Yep. Only a third even require undergrad math courses. Of those that do, the majority of them do not require statistics. Of the 190 MD and O.D. programs in the U.S., only 20 have statistics requirements. I put a link below to a list of the medical schools with math requirements with the ones requiring stats highlighted. As you probably know from your own stats class too, while it was likely a good introduction and helped teach better ways of thinking about things in less biased ways (at least when taught by good instructors), it likely did not spend too much time on critically analyzing study design and results, power functions, matrices, or meta analysis. hpa.princeton.edu/sites/hpa/files/2017hpa-mathrequirements.pdf
Yep. Only a third even require specific math classes. Of those few that do, the majority do not require statistics. I put a link below to a list of the medical schools that actually do require math with the ones that require a semester of stats highlighted. There are only 20 medical schools that require basic stats out of 190 (MD+D.O.) medical schools in the U.S. And, as you probably know from your stats course, while it was likely a useful introduction and a great tool for understanding how to think in a less biased way (hopefully you had a good teacher)…it likely did not contain more than a few days of how to understand study results, power functions, matrices, or meta analysis. https://hpa.princeton.edu/sites/hpa/files/2017hpa-mathrequirements.pdf
Gosh. I didn’t insult anyone’s math skills or intelligence. And I was talking about doctors on all sides and in all situations where math and statistics come up. But, your second point is correct…We really have no idea what courses they have taken in undergrad. That’s my point as well. Attending medical school says very little to nothing about a person’s experience or understanding of statistics and math. They should not be trusted to have an understanding of statistics beyond that of any other smart person with a basic understanding of math. We do know a bit more about their graduate school work though, as all MD’s and OD’s went to medical school, so we know that math and stats was not a concentration there. A few do other graduate work (MD/PhD’s are a prime example), but the very large majority do not.
Two points: 1: For everyone here (and on YouTube) claiming we should listen to them because they are doctors…medical school does not teach math. It does not teach statistical analysis. It does not teach good research methodology. Medical schools typically require, at most, two semesters of math (generally any kind of math…no statistics requirement), and most only require one semester of math for admission. Doctors use basic math all the time, but do not use statistical math or statistical concepts during their work, except in very specific specialties or in research programs. And those that do are often MD/PhD’s with extensive statistics and research experience. Doctors without a background in epidemiology or research, or some kind of outside statistics and math experience are little more prepared than any relatively smart person to understand statistics and may actually be more prone to overestimating their own abilities both to others and to themselves. 2. Some of these posts seem very sock-puppety (at least to me). Very weird for this site.