It is a well-known fact that science and math courses are hard. The lectures, practice problems, lab components and hyper-objective grading can make these courses overwhelming for a certain types of people.
But have pre-health and engineering courses in recent years become so difficult that even those students who enjoy math and science are disenchanted and switch their course of study? Recent studies have deduced that yes, students with predilections for math and science are choosing to go in different directions, dropping their intended majors for “easier” course loads.
On the national scale, educators and politicians see this as a problem. Statistically, American students are falling behind other countries in math and science, which is detrimental to future American production of innovative technology and medicine.
Duke is known for success in the sciences, yet there are still students who come to Duke expecting to follow a pre-health track and soon get overwhelmed by the difficulty and competition they find in large introductory lecture classes. So what is it that makes Duke students stop studying math and science?
Dr. Christopher Roy, pre-health advisor and associate director of undergraduate studies, pinpointed the time commitment as one of the major reasons Duke pre-health students may be overwhelmed.
“What I think happens is that students who start struggling realize that maybe they don’t have the drive to spend the time it takes to master the material,” he said. “You’re all more than capable, it’s just a matter of how much you need to study to do well, and how much time you have to commit to it.”
Despite the fact that the classes are difficult, Roy stressed that they are not designed to fail people, and Duke does support students who are struggling.
“Duke does a good job with the pre-health program, by supporting students and providing them with resources like the Academic Advising Center, Office Hours and help rooms that are always available,” he said. “I find that students don’t take advantage of them as much as they could, but it’s understandable because asking for help isn’t always easy.”
Roy explained that much of the focus on taking a set progression of difficult science courses is on fulfilling requirements in order to gain acceptance to graduate schools. In this way, it is not Duke’s fault that math and science majors must take a never-ending list of “pre-health” courses, but instead the increasing competition in applying to medical school. The more competitive the process gets, the more requirements medical and graduate schools can add to raise the bar.
“We don’t set the pre-health requirements, the medical schools do,” he said.
Freshman Margaret Rote, like many other freshmen, has experienced her fair share of discouragement in large intro chemistry and math courses.
“The lectures are big, and I feel like I just sit and take notes, memorize things and spit them back out during a test,” she said. “I want to be a doctor, but the competition and the fact that my grades aren’t what they used to be in high school is making me question if this is the right choice for me.”
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