Do you seriously need calculus for Med/PA school?

frugaldoctor
Sat, 19 Apr 2014 19:56:27 +0000

Most medical specialties aren’t math heavy. Although a strong math background would greatly enhance your academic ability to become a great doctor.

Example: just last night a colleague called me concerned that he may have overdosed a patient. After being unable to find an article to guide us, I went to the pharmacokinetic data that the company provided to the FDA. Using calculus and extrapolating from the graph, I determined that the patient could not be harmed by the accidental dose. This saved a lot of problems that would have occurred if an overdose was suspected. Also, I’ve worked with attendings who used their superior statistics knowledge to easily determine the validity of published articles.

So, don’t skimp on the math!