We have found that putting premed (and similar) students in
calculus-based physics is beneficial. If interested, more comments
about this are given below.
Being a small college, we cannot justify a wide range of physics
courses. We have to have calculus-based physics for our chemistry and
physics students. Thus, if we have to choose only one physics course
to offer (which is the situation), it has to be calculus-based. We do
have a physics component in our general-education science program, but
that physics is too low a level for anything other than gen-ed.
Therefore all scientists (including biologists), and all
health-related students (premed, pre-dental, pre-optometry, etc.) take
the calculus-based year of physics.
We are very pleased with this arrangement. Here are some points to
consider.
Biology:
We require a year of physics for biology majors. The biology
professors support the calculus physics. They are appalled at the weak
math skills of their biology students. In addition to the feeling that
the students need the calculus-based physics anyway, they also hope the
calculus-physics will bolster the math skills of the biology students.
We also put a lot of emphasis on lab report writing including analysis
of data and "professional-quality" graphing. The biology professors
appreciate the training this gives their students.
Pre-Med (1):
When our students go to their med-school interviews, they frequently
(25-50%?) come back and tell me that the interviewer made a positive
comment about the fact that they took "real physics." Therefore, even
if med-schools are not requiring the calculus-based physics, many of
the admissions-committee faculty notice the transcript, and when they
see "Physics for Scientists and Engineers" it makes an impression. You
only have to have a few pre-med students come back and say something
like this, and it makes a lasting impression on the younger pre-meds
who are wondering if they really want to take physics.
Pre-Med (2):
We don't encourage our students to major in "pre-med" even though we do
have a major with that name. Some of our students don't make it into
med school, and some actually get turned onto science and choose not to
apply to med school. Most commonly these students go on to grad school
in biology or chemistry or biochemistry. Therefore we encourage our
students to complete a biology major, or a chemistry major, or both.
That way, if they don't go to med school, for whatever reason, they
have a bona fide degree as a launching point for grad school or some
other career. If they have taken calculus-based physics this simply
gives them more options.
Other health professions:
In reading med school requirements (or suggestions) I find schools that
want the calculus-based physics, and schools that say algebra-trig
based physics is okay. However, for other health professions such as
dentistry, optometry, chiropractic, podiatry, etc. it is very common
for the admissions literature to proclaim that algebra-trig physics is
adequate. (Note, however, that lab is still universally required in
chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics.) Nonetheless, we still put
our pre-dental, pre-optometry, etc. students in calculus physics, and
they report that this has been noticed. As has been pointed out by
others, these are usually pretty bright students. They get either A or
B grades. They have the feeling (after their interviews) that the B
they got in calculus-physics served them better than if they had earned
an A in algebra physics. Again, the reason is because someone on the
interview team actually noticed the calculus physics on the transcript
and made a comment about it.
The above statements represent many data points collected over 20+
years. I also have a single data point of a dental student who
habitually complained about having to take calculus physics while he
was here. Once he got into dental school he wrote me a very nice
letter explaining how valuable that course was, and he told me to show
his letter to any pre-dental student that had any inclination to
question whether or not they needed a good physics course. Needless to
say, I laminated that letter and I get it out often.
I have a similar letter from a student who went to school in
occupational therapy after she graduated from here. In her letter she
praised the rigor of the physics course, especially the lab analysis,
for preparing her for the types of things she had to do in her
occupational therapy program.
Basically, we have been requiring calculus-based physics for all
science and health-field students for the 21 years I have been here.
We have never regretted it, and we have no inclination to change.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817