ADHD and bad at math and physics - PreMed?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hi all, </p>

<p>I have ADHD and I'm about to be a college freshman at UC Berkeley. I'm in CNR, intended Conservation and Resources BS major. I've been thinking seriously about premed, and switching to Molecular Environment Biology. It utterly fascinates me. I'm great at bio, I love it, it clicks, it's awesome. My uncle is an ER surgeon and I've shadowed him a few times and I thrive on the environment, honestly. I love split second decision making. I would also consider OB/GYN. </p>

<p>Butttt at Cal, premed is really hard. So is MEB. Chem 1a/b, math 10a/b, physics 8a/b, chem 3a/b, etc etc. I'm so not worried about the bio, but math and physics and sometimes chem are very difficult for me. I think I would be good at being a doctor. But I'm not a great student in general. Math/physics/chem do not come super naturally to me and I had to work very hard just to do okay in HS. I got a B in Honors Chem in HS, A's in bio, and did not take physics. </p>

<p>Thoughts? Is it just a matter of working hard? Or is it unlikely that someone with my learning/concept difficulties could make it through a competitive school and difficult med school? </p>

2

<p>UC Berkeley student here~</p>

<p>First off, unless you feel impeccable about your calculus skills, take Math 1A and 1B and not 10A 10B. The math 10 series is an accelerated version of the 1 series with many more topics, like statistics, linear algebra, probability, combinatorics, etc. I would start with Math 1A your first semester.</p>

<p>Second, doctors are made, they are not born. No one can be born with the skills and knowledge to practice medicine, you must learn it. Medical schools are determining if you could survive medical school as a student, and the residency that comes after that. There is no med student that knows how to treat an intermediate risk Rhabdomyosarcoma or to excise a Glioblastoma in the superior temporal sulcus on the first day of class, but what they do have is the drive and eagerness to learn anything they can, no matter what the trouble.</p>

<p>Just because some subjects don’t come natural to you doesn’t mean hard work won’t let you succeed at them. </p>

3

<p>I you believe that "… at Cal, premed is really hard. So is MEB. " , then, please, keep in mind that no UG pre-med program comes any close to the academic level at the Med. School.
You will have to work super hard in UG program though to get mostly As to simply have stats for Med. School application. Now, ANY UG pre-med program, including, the lowest ranked unknown local college is much harder than HS program. Very top HS kids who have been working very hard in HS, still need to adjust their working habits up or they get derailed from the pre-med track.<br>
Another point is that if you got into Berkeley, than you probably is not as bad as you are making us believe. Still another fact, D’s Medical school class has Berkeley represented the most and her school is very very far from CA. It should tell you that Berkeley has a good program, but you will have to put efforts to make grades. Also, there are no good or bad Math / Physics students, there are bad teachers who cannot teach. So, make sure you understand the smallest concept and detail in your classes and if not, then seek help. Even if you have a little dout that you might not be 100% sure about material, still seek help, reassure yourself that you are OK.There are prof’s office hours, tutoring, Supplemental Instructors sessions , informal group studies. There are simply students who are very willing to help because explaining material to others help them to absorb it better (that is my D., she told me that. However, she did not hesitate at all to seek help when she was not sure. It is not a bad idea at all if prof. knows you by first name becuase you visited his office hours frequently.).<br>
So, everything is possible, but not without great efforts.<br>
I do nto know anything about ADHD. Demands and challenges at Med. School are great. You have to be very focused, disciplined, have brain, emotional and physical stamina and interact with people in proffessional manner no matter if you got screamed at for no reason whatsoever. Remember,. in a clinical setting, Medical Student is at the bottom of the food chain, got to take it from everybody and stay cool no matter what and conitnue on with the smile on a face.<br>
So, I woudl say evaluate yourself and it is a good idea to talk to proffessional who is familiar with the Med. School demands and can assess your situation / condition in relation to that.
Best wishes!</p>

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<p>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.</p>

<p>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.)</p>

<p>Some practical recommendations. </p>

<p>–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)</p>

<p>–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.</p>

<p>-- 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.)</p>

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

<p>-- 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.</p>

<p>–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.)</p>

<p>-- 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.)</p>

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<p>"math/physics/chem doesn’t come naturally or easily. " - Actually the good teacher will make studying these very natural and easy. We are not talking about PhD level. HS’ers and pre-meds require very minimal, elelmentary levels in these classes. So, my strong advice, if it feel hard, it is not taught correctly, find somebody who is known for good instuctions in these classes, these people will make all the difference. Nope, no need to sweat here, save it for upper Bio, Orgo, other memory oriented classes. Math/physics/chem require understanding of pretty elementary concepts and practically no memorization except for very few facts that are pillars in understanding (and actualy being able to derive) the rest of material. Pre-meds do not need engineering level of these classes, not even close.</p>

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<p>“There is no med student that knows how to treat an intermediate risk Rhabdomyosarcoma or to excise a Glioblastoma in the superior temporal sulcus on the first day of class, but what they do have is the drive and eagerness to learn anything they can, no matter what the trouble.”</p>

<p>Seriously, you’re not a physician, not a medical student-you’re what a junior in college? who has no plans to attend medical school and but you still post stuff like this? Let’s ease up on the pedantic behavior, jw. We can all pull phrases from the medical literature; the difference is there are medical students and physicians on this forum who actually know what they mean. OP asked if s/he could make it to medical school-please spare OP-and the rest of us-your pretentious blather.</p>

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<p>@jalfred‌ </p>

<p>My uncle died of Glioblastoma, so that was not pulled from medical literature, only life experience.</p>

<p>This forum is entitled “Pre-Med-Topics” on a college website, so I do apologize if this forum is intended for college students asking med students and up for advice, but many people who post here are not med students but only family of. I have physicians in my family (grandfather, uncle, aunt) but obviously am not one myself. I was just trying emphasize that pre-med students work to become the person they are when accepted to medical school, no one is simply born that way or destined to be that way. The OP was debating whether the absence of a natural feeling is a sign not to pursue medicine, which i simply gave my opinion.</p>

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<p>OP was debating
“Or is it unlikely that someone with my learning/concept difficulties could make it through a competitive school and difficult med school?”
Pedantic and pretentious is pedantic and pretentious; there’s no way around it.</p>