will gen chem nursing be enough for pre-med gen chem prereq????

[ra206p]

Hi all!

I've taken gen chem (chem 141 and 142) in a community college.

Will this suffice for the mcat gen chem prereq? Or should i take another chem geared for science majors?

*The cc im attending now has a different gen chem class for science majors (chm.151and 152), and I still have to take o-chem (maybe in a CC also) and biochem in a uni.

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[Cawolf]

Can you post the description?

The numbers mean nothing. It is likely fine though, but check the MSAR if CC courses are accepted for prerequisite classes at the schools you want to apply to.

There are also no strict courses for the MCAT, but for medical school admissions.

 

[ra206p]

CHM 141 (4 credits)
A first semester course of general, organic, and biochemistry sequence designed to meet the needs of students of nursing, dental hygiene, physical therapy, allied health programs, forestry, nutrition, and other majors with comparable requirements. This course covers matter, electrons and chemical bonds, formulas and equations, stoichiometry, gases, solutions, energies, acid-base reactions, radioactivity, and introduction to organic chemistry.

CHM 142 (4 credits)
Second semester course of general, organic, and biochemistry sequence designed to meet the needs of students of nursing, dental hygiene, physical therapy, allied health programs, forestry, nutrition, and other majors with comparable requirements. This course covers organic compounds and their characteristics, and biological compounds and their role in living organisms.

Thanks!

 

[Cawolf]

It seems like a lot of topics are missing from your second semester course that I think would be standard in a general chemistry sequence. Did you cover thermodynamics, kinetics, electrochemistry, or MO theory?

The organic and biological component makes the course scream "nursing" to me. I don't know how it will look to AMCAS, I unfortunately have no experience there. These allied health focused courses are definitely not as rigorous as you would find in a true general chemistry series. I would wait for a reply from someone who has more knowledge of how these will be viewed. I would also seek help from an adviser. I personally would be worried that these would not meet the requirements.

Is the whole series only two semesters? If that's the case, then I imagine you would be better off taking another four or five semesters of chemistry to include one year of general, one year of organic, and one semester of biochemistry (at least four of them with labs).

 

[ra206p]

@Cawolf , yes, i took 141 in the fall, and currently taking 142. Got an A for the first part and hoping to get another A for the 2nd. These 2 classes seem easy for me honestly, which makes me worry that they are really not the real deal chemistry (at least for MCAT) if u know what i mean....

I would like to take organic 1 and 2 next fall and spring.. retaking the whole gen chem series in a uni would screw my whole schedule / plan. Im a non trad student so time is very essential

thanks for the advice!

 

[Nasrudin]

If it's for nursing majors then no.

You need the full series of year long general chemistry with labs and the same with organic. If it doesn't qualify for science majors it doesn't cut it.

 

[Cawolf]

I would like to take organic 1 and 2 next fall and spring.. retaking the whole gen chem series in a uni would screw my whole schedule / plan. Im a non trad student so time is very essential

I can totally empathize with you as a non-traditional student myself. When I first returned to school I took an allied health Chemistry course and Microbiology course. I ended up taking the full series of courses at a university.

Your chemistry courses will definitely will not be adequate, as I note a few others above me have said. I think that it will be in your best interest (following some prudent research) to take the actual chemistry series. In all likelihood you will need to take these classes to apply to medical school. I wouldn't say you have to take them at a four-year school (though it would be better), but you need to at least not take the allied health versions. These courses, as the description notes, are not designed for someone planning to apply to medical school.

Did you research them before taking them? Or were you planning on applying to an allied health school?

 

[Cawolf]

I also saw you made the same multiple times in multiple forums.

Don't do that, it's annoying.

 

[ra206p]

Sorry im pretty new to this forum and still learning how to navigate. I will just delete the other posts.

Yeah i got accepted to an accelerated bsn this fall 2015 (original plan) but now leaning towards med school.

Thanks

 

[ra206p]

Apparently, deletig a post is not an option here. Sorry guys

 

[deleted307836]

No, it sounds like that would not suffice. As gonnif wrote, it needs to be the gen chem sequence suitable for chemistry majors and not a sequence designed for allied health students.

 

[ra206p]

Thanks guys. Seems like i have to retake the whole gen chem series. Ugh.

 

[deleted307836]

What was the official course title? Is it an acceptable pre-req for the ochem series?

 

[ra206p]

@CityLights the title is general, organic, biological chem. The course descriptions were listed above. And yes, it is an acceptable prereq for organic chem in my CC. Thanks

 

[deleted307836]

Yes, that does sound like a survey-style course that is geared specifically towards allied health majors which is either discouraged or not allowed for use as pre-reqs by med schools. It's curious that it is an acceptable pre-req for o-chem, though. I've seen some medical school websites clearly state that the course needs to be the one taken by science majors and not for allied health, so I think your best bet would be to take the general chem series before starting o-chem.

 

[Siggy]

One of my coworkers when I was a premed bought into a course like that because it was "organic AND general chemistry all in just one year." He ended up having to take g chem and o chem and then went to a non-big 4 Caribbean medical school. If the Caribbean medical schools won't take these survey style courses, the US med schools won't either.

 

[W19]

Thanks guys. Seems like i have to retake the whole gen chem series. Ugh.

If I were you, I would not retake general chemistry and will go straight to organic.. I think school don't pay too much attention to the content of these classes. This is just an opinion based on my experience applying both DO and MD... I think DO is more lenient than MD...