how do doctors use math in their professions?

Answer 1

Some medicines have doses based on your body weight so how much to prescribe for a dose requires math. They also might want to do a BMI calculation which is math based on your height squared and your weight. They might want to do a calculation figuring the percentage of red blood cells in you blood's cells.

Answer 2

Mundane uses are things like dosage calculations. I don't even have to be awake to figure a morphine dose of 0.75 mg/kg body weight.
Probably more important is some familiarity with statistics in order to judge the latest studies and updates. It's always amazing to me how people will spend a lot of time, effort, and money on a medical study that has flawed methods and written conclusions that are the opposite of what the numbers actually say.

Answer 3

Calculating required drug dosages depending on sex, age and weight of patients

In epidemiological studies, particularly in the intepretation of collated data and how that translates into clinical practice (managing epidemics, planning health care services etc.)

To add up how much they should be getting paid at the end of the month

To calculate the odds ratios of inheritance of genetic disorders

Assess the significance of drugs effects

These are just a few of the things I've encountered at med school so far...there's plenty more!

Answer 4

there are math formulas you use to calculate medicine dosage. also they would have to use math (as far as inches,centimeters) when assessing wounds for size and depth. im sure there are other mathmatical uses for doctors also.

Answer 5

depends on what specialty they are, i know on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" a surgeon (who i supposed took calculus in college) did not know what a protractor was! LOL was one of the easy first questions!