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psychology class?

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(@Anonymous)
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i know that there are some general clases you have to take for med school (phys, english, math, chem, etc), but i've heard many people say that taking other classes help a lot too. mostly what i have heard is upper division biology classes and a semester of psychology. I can understand the upper division biology classes, but is taking a psychology class really that helpful in making your application look better?


   
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(@drdave)
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Overall, I don't think course selection during college has that much of an impact on the rate of getting accepted into medical school. Higher level biology classes are probably very common among applicants, but I think that is more the result of a lot of people going into medical school major in biology. You already have a lot of the coursework done just by being pre-med, and at least at Emory (where I went to college), there were not a lot of extra requirements to be a biology major. The higher level biology classes will make medical school a little easier, as the information will not be completely new to you.

I vaguely remember there was one medical school that recommended 1 semester of psychology, but I've never heard that it makes your application look any better. Could be true though. There definitely are many psychological aspects of medical school, but I don' t know that a 1 semester class in psychology would provide that much insight into those issues. In fact, most of the psychological aspects are not things you can be taught - some people are just better at dealing with the various psychological issues of medical education: competition (and lots of it at some places), dealing with illness, dealing with mortality and death, dealing with pushing your limits (itellectual, physical, and emotional). On top of that, the age when you are in medical school is often the time when you are forming important life-long relationships, possibly even starting a family.

As for how a psychology class makes your application look - perhaps it gives an indication that you are naturally interested in psychological issues, and this would be a benefit to your application? I dunno. I would think that having a diversity of courses would make your application look strong by showing you are a well-rounded person.

Again, I personally don't think college course selection makes that much of a difference in getting into medical school - as long as you have the required coursework done.


   
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