Biochemistry or Orgo II: which one more useful?

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OrangeCaramel

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Which of the two undergraduate classes did you find more useful/ applicable to the first two years of medical school? Biochemistry, or second semester organic chemistry II?

Just a curious question.

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Which of the two undergraduate classes did you find more useful/ applicable to the first two years of medical school? Biochemistry, or second semester organic chemistry II?

Just a curious question.

Not sure where you are in the undergraduate pre-med process, but Orgo II is required for med school and most schools are making biochem a requirement as well.

With that being said...they're useful and applicable in different ways. Biochemistry is of course going to be more relevant to what you are learning in med school. However, many would argue that with the exception of pchem, orgo is the hardest undergraduate class (although biochem is by no means easy) and learning to handle the rigors of the course will help you grow more as a student.
 
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Not sure where you are in the undergraduate pre-med process, but Orgo II is required for med school and most schools are making biochem a requirement as well.

With that being said...they're useful and applicable in different ways. Biochemistry is of course going to be more relevant to what you are learning in med school. However, many would argue that with the exception of pchem, orgo is the hardest undergraduate class (although biochem is by no means easy) and learning to handle the rigors of the course will help you grow more as a student.
And with all THAT being said... you should know that taking these classes in undergrad (even though they are required) will not help you significantly or give you that much of a leg up while learning biochem in med school (which is typically one of the first blocks). In retrospect, the discrete mathematics course I took in undergrad helped me just as much as the biochem I took in undergrad when I got to med school---that is not very much.

Med school biochem is focused on application to the real world diseases while, I guarantee, no undergrad biochem course compares.
 
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You have to take Orgo II anyway. A lot of schools are starting to require or recommend biochem (plus, I think it's on the new MCAT).

Personally, I found physiology to be the most interesting and helpful class on the MCAT. Haven't done a ton of it in med school yet so we'll see.
I regret not taking immuno/microbio.
 
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Like previously stated, Orgo II is required. However, biochem is much more pertinent to the material in med school.
 
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I didn't take undergraduate biochemistry, but O. Chem 2 was completely useless.
 
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GAME CHANGER: Johns Hopkins SOM no longer requires Organic II, but requires Biochemistry.
 
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Biochem for the mcat. you can go without orgo 2 for that.
 
orgo 1 is slightly relevant. orgo 2 is not relevant at all
biochem is very useful but in med school you'll probably cover all of undergrad biochem in a month or less
 
Yeah Ochem 2 is pretty useless. I wished I would have taken immuno/micro, histology, and a more rigorous biochem,
 
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