BLACK LUNG's DEBAT ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF THE MCAT….JOIN THE …
First of all the MCAT does not in any way measure the ability of one to suceed in medical school.
I agree that becoming a doctor is a priviledge and I never insunated that it is a right….all am saying is that the standard for which people are judged by is very inaccurate and repulsively wrong. Many people have had the same argument on this very issue and as a result BA/MD and **/MD programs were created between some universities and some medical school..most of the students in these programs are not required to take the MCAT…..These students in these programs have done extensively well in medical school better than those who have taken the MCAT.
The MCAT is not a test rather is discriminatory filter used by admission committee’s to reject or accept students. The funnier thing in these whole process is that most of the people in the admission commitee are not even physicians…so who are they to make such policy about requiring the MCAT.
Lets look at the pre-med requirement during undergrad…Students are required to take physics, and O.Chem which has no bearing whatsoever in medical school.. By the way I have a very strong background in all chemistry and biology and I got an a in all my chemistry classes including O.Chem, also I have a B average on both of my physics so I have been there and done it. The laughable aspect of the policies set by the medical admission’s committee (AAMC in this case) is that Anatomy and Physiology are not required, microbiology are not required. some basic pharmacology and pathology are not even taught in any undergrad (none that I know of, if you know any please state them). These classes that I just mentioned are the basic foundation of medicine. They are not even tested in the MCAT. and then there is VERBAL REASONING… WHAT a JOKE. when AMERICA gets serious about the field of medicine then we will revisit this hot-button issue.
Many folks who are applying to medical school have not even heard of the bacteria…NORCARDIA ASTERIODIES, nor have they heard of Proetus Mirabilis….. nor do they know about the basic mechanisms of heart function and that of the lungs as well (TPR, EDV, ESV). These are concepts that we should all start early to learn about (we as in those of us who have made a conscious decision to go into the field of medicine).
You made a comment about not being able to remember what was taught in class. May I submit to you that you are so wrong and I respectively and vehemently disagree with such assertion. THE MCAT NEVER IS AND NEVER WILL BE ABOUT REMEMBERING what was taught in class. If you have friends who have take the MCAT or if you have taken the MCAT, when you get into medical school (or if you are already in medical school) after your graduation from medical school…ask yourself if the MCAT in anyway helped you knowledge wise to succeed in medical school.
I have an uncle who is a cardiologist at MAYO CLINIC. He took the MCAT in 1986 and scored a whooping 37O with a 3.5 gpa…He scored a 219 on the USMLE and he and many other physicians that I have shadowed (23 of them ) have all told me that THE MCAT HAD NO BEARING ON THEIR SUCCESS.
To sum it all up..I agree that going to medical school is a prividledge not a right; however, medical admission committees should not exploit those priviledges. Remember that these same admissions committee take in 13,000-14,000 applications for $75.00 per person (you do the math). If they have the courage to take people’s money, they should also have the courage to allow them to express their full potential. By the way you seem to be wrongfully insinuating that they are doing you a favor when they accept you, no they are not…why? because you and you alone is responsible for doing the leg work (i.e studying, taking exams and learning)…Remember you are the one paying them to learn not the other way around.
As for your comment about students being in debt….that is such a lame excuse (respectfully speaking). since when do people (i.e admission’s committee) care about people being in debt. it is none of our business neither is it anybody’s business to worry about another person being in debt..We should worry about our own individual debt.
In the past 2005 application cycle, georgetown school of medicine accepted close to 13,000 application and after the interview process, they accepted <119 students. I remember that I did a very thorough investigation by attending the orientation ceremony (I have 2 friends of mine who were accepted from georgetown) and getting a pamphlet containing all the names of the medical student there were accepted for the 1st year class and they were exactly 116 medical students. fast foward the year 2009, I went to the graduation as well….. Guess what!!!!! I compared the list of the pamphlet that I had during the orientation ceremony and the current list of the graduating class of 2009. Not only were they <116 by 1/4 but also some names were very different. i counted 16 name that were on the graduating class list but were not on the list for the Orientation ceremony. I was puzzled and immensely startled by such finding…. If the MCAT was such a good determinant why are such trends occurring???? Those with high MCAT (no grudge on folks with high MCAT am just making a point here) do fail out to medical school..Hell even Ben Carson at Hopkins failed his second semester of his first year. I had the priviledge and the honor of meeting him with the members of my pre-med club and he admitted to us willingly that he failed anatomy and one other medical course. But look at him today.. and there are so many other stories like that out there so don’t even dare to tell me that he is an exception.
As you are aware by now…..most students transfer from their foriegn medical schools in to some but not all U.S medical schools provided that they have a good USMLE score, which is by far a much better determinant of medical knowledge. We all know that those who transfered never took the MCAT rather they took more reasonable and rigorous medical courses while they were even in high school.
So what is my point exactly??? The medical admission’s committee should follow the concept of specialization…what does that mean? it means that if one has made the conscious decision to go medical school, they should start early to acquire more medical knowledge and apply them in their everyday lives. I.e most medical schools in each state must and should have articulation agreements with all the 4-year and 2-year colleges and universities in their respective states. An entirely new curriculum should be designed for pre-med; one that does not require phyisics (only recomends it ), one that does not require O.Chem (only recomends it) for a sample curriculum please see below:
4- Year Curriculum for Preliminary Medical Studies:
1st Year Curriculum
Semester 1
Egl 101
Gen Bio 1
G.Chem 1
Acid Base Chemistry I
Psychology
Semester 2
Egl 102
Gen. Bio II
G.Chem II
Acid Base Chem II
Basic Anatomy I
Principles of Physiology I
Semester 1 (Spring)
Acid Base Chem II
Basic Anatomy II
Principles of Physiology II
Genetics I
Fundamental of Microbiology I
Semester 2
Basic Anatomy III
Principles of Physiolgy III
Genetics II
Fundamental of Microbiology II
Semester I
Basic Pharmacology I
Fundamentals of Pathology I
Medical Ethics I
Electives
Semester II
Basic Pharmacology II
Fundamentals of Pathology II
Medical Ethics II
Electives
Year 4
Semester 1
Family Practice Shadowing _4wks
Emergency Medicine Shadowing _4wks
Surgery Shadowing _4wks
Elective Shadowing (ortho, neuro, ob/gyn, caridio etc)_4wks
Semester 2
Mandatory Research at selected medical facilities_8wks
Mandatory Review course for exit exam _8wks
At the end of the 4th year, student should be required to sit for an exit exam called United States Preliminary Medical Science Exam (USPMSE) and not the MCAT..
The USPMSE will consist of 360 questions divided in 6 blocks (60 questions per block) as follows:
Block 1
Gen. Biology-30 questions
G. Chem-30 questions
Block 2
Anatomy-60 questions
Block 3
Physiology-60 questions
Block 4
Microbiology-30 questions
Genetics- 30 questions
Block 5
Pharmacology-30 questions
Pathology-30 questions
Block 6
Psychology-30 questions
Medical ethics-30 questions
JSMD, as you can see I have thoroughly thought about the whole pre-med curriculum, the whole medical school application and admission’s process; I must tell you that I am not just dishing out criticism, but I am also proposing solutions as you can see above. You are welcomed to carefully study it , and make a few changes where necessary.. it may not be perfect but it is a start.
But if you still think the STATUS QUO should remain then you must be one blind colleague (respectfully speaking).
Specialization is the key.. There is not enough time in medical school to become a highly competent and to have a profound and seasoned intelect about medical concepts. That is why we (those who want to go into medicine) should start very early. Our minds are malleable and shows a high degree of plasticity when we are young…we must take advantage of that at a young age to specialize in a profession… this same approach is applicable in other professions; i.e if you wan to be a lawyer, you should start early while in high school. There is no time to fool around taking liberal arts or stupid classes that you don’t need. We should all think about long term. I am sure that many people are already thinking about the long term; its just that admission committees around the country have for some unknown reason refused to come to terms with what to do to improve medical education in this country. If u are gonna test ones knowledge, then test the relevant topics and concepts not some stupid MCAT.
The sad truth is that most medical admission committee reject students because they fear that their will be surpplus number of doctors (if they accept or create other reasonable pathways to medical schools) who will earn good living and will be immune to the discriminatory practices of the federal government, banks, and political organizations. in other words, more doctors means—->more wealthy individuals (upper/middle class individuals) which in turn means——–> lesser number of people that the banks will prey upon, it also means——> less number of people that will ever depend of government subsides——-> which translates into higher number of individuals who will vote with good and quality conscience without being threatened by their members of congress that they will cut government subsidies. I know that many people are aware of this but have refused to muster up the CAHONA to speak truth to power, to tell it like it is without be afraid that people might label him/her a conspiracy theorist.
Admission and rejection processes inmost institutions not just medicine but all other disciplines (law, medicine, art, engineering etc) are appalling and disgraceful to say the least.
It does not surprise me that most of these WALLSTREET FAT CATS AND MONEYBAGS (most of whom are drop-outs or have been rejected during the course of their education) continue to be greedy. If the so called institutions (including the government) does not provide a leveled plain field for people to have access to good education, then most folks may result to achieving goals by other means—be it lobyist for health insurance companies, pharmaceutical industries, and other WALL STREET MONEYBAGS.
AMERICA is rapidly dwindling into abject failure when it comes to medical education….I wonder what’s next.
However, I remain optimistic that it can and will be fixed. But first we must start by seriously evaluating the medical school admission’s process and the pre-med curriculum. The curriculm that I stated above is light years ahead of what it is now. it has all the bells and whistles namely, SPECIALIZATION, BASIC MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE, VOLUNTEERISM, SHADOWING, AND GOOD MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE ASSESMENT (via USPMSE).
Anyway, I know I have spoken a lot, bear with me because I have done a 2-year extensive research about this very issue and have come to resounding conclusion so I consider myself well informed. Anyone who tries to deny the truth in my finding and most of my opinions do so at their own peril. my comments and opinion should not be viewed as an insult to anyone rather it is a debate that I welcome you all to join and lets have an intellectual and respectful discussion on this issue.
Enough said…….Black Lung
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