Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Against the bachelor's degree

With the differences in health systems around the world, I doubt that you could make a meaningful regression analysis about whether the two years‘ worth of classes required by gen Ed’s or distribution requirements or core classes or non-STEM majors taken by US premed students make any difference in outcome.

However, considering that the US appears to be the only country in the world doing it this way and considering how easily health care professionals can move between systems once bureaucratic hurdles are overcome, my educated hunch would be „none whatsoever“.

My DH, who teaches science, has referred to studies done in the kind of „proxy education“ that Dude has referred to (so, just hearsay, no citations, sorry). The results being that the outcomes are best if you are actually specifically taught and practice what you are supposed to be able to do. Eg, if you want students to be able to read, understand and work with complex scientific texts, make them read, understand and work with complex scientific texts. As opposed to making them read Jane Austen. If you want them to effectively communicate with patients (or other health care professionals!) from Hispanic communities or countries, teach them exactly that. Don’t make them read and talk about Cervantes.

Would I want to be treated by a doctor who doesn’t care about literature or cultural issues at all? Frankly, it wouldn’t be my priority, nor do I think a college class enforced by distribution requirements could change that in a meaningful way.

It’s the doctors who cannot weigh scientific evidence or apply independent scientific thought as opposed to presenting cookie cutter solutions who scare me.