As a member of a medical school admissions committee and longtime physician, I hold firmly to the belief that a liberal arts education is highly valuable, especially if you were headed toward a career in medicine and caring for people.
The arts and sciences need not be divided. To the contrary, combining art and science education often yields tremendous results. As Mark Zuckerberg stated in an address at Brigham Young University, Facebook is “as much psychology and sociology as it is technology. ”
It’s no accident that many of our future medical students attend liberal arts colleges. We look for students who are curious about and have an understanding of humanity, our history, our present and our future. An education that blends art and science not only helps them become great doctors who care about patients, but also helps them become exceptional citizens of the world.
[READ: How Future Doctors Can Advocate for Patients and Improve Public Health]
In addition to your science prerequisites, consider taking some of these nonscience courses to help you prepare for your future role as a physician.
Psychology
The MCAT requires you to have a special knowledge of psychology. Not only do you need to have the basics at your fingertips for the psychology and sociology section, but you also should be able to interpret research findings in the critical reasoning section of the exam.
More important is that you need a knowledge of psychology to help care for patients who experience, fear, sadness and every other possible emotion. No matter which medical specialty you enter, you will work with human beings along the way. Understanding how they think and feel is critical.
If you ask primary care doctors what their education lacked, they would likely say psychology or psychiatry, and I can’t think of one medical school that doesn’t want more time for their students to study these disciplines. As well, a better understanding of psychology will likely reduce the risk of lawsuits attention, future surgeons!
All kidding aside, when we physicians can better relate with our patients and other caregivers, we not only can provide the best care but can also reduce any chances of confrontation.
Sociology
For similar reasons, I highly recommend taking a sociology course. Sociology is included with psychology in a section of the MCAT and may be useful when completing the critical reasoning section. However, I think it’s more important to take sociology because it will help you understand the general population, as well as why and how it changes.
It worries me greatly when I hear that some states are discouraging undergraduate students from taking sociology. How can a doctor who might be taking care of anyone in the population not benefit?
[Read: Why Premeds Should Engage in Health Policy, Advocacy.]
Too many students come to medical school without exposure to people who are different from themselves. This is not necessarily their fault, but they will be taking care of many patients who did not grow up under the same circumstances.
I grew up in a very rural area and had massive inadequacies in understanding urban life and poverty at very different levels. Why cultural, ethnic and racial divides occur are important for us to explore. If we are to learn how to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others, we can learn how to work with them. Our success depends on this.
You, your patient and other caregivers will be a team. In the best teams, the members honestly try to understand and care for each other.
None of us can pretend that others don’t impact our actions. If you understand why groups behave in certain ways, you will be better prepared to understand your patients, particularly as medical care shifts from private practice to population and global medicine.
Statistics
Many medical schools require a statistics course, and some expect students to already know how to use statistics.
Interpreting medical research is so much easier if you understand how a researcher arrived at the results. A lot of mediocre research gets published, but if you have a statistics background, you will more easily be able to sort the wheat from the chaff and not jump to use unproven treatment on your patients.
[What Premed Students Should Know About Emerging Fields of Medical Research]
Economics and Political Science
Economics and political science courses are necessary for your future career as a physician.
Practicing medicine today is no longer as simple as having clinical knowledge. You must have an understanding of how economic factors and politics impact the business of health care as well as health care delivery if you consider climate and environmental medicine at all important, you will see why these courses really matter.
Moral reasoning and ethics will be important to discussions of how we use artificial intelligence in medicine. More thought on the consequences will be critical as we plan on how AI tools will guide us in the care of our patients.
Deciding which nonscience courses to take, ask yourself which courses will increase your curiosity and inspire you to grow as a human being during your undergraduate years.
I chose a philosophy of education course. At the onset, the professor announced to the class that only one person in the room would receive an A. That didn’t make me happy because there were 40 to 50 smart people in that room.
We were assigned a number of readings in books and primary literature, probably more than I had in any other undergraduate course. The discussions were amazing.
What was most valuable about that class wasn’t the grade — I received a B. The growth factor was what mattered! I was not the same person after the class as I was before the class.
We go into medicine as a gift for humanity, to serve others. What courses will help us serve these values?
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Boost Medical School Prep With Undergraduate Nonscience Courses originally appeared on usnews.com
