Human Anatomy........encouraged or discouraged?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>Today I was at the UCLA Medical School and the University of Minnesota Medical School website and they each had this to say about taking a course in human anatomy, respectively.</p>

<p>UCLA: "Courses overlapping in subject matter (e.g. human anatomy) with those in the school of medicine are not recommended."</p>

<p>UMN: "While courses such as….Anatomy...are not required as pre-Med pre-requisites, they are recommended because they are very helpful as background for the coursework in Medical School."</p>

<p>I was wondering.........why the contradiction? Does this all depends on the philosophy of the school or what because I presume that the gross anatomy course in med school is pretty much universal across the states. What do you think?</p>

2

<p>Does UMinn have a med school? If they don't then they may think human anatomy is good, just like we do.</p>

<p>I think since UCLA has a med school, they know that it might either be repetitive or it might confuse the students?</p>

<p>I honestly don't know, but that's what I think.</p>

3

<p>I find it interesting that UCLA would say that. I don't see any reason that students shouldn't immerse themselves in a subject such as human anatomy as early as possible.</p>

4

<p>UCLA med is the only school I know that discourages premeds from taking med school classes.</p>

5

<p>From what I've been able to tell...</p>

<p>1) med school anatomy is going to be orders of magnitude more detailed than an undergrad anatomy.</p>

<p>2) teaching of anatomy courses often takes on the personality of the department head - it's a very personal sort of style and some may take offense to other styles. This may explain UCLA's stance</p>

<p>3) from personal experience - don't take anatomy 2nd semester senior year then get accepted to medical school the last week of january - all motivation goes right out the window. Hardest "Pass" I've ever had to earn...</p>

6

<p>Taking human anatomy as an undergrad is akin to majoring in health sciences. Most medical schools would rather see courses of study that encourage analytical thinking and excellence in a serious discipline.</p>

<p>As BRM has noted, med school anatomy will be much more detailed than any undergrad course.</p>