Order of pre-med classes?

[PsychStudent]

Is it okay to take biology instead of chemistry as a first pre-med class? It seems like general chemistry is usually taken first, but could someone be successful in a college-level biology class with only high school chem (taken many years ago and mostly forgotten)? I'm a PhD student in psychology thinking about eventually going for an MD, but if I don't end up doing it I'd at least like to start with an area like biology that would be most useful to me in psychology. Thanks for your input!

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[dshnay]

Is it okay to take biology instead of chemistry as a first pre-med class? It seems like general chemistry is usually taken first, but could someone be successful in a college-level biology class with only high school chem (taken many years ago and mostly forgotten)? I'm a PhD student in psychology thinking about eventually going for an MD, but if I don't end up doing it I'd at least like to start with an area like biology that would be most useful to me in psychology. Thanks for your input!

you don't need to know chem in a bio class (it helps to know it though such as what is gibbs free energy, but it shouldn't be required), although some schools might have chem as a prereq for bio.

 

[aparecida]

Usually bio 1 starts off with basically some introductory organic chem, which kind of sucks, but there's not really any alternative unless you want to wait till you're in orgo before you take bio 1. (Which is actually what I did, but very few people do that.)

I think you'll be okay, though. Do check whether chem 1 is a prerequisite for bio 1, though (it is at my school).

 

[DoctorChris]

my advisor told me to take biology first and the start taking Gen. Chem after the second quarter

 

[PsychStudent]

I just checked and CHEM 101 is recommended (but not required) for BIO 110. Hopefully it will be okay then! Have any of you had grad students taking science classes in your undergrad classes? I'm only 21 so I guess it wouldn't be that out of the norm, but my science background is very limited at this point unfortunately.

 

[dshnay]

I just checked and CHEM 101 is recommended (but not required) for BIO 110. Hopefully it will be okay then! Have any of you had grad students taking science classes in your undergrad classes? I'm only 21 so I guess it wouldn't be that out of the norm, but my science background is very limited at this point unfortunately.

of course, i had a lawyer in my bio class who decied to become an optomitrist.

 

[aparecida]

There was a woman in two of my premed classes last semester who had a master's in psychology. She decided she wasn't interested in psych and started the premed curriculum.

 

[45408]

You should start with general chemistry, because there's so much chem you should really take (2 gen chem, 2 organic, biochem, and at my school, analytical as the prereq for biochem). That said, you don't need chemistry to take biology.