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My kid would agree. She would also say that by MS2 that advantage has gone bye-bye and everybody is in the deep end of the pool.</p>
<p>Though I’m not done with M1 year yet, at first glance I agree with Curm and Elleneast. I was a bio major, and I have many friends (who are doing just fine) that weren’t. </p>
<p>Med school biochem’s tough enough even after having taken a challenging biochem course in undergrad. I can’t imagine being expected to understand the complex interplay of biochemical pathways without ever having learned what those pathways are. Similarly, I can’t imagine having to learn the structure and function of a nephron on top of learning how a variety of conditions and medications affect it, or having to learn the ionic basis of an action potential while also learning neuroanatomy and physiology. </p>
<p>To me, it seems like having a very solid understanding of bio, biochem, physiology, etc is a great foundation on which to build and probably contributes to less stress during the early parts of medical school–and hey, anything that will make my life a little less stressful is always good in my mind.</p>
<p>So are the kids who were not science majors struggling? Not exactly. They can handle it. They’re bright kids, for sure. But they do seem slightly more stressed out than those of us who have covered the material before. </p>
<p>Med school requires a lot of critical thinking and integration of knowledge. It’s hard to think critically and integrate systems if you’re just encountering them for the first time. But will this advantage apply to all of medical school? I doubt it.</p>