Advice on Studying Biology for an Engineer !

[sailinx]

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Hi,

I am a new non-traditional student. I have a Master's in Electrical Engineering and planning to change my career to dentistry. Over the summer, I took Chemistry I & II (2 minimesters) and I got A's in both. Having a strong math background, chemistry and physics come very easy to me. This fall, I am taking Bio-I and O. Chem-I.

I don't have whole lot of biology background.

I would like to get some advice on how to go about studying for biology ? Do I need to cram (ofcourse after understanding) or is there a better way to study? Looking at the Campbell's bio book, I just get overwhelmed with the material to remember. I know it will take me sometime to adapt to some new learning technique.

Any pointers/suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[trypmo]

Hi sailinx,
I'm a non-traditional student switching to dentistry after graduate work in physics, so I know where you're coming from! The method of tackling Bio that's worked for me has been plain ol' rote memorization. That's the only way to get through the exams, although any deeper understanding you can suqeeze out of it, of course, will also serve you well in the future. My strategy is to give myself X amount of time to read the material at my own pace and then, like a week before an exam, I write out a TON of flash cards (by hand) and go over them like mad until the test. The material's not "hard," at least not as we've come to understand the term "hard" through math, physics, and engineering, BUT it can be extra difficult for us because we can easily get stuck with no way to derive the answers to test questions from fundamental principles - you just gotta have it all crammed into your head. Repetition is the only thing that does it for me. I'm taking a Bio class this semester too, and I have lots o' memorization ahead of me (ugh!). Hope this helps a little, and best of luck!

👍