Medical student interested in mathematics

[sgo2387]

Hey guys- I know many of you may not be in medical school- but I'm interested in rekindling my math knowledge- mainly to expand my options as a future researcher. I just finished my second year- and this upcoming year, based on rudimentary calculations I should have 4-5 hours of time after hospital work everyday. My question is, what can I accomplish reasonably to learn?

I am interested in probability - I'd like to get to the level of nonlinear dynamics, probability theory- stochastic processes, random walk processes. I'd like to get the basics of math down as well- like a fundamental understanding of topology, linear algebra, nonlinear, combinatorial mathematics...

I don't know how much of this I can accomplish but I was wondering what would be reasonable and where to start?

Like I said- 5 hours a day of time+ maybe 1 of the weekends. I have a year of this available- fourth year I can add more time but its dependent on what I accomplish now.

My end goal is to apply this mathematical knowledge to better understanding neuroscience- and I believe a strong understanding in probability and the application of math at an advanced level is necessary...

But I'm not sure what kind of realistic expectations I can have.

Background: I am a medical student. I'm no math genius- but very capable of learning. My extent of mathematical education was differential equations in my senior year of high school...since then haven't touched it.

I'm not dumb- but not genius either...

 

[Stephen Tashi]

My question is, what can I accomplish reasonably to learn?

One guess is that in a year, you could do at most the equivalent of four 1 semester courses. That's my estimate at what a beginning undergraduate math major would do. So, what would a math major take if he placed out of differential equations? I suppose he'd take a semester of vector calculus, a semester or two of linear algebra and one other semester of something - perhaps topology or probability. However, I don't know what the current math circulum is like. If you have an idea of a university where you'd like to do research, look at their undergraduate course catalog.