Math and Medicine

[intothevoidx]

Just how important is a mathematics background and how often is mathematics used in the medical field?

[weknowthewor]

I am not good in maths..

[EvoN1020v]

You'll need exentsive education in biomedical, biology, and chemistry to enroll in the medical field.

[insane_alien]

well, if your giving medicines (or saline) to someone you need to calculate dosages, time between doses and such, um blike would be able to answer this better he's a sawbones.

[intothevoidx]

Yea, that math is quite easy....Anyone know if it is best to take calculus in highschool or wait until college?

[insane_alien]

do it in highschool its not so hard.

[intothevoidx]

Well I didn't think it would be too hard, except the calculus teacher at my school is one of the worst teachers. She gets angry when you ask her questions and she's horrible at explaining stuff. She's been known to make honors students get 70's and to top it off she's mean as implied above.

[EvoN1020v]

Well I didn't think it would be too hard, except the calculus teacher at my school is one of the worst teachers. She gets angry when you ask her questions and she's horrible at explaining stuff. She's been known to make honors students get 70's and to top it off she's mean as implied above.

 

Very good. In my last math course in high school last year, I had this really horrible teacher as the worst teacher ever in my history. She freaks out when students ask her questions as if she was going to have an epitedic (sp?) case. As a student in her class, I was the only one who would catch all her mistakes and made her embarrassed. As a sweet revenge, I made 93% in her class even if she was an awful teacher. Again, I'm saying that you control your destiny which is your responsibilities for your performance. Nothing else matters.

[Leison]

u dont need calculus and all in medicine.u need to know how to +,-,/,x.thats all.to some extents statistics is required for community medicine.

[Syntho-sis]

u dont need calculus and all in medicine.u need to know how to +,-,/,x.thats all.to some extents statistics is required for community medicine.

 

 

This is a common misconception. Higher level Mathematics training is very valuable for those working in the medical field. Studying Mathematics improves your abstract thinking skills and your ability to problem solve. Math is the language of Science.

 

Undergraduates applying to medical school are more attractive to medical schools if they have training in either Applied Math or Pure Math.

 

A Mathematics major is considered more rigorous, which better prepares the student for the huge amount of information they must take in while in medical school.

 

Math vs. Biology major= Math major depending on various other factors will have a slight advantage for the simple fact that math is so "hard" and they are a minority compared to Biology and Chemistry majors.

 

Training in this area also kinda balances out the heavy emphasis on Biology and Chemistry that you encounter in Med school.

 

Plus Math is just so darn fun!

[Leison]

mayb u r true that maths helps in problem solving, decision making but ... this doesnt mean u arent gonna be good doc if u arent good at maths.

academically, maths is not necessay to get degree in medicine.

and maths isnt a language of medical science,its a tool and if u know a simple high school mathamatics..thats more than enough to study medicine. what u need more, is a common sense.

and usually ppl who are interested in biology arent interested in maths and vice versa.

and..abstract thinkers...like philosophers..i bet many of them dont even know maths....

 

my conclusion,if u know maths its a plus point,if dont know ,it doesnt matter at all.

Edited June 12, 2009 by Leison
comments of iNow

[iNow]

Please, for the love of Thor, learn to spell and stop using txt spk. This forum has many readers where English is not their first language, and it's very difficult for them to understand your posts. Hell... I'm exceptional with my English, and I can't figure out what you mean half the time.

 

Thanks.

[Syntho-sis]

mayb u r true that maths helps in problem solving, decision making but ... this doesnt mean u arent gonna be good doc if u arent good at maths.

academically, maths is not necessay to get degree in medicine.

and maths isnt a language of medical science,its a tool and if u know a simple high school mathamatics..thats more than enough to study medicine. what u need more, is a common sense.

and usually ppl who are interested in biology arent interested in maths and vice versa.

and..abstract thinkers...like philosophers..i bet many of them dont even know maths....

 

my conclusion,if u know maths its a plus point,if dont know ,it doesnt matter at all.

 

 

So basically what you are saying is that high school math is adequate for a doctor, as far as math skills go?

 

Hmmm....Let's say you needed a kidney transplant. Who would you be more comfortable with? The doctor who barely passed algebra two in his junior year of high school? Or the doc who went above and beyond and took several higher level mathematics courses throughout college (along with his required classes)?

 

What is it that would cause a person not to take higher level math anyway? Would it be fear? Or because they consider it useless to their profession?

 

As computers and automated systems become more integrated with medical technology, people who can do more than '2 + 2' will fare better than those who lack understanding.

[Mokele]

Actually, a math major probably isn't such a good idea for a pre-med, at least not without a LOT of extra coursework in bio and chem. The MCAT (the standardized test for med school admission) focuses heavily of chem and bio, particularly the aspects relevant to medicine (immunology, physiology, organic chemistry, etc.).

 

Of course, that's not to say math isn't necessary - far from it. All the levels of Calculus a school offers are pretty much a necessity, as is Differential Equations (particularly rate functions, which are used all the time to understand how much of a drug is left in the body at a given time after dosage). Statistics are very important, too, for understanding the results of medical studies.

 

Of course, *which* math is most important depends upon the speciality you choose, but since you don't pick until after admission and general coursework, it's best to take a broad sampling, as much as your other classes leave room for.

[ecoli]

I disagree with people who are saying that math isn't useless. It's not necessary, maybe, but if you're interested in doing medical research, having a solid math background makes you hot shit.

 

Quantitative/computational skills are becoming all the rage, from medical informatics to detailed computational biological models. So, if this is a route you want to take (which I deeply regret not taking and I'm trying to catch up) I would take as much calculus, applied calculus/ modeling, statistics/applied stats, bioinformatics, computer science & programming and computational and mathematical biology as I possibly could.

 

This is great from everything from structural protein biology to epidemiology.

 

Plus the ladies will think you're hot.

[Leison]

hey sis,medicine is a bachelor degree which u study just after completing the high school.and wud u waste ur time studying maths instead of join med?

By the way, medicine course do not include maths course coz they know high school maths is enough. (i never hav said maths isnt necessary,i said higher knowledge in maths is a Positive point).If it was that necessary then they wud have included maths in the course! and Mokele's true abt Med entrance exam.

Even if u knew maths,till the final year you'l have forgetten everything,thats why in the medical reseach they always include a statistician! and as far as drug doses are concern, simple calculus which is taught in high school is enough.

the main thing in medicine,is to take proper history,investigate,diagnosis n differential diagnosis,and drug therapy.the most important thg is the art of history taking and differential diagnosis,i dont think we need maths here.medicine is an art, ur experience matters much than ur knowledge.maths has minor role.

if u dont believ me go and ask to do a simple integration to an intern or a doc,i bet they can't coz if they were good at maths,in the course of heavy medical course they will have forgotten.

AND as far as the original Q is concerned,Maths is not as important as anatomy and Physiology.Little maths is required in Pharmacology and Community Medicine.

[Syntho-sis]

Actually, a math major probably isn't such a good idea for a pre-med, at least not without a LOT of extra coursework in bio and chem. The MCAT (the standardized test for med school admission) focuses heavily of chem and bio, particularly the aspects relevant to medicine (immunology, physiology, organic chemistry, etc.).

 

Of course, that's not to say math isn't necessary - far from it. All the levels of Calculus a school offers are pretty much a necessity, as is Differential Equations (particularly rate functions, which are used all the time to understand how much of a drug is left in the body at a given time after dosage). Statistics are very important, too, for understanding the results of medical studies.

 

Of course, *which* math is most important depends upon the speciality you choose, but since you don't pick until after admission and general coursework, it's best to take a broad sampling, as much as your other classes leave room for.

 

Well, the whole purpose of premed anyway, is to weed out the individuals that shouldn't really be in med school. It's to prepare for the huge amount of info one is going to be taking in, and digesting.