rrreal: premed mom

[Jim Henderson]

Your site has been very helpful to me, I thank you for making it available!
I sent a question to your board a couple months ago, got the info I was looking for and embarked upon my journey. I'm a 37 year old single mom with a full time job. I'm putting together a plan to leave my job in
January, to pursue premed credentials & a 4 year degree, to enter med school (probably in
2003). I have an Associate's degree in business, and have taken several
medical-related courses as I work for a Disability Insurer. I've always
gravitated toward anything medical. My overall GPA is 3.75, I test well,
have a good memory and am self-disciplined.
I need to use this next 4 months to get a jump on the coursework I'll be
taking. I printed off some material from the Web about Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Algebra, Trig and Calculus. Everything seemed impossibly technical!

I need something more elementary to help me get a step ahead of the material
in which I must excel later. I've checked with the UNLV bookstore, and a couple other bookstores here in town, and also with your on-line book services, and Amazon.com, Borders, etc. Can you recommend a good text
to prepare me for what's ahead? I need to feel better about the academic challenge than I do!

Thank you, Dr. Henderson!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[drhenderson]

Thanks for writing. Boy, those subjects ARE really technical.

Furthermore, subjects such as physics, calculus, and chemistry are VERY tough! While doctors are self-directed learners, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to be a self directed learner in these subjects. You can try one of the comprehensive MCAT books, such as the Kaplan book on our home page, to get a head start, but those books are generally ment as a REview and not a PREview. Often reviewing something before you have seen it before is futile. Browsing an MCAT book might just serve to make you a bit more comfortable!

I have tried to study things such as these before the classes started and always found it was USELESS or even harmful. Harmful because if you know introductory stuff one way, your prof might teach it with a different angle and you will get burned because you "skipped over the basics" intentionally or unintentionally, at the beginning of the class.

So, summary is... might not be worth it to get a book for these subjects before you take the classes. After you take the classes, stay on top of things and have your profs direct you to further resources!

Best wishes!

------------------
Jim Henderson, MD of Medicalstudent.net