get in with arts majors, engineering majors, and education degrees, so a "real" science is not a necessity.If you are interested in psychology, by all means go ahead. The key thing is to do something that you love. It's a miserable four years if you take a major that you are not interested in and in all likelihood, you will do poorly in it, and then where will you be? Good employment prospects afterwards can be a big plus, as a backup, and I have a some doubt as to the usefulness of a psych degree. You'd be looking at grad programs. I hear that the clinical psych programs are extremely competitive. That being said, nearly all science degrees will require some form of further training (i.e. grad school) before they are any use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest phantom8 Posted October 20, 2002 Report Share Posted October 20, 2002 Medhopeful, I did a Psychology Honours degree and am currently in first year meds at U of C. I've always been happy (and proud) of having done a Psych degree, even though it often does have the reputation of just being an 'easy' degree. Personally, I think Psychology can be a very "science" type degree if your interests lie in areas such as Behavioral Neuroscience. To me, Psychology isn't any less of a science than biology or chemistry or whatever. It may just seem that way since it tries to understand behavior... one of the hardest things to understand, period. I say go for Psych if that's what you're truly interested in. There's nothing worse than sitting through 4 years of a degree that you really hate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Medhopeful Posted October 20, 2002 Report Share Posted October 20, 2002 Thanks for the input, I appreciate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MayFlower1 Posted October 21, 2002 Report Share Posted October 21, 2002 phantom8, I strongly agree with you on both of your major points. First, I did an undergrad (honours) in Psychology and an MA as well. My degrees were both riddled with basic science courses. Anybody who tries to tell you it's an "easy" degree is just dead wrong. With respect to doing what you love...you're right on. There would be nothing worse than doing a degree you hate just for the sake of doing it. One of the most important things I've personally learned over the years is that you have to be happy doing whatever it is you want to do. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted October 21, 2002 Report Share Posted October 21, 2002 I would NOT actually worry too much about "employability" with your degree. Why? I remember hearing the joke in undergrad that "BA stands for begin again." Truth is, that's true for many/most B.Sc degrees as well. Part of the reason I chose biochem over biology or physiology was the impression that biochemistry was more "employable" than other bioscience degrees. When I got to 4th year, I found that wasn't really the case. . . unless I was wanted to become a pharm rep (and you don't need a biochem degree to do that) or a low level lab assitant (aka test tube washer.) Unless you're really interested in commerce, engineering, computer science or a limited number of other programs, MOST careers now require post-undergrad education (ie BEd, LLB, PhD, MSc, MBA) so that the degree on it's own makes you employable (don't forget though that there are numerous jobs out there not tailored to a specific degree!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mitchie41 Posted November 12, 2002 Report Share Posted November 12, 2002 There are some pretty tough/competitive life science programmes too.(ie. Immunology, Molecular Bio, Human Biology at UT) So take whatever you hear with a grain of SALT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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