<p>I know I haven't been admitted yet, but I have some questions.
1) How hard is Political Science?<br>
2) Would it be wise to double major with Human Biology and Political Science while taking all the required courses for medical school?
3) How hard is it to get research opportunities in say the medical center?
4) Is it easy to get job shadows with doctors? From what I have gone through, it seems quite tough to get shadowing experience with doctors.
5) How good is Stanford's Human Biology major?</p>
<p>Thanks for answering my questions =)</p>
<p>I can answer 2 questions for you.</p>
<p>3) I have found that it is not that hard to get a research opportunity at the medical school. At the beginning of my sophomore year, I decided I wanted to try neurobiology or neurosurgery. I looked on the medical school website and then emailed every doctor/researcher listed in those departments, telling them about myself and why I was interested in joining their lab. Out of about 15 emails, I got 5 replies, and I eventually chose one. I have now been a happy member of a neurosurgery lab for a year =]</p>
<p>4) There are multiple programs at Stanford that allow you to shadow. I was in SIMS, which stands for Stanford Immersion in Medicine Series (or something like that), in which a student can select a doctor (ex. heart surgeon, gynecologist, anything) and shadow them for a quarter. The thoracic surgeon I shadowed was extremely accomodating; she took the time to teach me about the diseases she often saw, and when I went into the OR, I was allowed to scrub in and help by holding a retractor and even tying the sutures. I highly recommend this program! There's also SCOPE, in which students work in the OR, and some other programs.</p>
<p>wow, thank you so much for that information! Now, I love Stanford more than ever. If I may ask, what are you majoring in?</p>
<p>You can look up the major requirements for each department. (You could also minor in one department and major in the other.) You can see how many courses you need and how many credit you need. Plan on taking about 15 units/quarter. Also consider the other graduation requirements (IHUM, PWR, language, distribution requirements, education for citizenship) as well as the med school requirements. If that all adds up to 180 units or less it's probably doable. Too much more than that might be difficult. Also consider if you're happy taking only classes needed only for a major in the two departments you want to major in.</p>
<p>To follow up marlgirl's post, the bulletin is online at <a href="http://bulletin.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D">http://bulletin.stanford.edu</a> in case you didn't know - click Current Bulletin. I don't necessarily agree on the units - I have friends who regularly take 19-20 units a quarter. I also have friends who take about 15. So, that'll be up to you... If you happen to go to Stanford (or I guess this applies anywhere), don't take TOO many classes your first quarter/semester, so you can gauge how difficult the courseload is.</p>
<p>As for me, I'm a Biological Sciences major (I don't know why they don't just call it biology). It's a somewhat competitive major because there are many people in it, and a lot of them are pre-med (extremely smart). But, I think it's really interesting and you can choose an honors track... mine is Neurobiology. You can look up the other tracks on the bulletin. I'm also a Psychology minor, in the #1 Psychology department in the nation =D Go Stanford!</p>
<p>By the way... going along with that... there are some really famous professors in those departments (and all departments). It's awe-inspiring to read about a scientist's discoveries in a textbook and take a seminar with them the next quarter. And most of them are pretty easy to talk to =]</p>
<p>I say that about the units because I figure that will leave time for research, studying abroad, and taking other classes outside of the major like intro sems.</p>
<p>Ah, that's true. I was including those in my numbers =]</p>
<p>thanks you two for this wealth of information. how many units would you recommend for the first quarter/semester?</p>
<p>no more than 15. 12 is the min, and 20 is the max. but 15 is perfect for 1st quarter in college. give you time to adjust.</p>
<p>Yup. Agreed with current_student. I would advise 3 or 4 lectures, and maybe a fun/extra 1 or 2 unit course. Social dance is popular, or you could do an intramural sport.</p>