I agree that Organic & Biochem were really not that helpful in med school. Physiology, Anatomy, & Pathology we’re probably the most important. But I’m also a primary care doc. If you’re a research type, I could see those Bio & Organic chem being more helpful. I think the med schools could also select a little more for students with a broader range of experiences. I was a philosophy major and I think that helped me just as much in medical school as my science classes. Many of my partners also were non-science majors (psychology, sociology), but then again we’re primary care docs. Maybe we would have more going into primary care if we had more liberal arts grads in med school.

I really agree, Dr. Centor. I think I learned basic pathophysiology and pharmacology in year two, but way too much time was spent on in-depth knowledge of which DNA polymerase does what. I think we lose a lot of people who would go into medicine because they’re good at pattern recognition, and would love to work with people, but see the pre-med curriculum as a hurdle they’re not willing to undergo.

Dr. Bob,

All I can say about your opinions of Organic Chemistry is that you may have been taught what my fellow Chemists call “Baby Organic” which emphasized biochem-related topics of sugar structure, and memorization of functional groups. The Organic Chemistry courses that our chemistry majors had to take for their degree was based on synthesis and identification. We had to learn reactions in specific and in classes. We had to learn how to identify things based on various types of spectroscopy. We also had a very high quality professor. Lacking those, I probably would not have connected so much with it.

But, I’m also not a doc, yet. My applications are in, though.

Chemistry IS necessary for doctors. Think of how one figures out what interacts with what. Those would be chemical reactions, would they not? What about in understanding the brain- the brain is a virtual chemical soup/stew, that chemists are FINALLY being able to address. Learning the humanities is not necessarily a bad thing, but it still may not predispose a doctor to LISTEN TO THE PATIENT when they say that X and Y together make them feel funny/worse/icky.

That said, learning chemistry may not help either. But I do think that doctors should know how the body works, so that I as a patient don’t have to figure it out myself on the internet.

Part of the problem with medicine, as I see it, is that there is too much division. A rheumatologist only deals with arthritis like diseases, an oncologist, cancer, a cardiologist, hearts….ad infinitum (and naseum). Some things like inflammation cross over, but no-one sits down and figures it out, unless they are chemists, biochemists, and other science geeks. When the connections ARE made, it takes YEARS to make things mainstream. Think H. Pylori and gastro problems, and the same bug in heart attacks.(2002, Circulation? I think). Funny thing is I don’t see much mention of this in the heart attack do’s and don’ts. They mention noise, pollution, smoking, food, but not bugs.

I realize that most people really don’t care about mechanisms of chemistry or biology when they are sick, but there really are some people who do have a brain and want to know what they are up against and what the options are. They need more than four minutes with a surgeon who is cutting off their breasts. They would like to know why things work and don’t work. When they are about to be under anesthetic for a gynecological procedre, they want to know what it entails, and what the risks are.

I know of two doctors who have been sued. I have been to both. The reason they lost their cases was because they did not spend time telling the patient the risks of a procedure, or they dismissed symptoms as a “woman’s problem”. One lady stroked out and one died of cancer. Both women won their battle, but lost their wars.

Philosophy or chemistry can’t change those doctors. Only patients can, by standing up to these people and showing them their own humanity.

We certainly need to understand some chemistry. However, practicing physicians do not use chemistry. Rather, researchers use chemistry.

Teaching a surgeon, an internist or a family doc chemistry in the depth that our courses provide does not influence how they practice.