ADHD and bad at math and physics - PreMed?

WayOutWestMom
Fri, 08 Aug 2014 14:16:28 +0000

ADHD is not an impediment to becoming a doctor. I know several med students/residents/physicians who who have ADD in various forms. It’s a matter of you developing the coping skills needed to be able to succeed with a heavy academic load. Also you have to want a medical career bad enough to stay the course no matter how hard or how discouraging.

I would also say that for most people math/physics/chem doesn’t come naturally or easily. It’s a matter of determination and practice, practice, practice! (IOW, don’t just do your assigned homework problems; do extra- problems sets-- lots extra until you feel confident in your skills. Only then move on to the next topic. This is the advice that comes from DH–a physicist-- and both Ds–math majors–and no, math didn’t come easily to them. Lots of sweat, time and tears for all involved.)

Some practical recommendations.

–If your profs allow it, record lectures so you can concentrate on ‘hearing’ the material. Take handwritte notes later from the recording. (Neuroscience research has shown that the act of writing requires some level of processing/understanding the material. Typing notes doesn’t)

–Pre-read the material before lecture and create a list of questions about stuff you don’t understand. You probably won’t get to ask your questions, but you’ve identified topics that you need to pay attention to in lecture.

-- Do extra problem sets to achieve mastery. Do not move onto the next topic until you have mastery since all science and math knowledge is incremental. (Built on previous concepts/knowledge.)

-- Attend recitations. The more times you hear something explained, the more likely it is to ‘click’ with you.

-- Get tutoring at the first sign of difficulty. Do wait until you’re in trouble or behind to see a tutor because then it’s too late.

–Work in a study group. It helps to have a group of peers around you and to see that they too may be having problems with the material and how they approach problems… (D1 used to talk about how she would be able to solve problem #3, but not #12. Invariably there would be someone in the group who got #12 but not #3. People think differently and approach problems differently. Sometimes it helps to get a different viewpoint.)

-- Lastly, on exam show all your work. This is for 2 reasons. 1) You’re likely to get some partial credit even if your answer is wrong. 2) It’s a preventative against being accused of cheating. Corollary– even if you don’t how to solve a problem, write your best guess down, even if you think it’s total bull-hockey. You might get some partial credit. (D1 had a advanced math class she swears she passed solely because of partial credit.)