<p>alright so up until 2 months ago, i thought i wanted to pursue a career in journalism… but just about a month ago i had to go to the hospital because my grandma had a lumpectomy… which is where i got my calling haha… it happened all so suddenly. but anyways that’s besides the point. now that i’m positive i’ll be entering into the medical field, i need to take completely different classes. so… having said that, what classes am i supposed to take? </p>
<p>oh and also, i’m trying to prepare for the MCATs, but the funny thing is, i have no idea where to start. i know the MCAT is comprised of physics/chem/bio/verbal, but like… am i supposed to memorize my whole library of science textbooks? the only physics class i took in college is “spacetime, relativity and cosmology,” which was disgustingly boring, but bearable. and i took general fundamental chem, biology and marine bio in high school. that’s pretty much sums up my academic background when it comes down to science… oh wait, and i also took a human sexuality class during my freshman yr… totally forgot about that. but anyways… as i was saying, what classes should i take? and how exactly do i prepare for the MCAT? i’m going to be a sophomore in college this fall (school didnt start yet YAY) but yeah… is it too late to study for the MCAT, or is it just about right? </p>
<p>oh and another question… if i take some courses at a community college, for example, a science course, will medical school disregard them? or does it not matter? </p>
<p>The principle courses that the AAMC (who administers the MCAT) say should prepare you for the MCAT are the following:</p>
<p>1 year of general chem
1 year of organic chem
1 year of introductory physics (typically one semester of newtonian physics - motion of big things, and one semester of electromagnetism physics - movement of really small things)
1 year of intro biology</p>
<p>now that said, that really doesn’t cover all of it. There is a lot of molecular bio on the MCAT that depending on your bio courses may not show up in class. There is also a fair amount of human physiology that pops up fairly regularly. A biochem course and a genetics course can help a lot. Follow that with a commerical test prep course from a place like Kaplan or princeton review (I personally reccomend Kaplan) and you should be set to go.</p>
<p>You’re best off starting in on these courses - at least the chemistry. Given that you are likely 3 semesters behind (b/c it’s unlikely you’ll be able to completely change your schedule) I’d encourage you to cram more science in than I would normally suggest. While a semester or two with physics, gen chem, and bio (and associated labs) will most certainly suck, it’s doable at most places if you are really certain that medicine is for you (or it might push you back to that career in journalism). You don’t have to change your major, one of my good friends in med school is a news-ed major. Just be aware that you will likely not graduate in 4 years (which isn’t a bad thing) and will probably need to knock out some classes for your major or gen ed requirements during the summers. </p>
<p>You should make an appointment with your schools pre-med advisor as soon as you get back to campus so that you can properly declare your pre-med intent, and get access to all the resources you can. They can likely provide you information on how to get clinical volunteer experiences, what research opportunities are available and so on.</p>
<p>I also recommend really being sure its something you want to pursue and not just based on emotions. Be sure you want to go through the debt and very difficult training and lifestyle. Know what will be expected of you, and how hard it will be. If you truely find that it is your calling and you want to go through all of the trouble you will probably make a good doctor since you made the decision based off of life experience, not expectations of other people.</p>
<p>wow thanks for your advice! but i’m pretty positive that i want to become a doctor. don’t know know what kind yet, but one for sure. it kinda runs in the family… there are over 7 doctors in my family lol… but yeah, you’re great!!</p>
<p>You only lost two or three semesters. Should still be able to graduate in four years if you take summers, or five if you don’t.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen any data either way on whether that extra year would hurt you - my prejudice would be to say that it does, but I must stress that I have no data to support this claim.</p>