Do Premedical Requirements Over- or Under- Emphasize Physics?

Some blog followers might be interested in a post of the above title [Hake (2010)]. The abstract reads:

*******************************************

ABSTRACT: In "Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical School and Residency" Cooke, Irby, and O'Brien (2010) wrote: ". . . .the premedical requirements OVEREMPHASIZE SOME SCIENTIFIC FIELDS, SUCH AS PHYSICS. . . ."

On the other hand, physicists Crouch et al. (2010), in "Physics for Future Physicians and Life Scientists: a moment of opportunity," imply that the physics needed by future physicians is UNDEREMPHASIZED, writing [my CAPS]:

"The great success of 20th century biology was to reveal the physical and chemical machinery of life. Biological molecules, cells, organisms, and ecosystems are all constrained and enabled by the same laws of nature that govern the inanimate world. In this new vision, life emerges as perhaps the richest and most complex example of a physical system. IN THE 21st CENTURY, THE STUDY OF LIFE REQUIRES AN INTEGRATED, QUANTITATIVE APPROACH: PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, AND MATHEMATICS TIGHTLY INTERWOVEN WITH TRADITIONAL BIOLOGY.

This fundamental transformation has been widely recognized in recent education policy statements. The National Research Council report 'Bio2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists' argued that life science researchers need a strong grounding in mathematics and the physical sciences. In June 2009, a joint AAMC-HHMI committee issued an important report, 'Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians' (SFFP) . . . This report calls for removing specific course requirements for medical school admission and focusing instead on a set of scientific and mathematical 'competencies.' PHYSICS PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN BOTH REPORTS."

It would be interesting to know how discussion-list subscribers (and/or blog followers) come down on the question "Do Premedical Requirements Over- or Under- Emphasize Physics?"

******************************************

To access the complete 18 kB post please click on http://tinyurl.com/2dqfqlt .

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University

Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands

President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)

http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake

http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi

http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com

http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake

REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy http://tinyurl.com/create.php .]

Hake, R.R. 2010. "Do Premedical Requirements Over- or Under- Emphasize Physics?" online on the OPEN AERA-L archives at http://tinyurl.com/2dqfqlt . Post of 14 Jun 2010 09:25:25 -0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and URL are being transmitted to various discussion lists.