<p>Isn't Medical school kind of like a graduate school?? Like Law School etc...</p>
<p>So would this apply to their ideology of allowing undergraduate pre-med oriented students to take a few first year medical courses/seminars with med students and gain credits??</p>
<p>I saw this idea on their brochure of allowing both undergrad/graduate students and allowing them to take undergraduate seminars/courses and graduate seminars/courses...</p>
<p>Anyways can someone confirm this idea that an individual is allowed to take graduate courses in medicine?</p>
<p>That is not what Mollie, a graduate of MIT, who confirmed that undergrads are allowed to cross-register and take courses at any of harvards professional institutes EXCEPT harvard business school... and she quoted this from the cross-register website for harvard/MIT... i did ask this same question at stanford/johns hopkins/ and MIT forums..</p>
<p>but i just wanted to know if i could be exempted or accredited for med school... cuz i know theyll credit me for undergrad even if i take a course at a graduate level... but like i am not sure about how they look at trying to complete first year of med school (basic sciences review etc, more in-depth on biochem, microbio etc)</p>
<p>Well, I quoted that MIT undergrads are allowed to take courses at HMS. I don't know whether Harvard undergrads are allowed to or not by the college.</p>
<p>I would be surprised, however, if any medical school (even HMS itself) allowed first-year medical students to use credit earned in undergrad toward their MD.</p>
<p>EDIT: It looks like Harvard undergrads are allowed to take courses offered through the Division of Medical Sciences, which is a joint HMS/Faculty of Arts and Sciences division. (See item 4c in the MCB concentration requirements here</a>.) So presumably undergrads would be allowed to take DMS classes, but perhaps not other courses within the HMS course catalogue (here</a>), some of which are open only to medical students in certain years.</p>
<p>One major barrier has been the differences in the academic calendar but this will apparently be resolved when all Harvard schools adopt the same schedule. But it is still not that easy in practice. </p>
<p>New Pathway classes at HMS are given as "blocks" which follow in sequence not in parallel. For example, you are taking the "body block" (integration of anatomy and physiology topics) full-time for several weeks, then move onto another block. So, no, undergraduates will not be able to devote 30 hours a week to one course and therefore won't be able to take a New Pathway course for practical reasons. </p>
<p>HST courses are given in the traditional semester format and in parallel (a typical student might take 4 courses a semseter) so you can theoretically take those. Undergraduates occasionally do take them, for example the HST Human Anatomy course, but they are very time-consuming in terms of the number of hours in lecture, not to mention the time commuting between Longwood and Cambridge. I have also seen undergraduates take Division of Medical Sciences courses, such as biochemistry or cell biology, which are intended for Ph.D. students not M.D. students. But believe me, it probably won't help you get into medical school. You are better off working in lab.</p>
<p>Undergraduates will not be able to take clinical rotations in hospitals. For one thing, they don't have the prerequisite knowledge and so they don't belong there. Also, clinical rotations are full-time efforts, which can take up to 80-100 hours a week if you take on-call responsibilities with the housestaff (ie. you stay overnight at the hospital every 3rd or 4th night). New rules require that housestaff cannnot work more than 80 hours a week but there are no such rules for medical students. Sometimes interns might leave at noon post-call but a medical student might stay around.</p>
<p>just that first year med school is usually basic sciences in-depth like biochem etc.</p>
<p>So i just wanted to get a head start in completing a few or just learning about them before hand...</p>
<p>I know about everything you talked about ske293... i asked one thing you answered how the scheduling system is... i already knew about that... lol... thanks anyways... now whoever is going into medicine will know about the scheduling system... </p>
<p>oo i dont want these courses to help me get into med school... i am just interested in learning... i get bored fast... so if i fill my curiosity fast, ill be more focussed...</p>
<p>No problem but my answer wasn't meant for just you. I went into the details about medical course schedules to help you understand why they are not compatible with the undergraduate schedule. If you already knew that, as you claim, then why did you ask if undergraduates can take medical school courses? </p>
<p>Biochemistry courses in medical schools are generally geared towards memorizing lots of facts, with the hope that some of these facts might be relevant to clinical medicine. Biochemistry courses for Ph.D.s, on the other hand, are geared towards understanding/critiquing literature with the hope that you will develop the ability to design clever experiments to test new hypothesis. They are completely different in orientation/content/evaluation. Personally, I think it's rather ridiculous to say that you want to take a medical school biochemistry course for the sake of learning.</p>
<p>something being a conformist in such a informal system makes everything seem formal and structured... that is not university at all in my opinion... it is an open playing field, and if i can, ill try to find looopholes or professors who will take interest in me and try to get my credits geared in first year med... not everything has to be followed by the book... medicine is risky business... i know ur problem thinking "but ur in undergrad not medicine"... well to stand out in a school with lots of pre-med, u cant be like everyone else... hence why i chose to ask this question.. cuz i know people wont bother figuring this out early...</p>
<p>I asked the question cuz i was not sure if i could take the courses... i didnt ask the question for scheduling purposes... i knew the idea of the block system back in gr 10... for medicine.. and semester system for undergrad... i dont care about that... i just had no clue if im allowed to take grad courses that was it..</p>
<p>Though i thank you for clarifying the scheduling system, and reassuring that it is possible to take grad courses in medicine... much appreciated.</p>
<p>I highly doubt any med school will allow undergraduates to take medical courses required for medical students. They may however, allow undergraduates to take some elective courses if offered at that medical school.</p>
<p>If you are really interested in learning and want to take challenging courses, then why not take grad courses, usually taken by Phd students.</p>
<p>ill probably be doing that for philosophy... im just trying to keep my options open... like i said.. i get bored very fast and im a philomath.. hopefully in the near future a polymath... :p :D</p>