Many students I've spoken to disdain math. It can easily progress to a cold, dead, soul-sucking experience ridden with endless problems that need to be solved, one difficult trial after the last. I used to subscribe to that ideology at first; precalculus used to be the bane of my existence in high school, making me doubt the usefulness of mathematics in the future. Many pre-med students also tend to believe that a profound knowledge of mathematics is practically useless for life; anything beyond algebra and even calculus for some may be considered useless.
Of course, this is absolutely false; mathematics lies at the heart of any natural science, even in places you wouldn't expect, namely biology. Diffusion can be explained through a gradient, which is a multivariable function that points in the direction of the steepest change. Populations with respect to resources available can be explained by differential equations. Furthermore, the infamous Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium revolves around simple algebra.
Once you enter the world of chemistry, mathematics becomes ever more important. Figuring out the concentrations of solutes in water, understanding why enzymes work to speed up reaction rate, and understanding the types of chemical reactions that occur inside the body require a basic knowledge of mathematics. More advanced math would be utilized to understand thermodynamics and the energy states that can occur in physical and biological systems.
Physics is probably the most math-intensive natural science; it is filled with pure concept and almost no memorization. These concepts are all formulated through mathematical equations. Although the MCAT doesn't use calculus-based physics, it is near-impossible to determine physics equations by just using algebra, as calculus is a prerequisite to fully derive these equations.
Why is mathematics so important as you pursue medicine? It helps you better quantify what happens in the body. A new level of understanding occurs from an interdisciplinary perspective that biology or chemistry alone cannot achieve. Mathematics provides a new way of thinking about biological systems and the world around us.
In my chemistry lab, I was able to explain in a presentation why the average rate of a reaction is a bad approximation for the initial rate using a mathematical perspective, such that I was able to suggest better improvements and thus earn a better grade than I would have otherwise.
To build that mathematical intuition and understanding, one needs to take more math courses and genuinely practice while resisting the urge to memorize every formula thrown at you. If you can, even major in it while fulfilling pre-med requirements. In fact, statistics show that math majors are among the highest scoring on the MCAT, which dispels the stereotype that one must become a biological sciences-oriented major to apply to medical school. Furthermore, medical schools can find it harder to distinguish you from the rest of the competition with those majors, but not for math majors, as they don't comprise the majority of matriculants.
I firmly believe that mathematics has a huge place in medicine and thus needs to be better appreciated. Understanding math may be the key to saving someone's life in the future.
