I actually remember things! Most of biochem has been genetics so far, and since that was my first biological love, most of it seems to have stuck in my head pretty well. It's nice to sit through a lecture and think "Oh yeah, I remember that" instead of of the usual "Oh god, what are you saying, why are the words so long, and why are they all in Latin?!"
And I don't miss dissection. I actually did like dissection. Sometimes. It is definitely fascinating, and an opportunity I'll probably never get again. But it also smelled bad and consisted on standing up for several hours straight while cleaning fat off of tiny nerves, trying to figure out which ones they were.
I'd like to take a moment to go on a small rant. I just googled something and got a Yahoo answers hit with a health-related question, so I read it to see what sort of answers it got. (Yahoo answers always amuse me.) The "best answer" was a decent stab at answering the question, but still inaccurate. The answerer listed their source as "I'm a pre-med student." I've been a pre-med student. And I know for a fact that it doesn't qualify you to answer questions about anything other than the introductory sciences. I'm an actual med student now, and I'm still not qualified to answer any real questions other than "How many bones are in the hand?"
I've met pre-meds like that in real life. You meet someone at a party and they try to impress you by talking about some ground-breaking new cancer research or the healthcare bill or what's wrong with psychiatry today, and they back it all up by saying they're pre-med and you're supposed to think they're very knowledgeable about the subject. And then you tell them you're pre-med too and watch them suddenly realize that they can't bullshit you.
If you're a pre-med (or have been one), you know exactly what I'm talking about. You've either been guilty of it at some point (I think we all have), or you know someone who does it all the time. Every college has one. That freshman who just loves telling people he's pre-med, like it means something. It doesn't. Anyone can be pre-med when they're a freshman. If you make it through the MCAT alive and maintain a competitive GPA, you earn a little bragging rights, but you still don't get to cite yourself as a source for medical information.
It's quite humbling to get to med school and suddenly realize that you know next to nothing. Even with some EMT training, I didn't have an edge. I knew the word "calcaneus." That was about it.
(See why I'm so happy that I actually remembered stuff about genetics?)
And I don't miss dissection. I actually did like dissection. Sometimes. It is definitely fascinating, and an opportunity I'll probably never get again. But it also smelled bad and consisted on standing up for several hours straight while cleaning fat off of tiny nerves, trying to figure out which ones they were.
I'd like to take a moment to go on a small rant. I just googled something and got a Yahoo answers hit with a health-related question, so I read it to see what sort of answers it got. (Yahoo answers always amuse me.) The "best answer" was a decent stab at answering the question, but still inaccurate. The answerer listed their source as "I'm a pre-med student." I've been a pre-med student. And I know for a fact that it doesn't qualify you to answer questions about anything other than the introductory sciences. I'm an actual med student now, and I'm still not qualified to answer any real questions other than "How many bones are in the hand?"
I've met pre-meds like that in real life. You meet someone at a party and they try to impress you by talking about some ground-breaking new cancer research or the healthcare bill or what's wrong with psychiatry today, and they back it all up by saying they're pre-med and you're supposed to think they're very knowledgeable about the subject. And then you tell them you're pre-med too and watch them suddenly realize that they can't bullshit you.
If you're a pre-med (or have been one), you know exactly what I'm talking about. You've either been guilty of it at some point (I think we all have), or you know someone who does it all the time. Every college has one. That freshman who just loves telling people he's pre-med, like it means something. It doesn't. Anyone can be pre-med when they're a freshman. If you make it through the MCAT alive and maintain a competitive GPA, you earn a little bragging rights, but you still don't get to cite yourself as a source for medical information.
It's quite humbling to get to med school and suddenly realize that you know next to nothing. Even with some EMT training, I didn't have an edge. I knew the word "calcaneus." That was about it.
(See why I'm so happy that I actually remembered stuff about genetics?)
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