Sorry for the endless questions!


1. I was thinking of taking Physics 1B03 in the summer and some people said it's a good idea and some say it's not (because it's a required course for med school and they don't really like it required courses are taken in summer school) Correct me if I'm wrong!!!
Also, how many courses can you take during the summer?

2. My friends already know what kind of courses are needed for medschool or for pharmacy and I was wondering how they know that?
I was searching Mcmaster, UFT graduate schools and the guidance told me that there is a site where they list all the required courses.. but I can't seem to find it. Any help would be appreciated!!

3. I'm debating whether to take Environmental Science or Psych 1xx3.
I personally did not enjoy psych 1x03 because it was just way too much information lol. Anything you recommend? Maybe psych 1xx3 is better than 1x03?

Thank you very much!!!!

1. Take courses that you know you wont enjoy in the summer, some medschools don't like it but it's better than dealings with 4 months of the course or getting a horrible mark

2. http://drstarter.ca/

3. Psych 1xx3 has more raw info than Psych 1x03 (and requires some Biology background), don't take it if you struggled in 1X03

I don't think you need physics for med school unless you're trying to get into the med schools in the state. At most Canadian med schools only require a four year degree with a few bio and chem pre reqs and a good mcat score. however, a lot of the second year programs at mac do require physics whether it is 1B03 or the life sci physics (which i don't recall the course code of).

Originally Posted by kwyhan

Sorry for the endless questions!


1. I was thinking of taking Physics 1B03 in the summer and some people said it's a good idea and some say it's not (because it's a required course for med school and they don't really like it required courses are taken in summer school) Correct me if I'm wrong!!!
Also, how many courses can you take during the summer?

2. My friends already know what kind of courses are needed for medschool or for pharmacy and I was wondering how they know that?
I was searching Mcmaster, UFT graduate schools and the guidance told me that there is a site where they list all the required courses.. but I can't seem to find it. Any help would be appreciated!!

3. I'm debating whether to take Environmental Science or Psych 1xx3.
I personally did not enjoy psych 1x03 because it was just way too much information lol. Anything you recommend? Maybe psych 1xx3 is better than 1x03?

Thank you very much!!!!

To the best of my knowledge Physics is not a required course for Canadian med schools (although it is required to do well on the MCAT). American schools I have read really don't care when you do your prerequisites as long as you don't do something sneaky like take them at a community college over the summer while you're studying at a 4 year University, in order to get better grades. It is my understanding that Organic Chemistry is really the only course you should worry about taking in the summer.

Thank you very much for the replies!
Very helpful. Just wondering, so I shouldn't take organic chemistry in the summer?
And also, as long as I complete Physics 1B03 it's okay? And how many can I take during the sumer?

You can take up to 12 units (usually 4 courses) in the summer. They proceed twice as quickly as during the normal school year, with 6 lecture hours per week completing in about 6 weeks (instead of like 12).

Physics 1B03 in the summer:

PROS:
-If you can't stand physics, it'll give you a chance to put all of your energy into one course
-It won't bring down other course grades (which you'd otherwise be taking at the same time) if you find it difficult

CONS:
-You have less time to absorb the material. If you struggle with physics, you'll have to work very hard to make the material stick
-The labs will be quite frequent...so you may get irritated with those (I think during the normal school year there are weekly labs...so you'd have a 2 hour lab every few days during the summer)
-If you take a condensed version you may find yourself doing extra learning to 'remember' things, just to write the MCAT. Namely, things will not be committed to memory as well as if you spent twice the time learning it.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by kwyhan

2. My friends already know what kind of courses are needed for medschool or for pharmacy and I was wondering how they know that?
I was searching Mcmaster, UFT graduate schools and the guidance told me that there is a site where they list all the required courses.. but I can't seem to find it. Any help would be appreciated!!

Neither med school nor pharmacy are graduate programs. I think in Ontario, only U of T has a pharmacy program (it's a bachelor's degree, but professional, and you need to have taken at least one year of undergrad).

For med school, you could just check out OMSAS (http://www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/ ), which should give you a good rundown of Ontario medschools. For others, just google "medicine" and "x school".

Originally Posted by kwyhan

Thank you very much for the replies!
Very helpful. Just wondering, so I shouldn't take organic chemistry in the summer?
And also, as long as I complete Physics 1B03 it's okay? And how many can I take during the sumer?

I do not know for sure about organic chemistry, but yes that is what I had heard.

You could try asking this question on the premed101 forums?

As far as I know, the physics material on the MCAT is straightforward. There is no calculus on the MCAT, so that rules out physics past 1B03. In fact, I think most material on the MCAT will be stuff you learned in high school physics.

However, many US medical schools (and some Canadian schools) require either a 1/2 or full year of physics.

Originally Posted by kwyhan

2. My friends already know what kind of courses are needed for medschool or for pharmacy and I was wondering how they know that?
I was searching Mcmaster, UFT graduate schools and the guidance told me that there is a site where they list all the required courses.. but I can't seem to find it. Any help would be appreciated!!

You can check individual schools, but to make sure that the course you take is the correct one, you can always e-mail the school =)

e.g. Ottawa -> http://www.intermed.med.uott awa.ca...riteria. html

Thank you very much! All so helpful!

I'm thinking of taking Environmental Science 1B03 or Psych 1xx3
Which one should I take? i personally didn't enjoy psych 1x03 very much... or actually I didn't do so well hahaha. Just too much thinking outside the box I guess?

Also, is there a site where they specifically say I need physics for US med schools? Sorry there's no sites where it's straightforward.

Originally Posted by kwyhan

Also, is there a site where they specifically say I need physics for US med schools? Sorry there's no sites where it's straightforward.

You would have to visit each medical school's website to see their requirements. The requirements are slightly different for each school.

Originally Posted by jhan523

You would have to visit each medical school's website to see their requirements. The requirements are slightly different for each school.

For every US school that I have checked the requirements include 1 year of physics, 1 year of chemistry, 1 year of biology and 1 year of organic chemistry. Princeton Review's book on planning to get into med school says they are universal requirements.

Other course that MIGHT be required are: 1 year of English (or 1 semester of English and one arts course, or a year of arts), 1 semester of biochem (or more uncommonly in the states but suprisingly common in Canada, 1 year), 1 year or 1 semester of math (some accept any math, some require 1 semester calculus, harvard and some research programs at certain schools require 1 year of calculus)