Hey everyone!

Since there's a law school thread, I thought, "Why not have a med school thread too?"

Now, I'm not in med school, but I know that some of you are planning on going there, some of you are in it, and some others are knowledgeable about it. So if you got questions, put them here. If you feel that you can answer some questions, please come and help your fellow soompiers!

Thanks

i'm afraid to take all the calc physics, biology , and chem classes

to be a dnetist i hate those the most =-= i dont know if its worth it

Darn, Ben beat me to making this kind of thread. Well, I was busy myself so I hadn't the time to make it heh.

Anyway, yes, everyone, please feel free to discuss anything about medschool here. I'm planning to enter the medical class of 2008 at the John Burns Medical School here in Hawaii by next year. Thinking about going into Anesthesiology later on. But until then..

Can't wait till i start my medical science course this year. Dammit, I wasted 2 years of my life on another degree >.<

I hate chem...

scince calsses adn the O_O amount of math classes makes me afriad if i should change my major or not =/

hmm

i have a question:

can you get into med school even if your major isn't a science (like bio, chem, biochem, etc.)?

yes, as long as you take the required prereq courses for med school, which include a lot of science courses: general chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, physics, etc

That's right. Just make sure that you do the pre-requisite courses required for that certain medical school(s) you are applying to. Some schools require Calculus, while others don't. Some don't require biochemistry, although some do. The MSAR booklet is a good way to do some background research on the kinds of schools you are thinking about. They are offered on the AAMC website (www.aamc.org) as well as other sources, such as a bookstore. It is revised annually, so get the book that's appropriate for the year that you are applying.

I'm going through it and my cousins have gone through it. UCLA/USC/ whatever, feel free to ask me questions as well. I'm here to help.

I'm doing biochemistry at U of Arizona and planning to transfer to UCLA winter of '08

Honestly is it as hard as some people make it to be to transfer from one uni/college to another?
Would it be harder since I'm under biochemistry?

Transfer as in, mid-way through your college career, right? I think that would be very difficult especially since UCLA is a public institution and gives priority to California residents. They need the spaces not only for high school kids but also for community college students. I think the reason why transferring from another 4-year is so difficult is because they figure you're already set in a 4 year where you can get a bachelor's degree as opposed to coming from a community college where they don't offer bachelor degrees.

Biochem would make it harder as well since it's so competitive, my friend transferred in from a CC as an Asian American studies major (haha, what a crock ..) but she did it on a fairly ordinary GPA. Then switched. Either way, I'm not saying it's impossible, just complicated. Best of luck either way.

Hi. I'm also thinking of applying to med school as well. Right now I'm a freshman in college and taking the prereqs for med school. I know the required courses and the recommended courses like biochem, physics, calc and etc. but I heard heard that public speaking and accounting should be taken too...? What do you think?

how the premed courses in college? i mean if they're hard or it's ok as long as you work hard. i want to go to medical school, but im not very good in science so im not sure haha.

As far as I know, public speaking and accounting is OPTIONAL, but NOT required, for medical school. In a way those classes help to fuel better speaking skills, but you could have also taken a theatre class and did the same thing. If you are thinking about having a joint MD/MBA degree later on in the future, accounting class would help. But I wouldn't see any real use of it if you're merely going to be a doctor, unless you do open up your own private practice, or work within the health management business.

What classes that I would recommend a pre-med to take are sociology, psychology, religion, philosophy/ethics, microbiology, immunology (if it is offered), histology (if it is offered), anatomy & physiology, embryology, bacteriology, & health economics. Do check the catalogs for the medical schools that you are applying for, to see what courses are required and what's not.



It depends on the person. For some, premed courses can be very demanding, yet to others it is just plain simple. It's good to set realistic goals in order to achieve good studying habits, which in turn will reflect on your exam scores. Talk with an advisor (preferably a premed/biology advisor) about your thinking of medschool. Get other people's opinions as well.

cool to hear that someone is pursuing a career in dentistry.
i'm actually a dental student myself =)


yeah you can get into med school even if your major is not science.

i don't know if i should say this or not, but majoring in biology is probably not the smartest idea.
the reason why ppl major in biology is because they want to get into professional school (med/dental/pharm/etc)
but the thing is, not everyone will get into professional school whether u like it or not. (well of course the smartest ppl get chosen first)
so if you can't get into professional school, you're pretty much stuck with a bachelors degree in biology (which is pretty much useless),
and the salary isn't high at all (we're talking about <30k/year salary).
btw my brother has a friend who finished her degree in biology and now she is washing test tubes at a lab or something.

my wife's in med school now (first year). from what i can tell...a lot of her classmates were pre-meds in undergrad, but there are a few who were psych majors, comm majors etc.

Student Doctor Network Forums has a lot of good info on it as well.

Bio isn't the best choice for a major because it's ultra competitive, and yes, the degree isn't useful if you somehow fail to get into grad school. There's also the matter of taking too many credits and graduating too late because of the number of credits. On average, bio majors graduate in 5 years. The MCATs are only one part bio, it's more chem than anything so if you're a bio major, you're overkilling it. I know a surgeon who was an Art History major ... as long as you fill the pre-reqs and can pass the MCATs with a decent score-- you're good to go.

Honestly, you don't really learn how to be a doctor until you get to med school so don't be worried you won't be prepared. All med school applicants are required to take the same classes anyway.

Fudgin' bananas. Well, I'll be trying anyways.
The only reason why I'm doing biochemistry is because of the degree's flexibility and versatility. I can apply to pharm school and/or med school.

I'm a sophomore in high school and I working to get into a med school, lol. Hm, is it better if I major in chem or math and then try to get into med school? And what are good Unis that are good in the medical field? (esp in California}


Am I allowed to post here, since I'm not in college? But I'm researching....! haha

^

On the one hand, it's great that you have a direction in life. On the other hand, I would suggest leaving your options open. There are many other fields and career paths out there... don't be afraid to explore your interests in college! Take classes in a variety of subjects so you can find something you can harbor a life-long passion for, or to reaffirm your passion for medicine.

You can major in anything, as long as you take all the pre-med requirements. Most people major in biology because biology major requirements just happen to overlap with pre-med requirements.

For everyone in this thread, studentdoctor.net is a great website where you can find tips about applying to medical school and all that stuff. But don't go there too much cuz then it'll just make you a crazy hardcore pre-med!

Have fun in high school and college!!

i am a 2nd year student at a community college and i have at least a year left before i can transfer. should i be preparing for the mcats now or should i just give it my all on transferring to a university?

if you have already done the minimum prerequisite classes in order to prepare yourself for the mcats (english, gen. chem, gen. bio, physics I and II, ochem) then you can start thinking about taking the mcats. most people take it later in their college career, usually during their junior, senior, or even after graduation year. but in my opinion, i would focus more on transferring to a uni, where by then you are able to concentrate more on doing well in your classes, taking more available science classes and eventually studying for the mcats. if there is a kaplan mcat tutoring program in your area i would also highly suggest you to register for classes.

Nutrition major, (physiology and metabolism), also covers pre-med requirements and offers interesting alternatives if the student doesn't make it to grad school. Overall it is an interesting major!

I am absolutely bad at chemistry and frankly I don't like it either... but i need it for pharm school...
dunno what to do... i'd like to be a pharmacist but i have no drive for it because it's not what i want i guess...
don't want to waste more money trying to find out what suits me... needless to say right now i feel like i'm going nowhere and have no clue what to do

If you don't like chemistry, I am not sure that you feel comfortable studying to become a pharmacist, it is a lot memorization, and most of it has to do with memorizing molecules and their formula...

Try maybe to think of what motivates you to study Pharma, maybe there is another profession that has the same attributes that can attrct you?

Or you may wanna find a way to make studying chemistry fun!

I'm kind of in the same situation as you are. Chemistry isn't so appealing to me anymore and I found myself wondering if pharmacy is right for me.
Honestly, if you're bad at chemistry, it's time to re-evaluate yourself.
If you're bad at it, is there a chance you can improve in that area? If you're struggling through general chemistry, than organic chemistry is going to be way harder for you. So if you're going to improve academically in chemistry, better do it quick.

My advice to you: sit down with your counselor and parents. and talk about what you want to do with your life.

Okay. I think this is the right place for me.

I'm a first year in undergrad and I know it's a bit too early for me to focus on a career path. But I don't like the feeling of not working towards a goal and I'd like to set a career path to work towards, you know? I've always had medicine in mind, but I also know it's a LOT easier wanting to be a doctor than being one. And I can't decipher what I actually want to do... I like working with children, but won't being a teacher be a lot easier? But then why should I take the easier path? I could have studied a lot less and still have become a successful teacher (whatever successful means...)... But then why should I take the harder path? I mean... there is no right or wrong path... so I'm utterly lost. I don't know what I want... what I want to be... and this lack of focus, I believe, has created this disgusting habit of procrastination...

So for those of you meddy's... (LOL. i made that up)... when or how did you know you wanted to pursue this medical path? and what keeps you motivated? and... just... words of wisdom, I guess?

Thanks for reading!

I would advise you to take advantage of the summer to volunteer in a hospital. That will give you a more realistic feeling of deciding if medicine is the right path for you or not.

Another must, if I amy say (or option), is also to contact several medical schools, in your state or not. You would be surprised, several of them have a pre-meds summer program of about 6-8 weeks. You live on campus in the medical school, you shadow medical students and doctors, you attend some of the medical school lectures, you do labs etc... These are set up to give the prospective student a taste of what it's really like to be a med student. One of the best part is, some of those schools are IVY leagues one or anyway have an excellent reputation. They offer to pay for your trip and they also give you a generous amount of money to spend.

Your application has to be selected. The process can be competitve but it is totally worth it. If on the top you belong to a minority and you can prove that you don't have that much money, you chances to be accepted get higher.

Anyway, just let me know if you need more details.

i'm thinking about going into med but i'm not sure. i was accepted to william and mary and they dont have premed, does that mean i can still go into med? i also heard that william and mary isnt really known for science...so....i'm confused.

and i heard organic chemistry is the hardest class. ever. is it really? because i took summer school chemistry so i could get an easy A. all we did was watch october sky and burned gummy bears.

My major is nursing, but now i am considering pre-med. Is it possible to fill in the required prereq for pre-med including the required prereq for nursing? The only common prereq i see is chemistry.

im posting on behalf of someone but she would like to know if majoring in biochem overlaps with the pre-req for medical school... thank you

^ The preparatory classes for biochemistry should overlap with the requirements for medical school.

im still in high school and my science isn't that good. lol i mean i take ap's but most i can get is B or B+ in science, and sometimes i feel like i don't understand the subject. im thinking about medical school, but im not sure. what do you think? im just afraid i might screw up in collage with all the science classes and not get accepted to medical school................

it would be really helpful if you could tell us a bit more. Sounds interesting and something I would REALLY love to do.

Pre-med isn't a major. It doesn't matter what major you have, you can still go into medical school as long as you fulfill the requirements to get into medical school such as biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and etc.

Organic chemistry is a hard class. Well, at least that's what I heard from my friends. I haven't taken it yet. And chemistry isn't as easy as you think it is.

You can go to medical school as long as you fulfill their requirements. You should set up an appointment with your school's advisor to plan out your remaining years. It's also a good idea to go on websites of potential medical schools you may be applying for and look up their requirements.

Organic chemistry is NOT that hard. It's just that most people are not willing to study daily for it.
You really have to do ALL THE PROBLEMS in the book to pull an A. The more you study, the better you will do.
I personally thought general chemistry was harder than organic.
When I was in general chem, I looked up at all the people taking organic and go "wowwww they're smarttttt" but I think the concepts in organic are far easier to grasp than in general.
There is also almost no math in organic besides simple arithmetic, if that is your weak point.

Hi Simply_M3,

here we go, a seemingly complete list, updated, on summer programs for premed students all over the country!

As said above, the majority of them are paid programs and you may be given money for your personal expenses if you are accepted. Re-read my post above for a few more details and tips.

I noticed that some of the link won't take you directly to the summer program page (the Stanford one for example). In that case, once you are in the medical school's page, simply type "pre-med summer" (or anything else like that) in the search section and it should take you where all the good stuff happen. Hope it helps and good luck.

http://www.rit.edu/~gtfsbi/Symp/premed.htm

thanks orenji and euphoros for your reply.

i'm still thinking about med. the only thing thats really holding me back is that the school i might go to (william and mary) isn't really known for science. i read on wikipedia (idk if it's right) that their acceptance rate to med school is like 75% for people who get above a 3.5 GPA. is that a good stat?

75% of William and Mary's graduates that had above a 3.5 were accepted to any med school?
Is that what you're saying?
Well really good med schools such as Johns Hopkins usually accept people who have an average of ~3.85 GPA and ~11 MCAT score for each section (TOTAL ~30) (among other things if course, like some research experience, volunteering, leadership positions, etc).
The lowest I've ever seen being the average for a med school was 3.2 GPA.. which is really quite low.
I think the statistic of William and Mary graduates who were accepted is average. It really depends on where those people applied to.
Now, if 75% of those same graduates were accepted to JHU, that'd be a different story
Just give med a try if you really want to. Don't let the choice in school decide what you want to do with your life. In reality, you could go to any college/university with the required classes and go to med school, even if it's not known for their sciences. If you excel, then what can stop you?

Also, a lot of times, med schools like having applicants that aren't necessarily science majors. They love seeing diversity in interests and having well rounded students enter the field.

If medicine is your goal, and you don't care too much about the whole "name" behind your diploma but are more into actually practicing and helping people [cliche, but yes...] it's hard to NOT go to med school. My friend's sister didn't get a great MCAT score, mid-high 20s and she didn't have an amazing gpa, probably around 3.3ish but she actually wanted to do medicine, no matter what. She went to a school in the carribbean, came back to the states for her rotation and just recently graduated with her MD. She's going to go through residency soon.

Wow, I've read all of your replies above ^ . I assume that you are all from US?
Well, Hi! I'm a medical student myself but I live in Asia, I'm Thai, actually.
Nice to meet you all.
I just want to share some thing different, I hope you don't mind ^^

Well, from what i've read, our ways of studying are pretty much different.
In Thailand, our medical life starts since we graduate from highschool.
Before that, in highschool, we have to take the science course required for those students who want to persue a career in scientific field. When we finish Highschool, we all have to sit a entrance examination, when the scores come out then we'll decide which university and which faculty we should apply for. Faculty of medicine and Faculty of engineering are the top 2 that have the highest scores. It's the reson why Thai highschool students are ever so serious on their entrance exam, we have to decide early on of what we want to become, because if we failed the entrance exam, then we'll miss it all.

Here, we have The Faculty of Medicine in some universities, which take us in since we successfully fight our way through the entrance exam. The faculty will take care of our studies fron then on, it takes us 6 years of studying. There are preclinical years and clinical years.
The first year, we mostly learn all the basic sciences continuing further from our highschool like biology, organic chemistry, physics, calculus etc.
The second and the third years are called preclinical years where we study more specifically in medical field in subjects like anatomy, physiology, pathology, biochemistry, phamacology, embryology etc.
The fourth, fifth and the sixth are clinical year where we learn on the hospital wards, we'll move from one ward to another in these three years. And after all these, we graduate in Medical Degree.
After M.D. we'll be called intern which we'll be sent to work in the community hospital in the poor area of the country. We'll work there for three years and come back to the Faculty to do residency where we choose our specialist to study for another three years.

Well, from what I see you guys in US have to do the pre-med first and then apply for medical school, right? Umm, that can be confusing as of what subject you are supposed to choose, right? For us, all the subjects are all set, all we have to do is trying to survive and pass our way through But you guys in US are better in the way that you always have your choices open, you can change your mind midway through. We have to decide since before highschool of what we want to become or it'll be too late. But as I said before, the faculty of medicine is a part of the university, so the government takes care of our study's fee, making it the most minimum, so we don't have to pay lots for medical school. But when we are interns, we have to work in the community hospital for three years to pay off the debts for the government ^^

I'm in the fourth year actually, compared to the US student as the first year medical student, right? ^^
Nice to meet you guys ^^ I've been in soompi for quite a while now but i never noticed this thread before i was too immerse in the korean music and entertainment hehehe ^^
I hope my post isn't too boring ^^

Are there any good school's for child/adolescent psychiatry?

hey

WOW seems like everyone's mostly from the states here.. well I'm from Canada and entering my first year of university next year. And yesssssss I'm thinking of going into the medical field but holy gees everything I hear about "med school" & residency scares me. But I don't think there really is any other career path I'd rather choose :\

Anyone would like to share their experiences with MCAT'S or the interviews you have to go through? (yikes!) How does the life after med school feel? And I've always wondered how people felt about going to school for pretty much another 10 years.. just to become a doctor? Is it really worth it? Don't get me wrong, I understand you would probably have to be really passionate about this career path in order to make such a sacrafice but ahhhhh 10 years is heck of long time - it's like 12 years of high school all over again.. and that took so long to finish!

Any suggestions for any particular university courses that will be beneficial for Med School?
For those who are have decided what specific type of Doctor you're gonna be..... how'd you make that big decision?

And, in your opinion, TOP 5 MED SCHOOLS ?? (anywhere around the world)


hehe
Sorry for the all the questions. Just trying to get some feedback & extra information

Would a degree like Bioengineering: Premedical be counted against me in terms of medical school admission? I've read things like " for some schools a science degree is a negative - Johns Hopkins, for example. You need to show medical schools you are passionate about something. That you're willing to spend four years, study a topic you love, learn it, and be able to build on it. " and it's scaring me.... I mean, yes I will be studying bioE, but the whole major is geared towards medical school admission and almost nothing else......

thanks!

^^^I dont think that will go against you in getting to med school except for the fact that it's a really hard major and may affect your GPA compared to a Bio major who doesn't have to take all the engineering courses/high math classes and may get a higher GPA than yours but that's through the perspective of someone who isn't good at physics and math like myself. I was a bio-e major because every1 at ucsd was one basically but now im doing econ premed

QUESTION
I was wondering do med schools focus more on certain parts of your GPA or the total? like are they gonna weigh the lower division bio/chem/physics heavily compared to the upperdivision bio/ochem? also are other grades of your other classes like GEs gonna be a big deal in admissions?

presweet
Anyone would like to share their experiences with MCAT'S or the interviews you have to go through?
I haven't taken the MCAT or interviews yet. But, I am taking a course on medical overview (SLS 2311C) and I have a professor, Dr. Lopez who was one of the few people that actually got to interview students for medical school and I have talk to some people about the MCAT before--how it was & etc.
One of my friends got accepted to Boston University, the school of medicine. And other areas as well. He told me that MCAT isn't that bad actually because you have taken so many science courses such as biology, chemistry, physics, etc and you could really apply it through there. The only tough thing most medical students and himself said that reading quickly. He should have taken a reading comprehensive class to boost up his reading skills and stuff.
Interviews are really based on closed or open file. And he recommends that knowing your application very well before the interview and the school! It was nerve racking for any med student. But after awhile, he got used to the setting and tried to answer the questions as much as possible. Some of his interviewers were really brutal and some were just like old friends. It's just like any other interview out there. He says: "It's like a job, you don't know whether you get the job or not. But, just answer the questions as much as you know. They won't hold it against you."
One of the med students who goes to Nova Southeastern University says that she recommends going to this site, http://www.studentdoctor.com for interviews. =) There, you'll see what their stress level, etc was. And it helped her a lot to prepare for interviews.

How does the life after med school feel? And I've always wondered how people felt about going to school for pretty much another 10 years.. just to become a doctor? Is it really worth it? Don't get me wrong, I understand you would probably have to be really passionate about this career path in order to make such a sacrifice but ahhhhh 10 years is heck of long time - it's like 12 years of high school all over again.. and that took so long to finish!
[cough] I hate to break it to you, if you want to pursue further than just plan old med school. You have residency if you want to become like a surgeon or specializing in some special field like the foot, etc.
And I have talked to doctors out there, they say it's worth it because it's rewarding. Besides money of course. But, it satisfies it out there. But after med school, it gets hectic and stressful. You're on call sometimes. One of my friends who is in the hospital, she is sometimes there from 7 PM to like 5 in the morning because she has to make rotations and rounds. =) It really depends on the field you want to go and what not. But, it's stressful, hectic and rewarding at the same time.

Any suggestions for any particular university courses that will be beneficial for Med School?
Anatomy, physiology, neurobiology, reading comprehensive courses are recommend it. AND, of course your science courses. =)

For those who are have decided what specific type of Doctor you're gonna be..... how'd you make that big decision?
Sorry, can't really answer that question. I haven't decide what specific type of doctor I want to be yet though. 8D I think what I see or what I personally experience will make me decide if it allows me financial stability, enjoyment of my life and etc. =) You have to decide what sort of doctor you want to be based on your personal factors. For example, one of my friends who already graduated and is a doctor now at LA, he says that he wanted to be a family physician because he wouldn't have to wake up in the middle of the night for some emergency. And he wanted his lifestyle to be stable. Guess where he is now? He is an ER surgeon, because he couldn't handle the quietness and the stability of it. He needed some spontaneous activity in his life and thus, ER surgeon was right for him.

And, in your opinion, TOP 5 MED SCHOOLS ?? (anywhere around the world)
Top 5 med schools? Well, I'm a bit biased though.
1. University of Washington
2. LECOM
3. USF
I only have 3. Only reason is because of what they provide for me. =)

one day

Would a degree like Bioengineering: Premedical be counted against me in terms of medical school admission? I've read things like " for some schools a science degree is a negative - Johns Hopkins, for example. You need to show medical schools you are passionate about something. That you're willing to spend four years, study a topic you love, learn it, and be able to build on it. " and it's scaring me.... sad.gif I mean, yes I will be studying bioE, but the whole major is geared towards medical school admission and almost nothing else...... crazy.gif

No, definitely not. Medical students actually thrive on seeing other majors out there such as history, philosophy, etc who are becoming med students. My friend who got accepted to Boston university school of medicine is actually a philosophy and religion major. =) You just have to remember to follow the pre-med requisites. Yes, you have to passionate about medicine or health in general because look down the road, it's like. half of your lifetime that you're in school. You should know that medical schools out there take in account with your overall gpa and your science gpa. Which means, your science gpa is the science courses such as chem, bio, math and physics. =) I hope I answered your question okay? If you have any concerns, PM me and I'll ask my pre-health adviser about it~! =)

takumi

QUESTION
I was wondering do med schools focus more on certain parts of your GPA or the total? like are they gonna weigh the lower division bio/chem/physics heavily compared to the upperdivision bio/ochem? also are other grades of your other classes like GEs gonna be a big deal in admissions?

They concentrate on both actually. Medical students look at your science gpa and your overall gpa. =) Though, those things are important. Some medical schools actually deny 4.0 students with 30+ on the MCAT because of their personality and just in general, one who is not as social as they thought he or she would be. I talked to the dean of LECOM who accepts med students and etc, he says that if the 4.0 GPA guy with 30+ MCAT score's personality was a bit off or not able to communicate as well, he would rather choose like 3.0 GPA and 27+ MCAT guy because of personality quirks, etc. =) But, yeah I'm rambling. Sorry, haha. =)

medical schools concentrate on science and overall gpa.
Science = BCMP - Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Physics
They are not going to weigh heavily between the lower and higher division. Actually, they'll see your grades for each chemistry, biology, and all the other courses you have taken on your transcript. Each of the subject is important to them!
Of course, during the interview... They'll question why you got these grades instead of blah blah. =)
They concentrate on your science a bit more than your GE's. But, they still look at it. =) But, they are heavily on the science because medical student, you're taking science courses mainly.


Hope I answer the questions. The information is mainly from my medical overview class with Dr.Lopez who brings in medical students, speakers and doctors to class. =) And mainly from my friends who are already got accepted to med school, taking the MCAT or going through the process of it. =)

thank you so much safety_bread!

I was a little iffy about my major because it doesnt really show passion that medical school is looking for (plus, I've been told that it's harder to get a high gpa with engineering courses). But, I went the open house and asked the academic advisors about my situation. If I do decide to switch out of my current major, I'd have to take 6 more GE courses, plus whatever medical school requires. Also, I never imagined myself NOT going to a graduate school. So if medical schools dont want me at the very end.. hopefully I'll at least get into an engineering school

again, thank you for the detailed response!

I was interested to know if anybody has had any experience with a PhD/MD program, and where it would be easier to obtain, if the choices were between Cornell University and UPenn.

Also, as an undergraduate, do Med schools also look for diversity in your majors/curriculum? And how important is research to the process? Or is it all right to just do a lot of internships?

Thanks.

frappuccino_life[b]
I can't really answer your first question because PhD/MD programs are usually when you get accepted right after high school. My friend at USF is actually accepted to there. But, she doesn't get to pick a lot of things because they already set courses of what she has to take. My friend is also in the Pharm program over at Tallahassee.
It's not easy to get into a program though. You have to fulfill the requirements of what they want & etc. Do research on those programs, it'll probably will help you a lot because that was what my friends did.
[b]
Also, as an undergraduate, do Med schools also look for diversity in your majors/curriculum? And how important is research to the process? Or is it all right to just do a lot of internships?

I don't know if they look at the diversity of your majors/curriculum but I think they enjoy seeing something new because you know, they look at some many applications with Biology, Chemistry, and see somebody pop out with philosophy. But, to be accepted into med school. You obviously have to take pre-med classes that are set for you as well as your major requirements.

How important is research?
Important.

Internships?
Important as well.

Med schools look for active students. You have to have good gpa, good MCAT score, good social life, good after school activities, have to do some research, do a lot of volunteering, etc.

Meaning: Don't be lock in your room all the time studying your butt off because they want you to be active + social + knowledgeable = overall good round student.

other than science classes, what math classes are needed?