<p>All right, so I am enchanted by the medical field. However, math has the complete opposite effect on me. I am just not good at math, period. Well, unless counting Geometry which, suprisingly, I'm very good at. Getting back to the point, should my hopes of being a doctor be dashed because of this? Can someone, particularly those in medical school explain to me what math I will be dealing with in medical school and in medicine?
Right now, for example, I am not doing very good in functions, stats, and trigonometry. Does this mean I won't be able to be a doctor? BTW, I'm a junior, and I have straight A's except a B last semester in math, am currently taking 4 APs, and I am ranked #1. I know I have everything needed to be a doctor, except good mathematical skills. Will this hurt me?</p>
<p>Thanks </p>
<p>(Sorry for the long post!)</p>
<p>Does it mean you can't be a doctor? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>Certainly, doing basic math, but with somewhat difficult numbers is important. If the dose for medication X is 12-15 mg/kg per day in divided doses, and it comes in dosing sizes of 400 mg, 600 mg and 800 mg, you're going to need to be able to make that decision while writing the prescription. Too little medication doesn't help your patient, too much and you expose them to side effects. This is particularly true in Pediatrics or Anesthesia where weight makes a huge difference in the dose a patient receives. </p>
<p>Algebra is also a key skill that kind of goes along with what I've just mentioned, but is absolutely essential on the MCAT for physics and general chemistry - and you can't use a calculator, so you have to be able to do it in your head.</p>
<p>An understanding of stats is important - you're going to spend the rest of your life reading journal articles and statistics is the language of new discoveries. Things like the sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive values, likelihood ratios and number needed to treat show up on USMLE exams, shelf exams and board certification exams in all specialties. </p>
<p>So it's not so much being good at math, or knowing a lot of math, but knowing how to USE math is very important.</p>
<p>I mean, it depends on just how bad we're talking about. I bet you're in the okay range.</p>