If your kid wants to go to med school, what are they doing as an undergraduate major?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For kids who are good at math, I think math or applied math/stats are great majors for med school. There is nothing to memorize, no long papers to write. The concepts are difficult, but once you understand them you are done you don't have keep cramming random facts into your brain or keep editing and refining that 20 pager history paper. This gives you more time and brain space for premed classes. And math teaches critical thinking that is helpful with any job, including being a doctor.

Yes! This is a really good point. Physics is like this too - once you understand the problem set you’re good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who are good at math, I think math or applied math/stats are great majors for med school. There is nothing to memorize, no long papers to write. The concepts are difficult, but once you understand them you are done you don't have keep cramming random facts into your brain or keep editing and refining that 20 pager history paper. This gives you more time and brain space for premed classes. And math teaches critical thinking that is helpful with any job, including being a doctor.

Yes! This is a really good point. Physics is like this too - once you understand the problem set you’re good.

Physics also underpins certain aspects of medicine (which is why physics is part of the premed curriculum). You can't really understand the heart without understanding physics.

[Anonymous]

Sociology or community development which will allow a student to answer all the SDOH questions correctly on the MCAT. Urban planner is not a bad fall back.

[Anonymous]

If you must become a doctor than apply to newer DO schools in states like Arkansas, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi. Acceptance rates are as high as 70-100 percent. If you are a resident in such states (since two years or more), getting into MD schools is easier (not easy) as well because they prefer local students and some are legally required to give 90% seats to resident applicants as compared to outside applicants, they are more likely to stay and work there.

[Anonymous]

https://www.ama-assn.org/medical-students/preparing-medical-school/which-undergrad-majors-are-best-med-school


"The most common majors were:

Biological sciences—12,845 total matriculants.
Physical sciences—2,240.
Social sciences—1,991.
Humanities—832.
Specialized health sciences—784.
Math and statistics—156.
It is worth noting that the second largest group of matriculants (3,391) tracked by the AAMC fell into the “other” category."

[Anonymous]

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2748768


"The Mount Sinai School of Medicine Humanities and Medicine Program demonstrated that students with humanities majors who omitted organic chemistry, physics, and calculus and did not take the MCAT performed well in medical school and residency (4). Most undergraduate schools require students to select a major after the first two years, which is appropriate for students truly interested in a subject or who intend to enter related specific careers. However, after graduation, many students enter careers unrelated to their major, and many employers favor a broad education. The University of Illinois Chicago’s Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies does not require a major field of study, which allows more flexibility in course selection, and could be a model for premedical education (5)."

[Anonymous]

In recent years, patients's main complaint is lack of empathy among physicians. Its not that worse humans are becoming physicians but its because people see it as a lucrative future and try to get in but they end up spending so much time, money and efforts to finally earn as an attending physician that afterwards their main focus is on return on that investment than anything else. Lots of physicians are there to support an extravagant lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.ama-assn.org/medical-students/preparing-medical-school/which-undergrad-majors-are-best-med-school


"The most common majors were:

Biological sciences—12,845 total matriculants.
Physical sciences—2,240.
Social sciences—1,991.
Humanities—832.
Specialized health sciences—784.
Math and statistics—156.
It is worth noting that the second largest group of matriculants (3,391) tracked by the AAMC fell into the “other” category."

There is definitely some selection bias there as not every intelligent student want to go to medical school. Different people have different interests and aspirations. Its more likely for a biology major to want to go to medical school than a applied math or quantum physics major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.ama-assn.org/medical-students/preparing-medical-school/which-undergrad-majors-are-best-med-school


"The most common majors were:

Biological sciences—12,845 total matriculants.
Physical sciences—2,240.
Social sciences—1,991.
Humanities—832.
Specialized health sciences—784.
Math and statistics—156.
It is worth noting that the second largest group of matriculants (3,391) tracked by the AAMC fell into the “other” category."

There is definitely some selection bias there as not every intelligent student want to go to medical school. Different people have different interests and aspirations. Its more likely for a biology major to want to go to medical school than a applied math or quantum physics major.

Yeah if you are an applied math major, you can start making a lot of money straight out of college so opportunity cost of med school is higher than for a lot of other majors

[Anonymous]

A science like chemistry, neuro or biology, with a minor in anthropology or sociology

[Anonymous]

Kinesiology

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who are good at math, I think math or applied math/stats are great majors for med school. There is nothing to memorize, no long papers to write. The concepts are difficult, but once you understand them you are done you don't have keep cramming random facts into your brain or keep editing and refining that 20 pager history paper. This gives you more time and brain space for premed classes. And math teaches critical thinking that is helpful with any job, including being a doctor.

Yes! This is a really good point. Physics is like this too - once you understand the problem set you’re good.

Physics also underpins certain aspects of medicine (which is why physics is part of the premed curriculum). You can't really understand the heart without understanding physics.

Doesn’t mean you have to major in physics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In recent years, patients's main complaint is lack of empathy among physicians. Its not that worse humans are becoming physicians but its because people see it as a lucrative future and try to get in but they end up spending so much time, money and efforts to finally earn as an attending physician that afterwards their main focus is on return on that investment than anything else. Lots of physicians are there to support an extravagant lifestyle.

As AI/robotics cover more of the medical information, empathy and clinical judgment (e.g., reasoning about medical information in single contextualized cases) will continue to matter more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In recent years, patients's main complaint is lack of empathy among physicians. Its not that worse humans are becoming physicians but its because people see it as a lucrative future and try to get in but they end up spending so much time, money and efforts to finally earn as an attending physician that afterwards their main focus is on return on that investment than anything else. Lots of physicians are there to support an extravagant lifestyle.

As AI/robotics cover more of the medical information, empathy and clinical judgment (e.g., reasoning about medical information in single contextualized cases) will continue to matter more.

I don't think any major necessarily leads people to be more or less empathetic. The world of publishing and humanities departments have plenty of jerks, after all. I think the bigger problem is medical training can beat the empathy out of someone.

[Anonymous]

"The Mount Sinai School of Medicine Humanities and Medicine Program demonstrated that students with humanities majors who omitted organic chemistry, physics, and calculus and did not take the MCAT performed well in medical school and residency

I don't want a Doctor who decided they would just skip, and not take, chemistry, physics, calculus OR the MCAT