Biochem and anatomy in D school

[Manyak222]

Hey guys,
I've done a search to the relavence of undergrad biochemistry in dental school, but couldn't find what I was looking for. I will start ASDOH this july, and am currently taking biochemistry and anatomy. Biochem I am taking because I want to keep the door open for UCLA, incase they invite me for an interview, and anatomy i am taking just to get a feel for it. Im taking both of them pass/no pass, so I dont care about my grade.
My question is, does the biochem and anatomy you learned in undergrad help you out at all in dental school? What kind of biochem and anatomy did you guys focus on? Was it head and neck for anatomy or the entire body? (the more details anyone can give me the better). Anyone from Az dental would be great, but any d school student's advice would be appreciated.
Gratsi!

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[crazy_sherm]

I'm not sure how the curriculum is at AZ, but at UOP, we have one quarter of general gross anatomy and one quarter of head/neck anatomy. The first quarter wasn't too bad, just a little harder than what I learned in undergrad. Head/neck is a whole other ball game, there are just so many small muscles and nerves to remember. Biochem was the total opposite, piece of cake in dental school. Million times harder in undergrad. The biochem covered at UOP was just a gloss over memorize key words kind of thing. Questions were very similar to what was on the boards, so there's no need to really learn it as in depth as in undergrad unless you plan on doing research.

 

[LoF27]

I think it depends on where you go to undergrad and where you go to d-school. My friend who went to Michigan said biochem was the hardest class she had in dental school and she wished she had taken it in undergrad. Also, when Columbia sends you an acceptance letter, there's a paper with all the requirements that must be completed before enrollment that says words to the effect of "although we do not require biochem for enrollment, we STRONGLY recommend you take it before starting dental school." There's no mention of recommending any other class such as anatomy, etc. so clearly they must find that students struggle more with biochemistry than with anything else, or they wouldn't go out of their way to give this advice.

To the OP, biochem now certainly can't hurt, it can only help, regardless of what ASDOH's biochemistry class is like.

 

[jr8047]

I would say that it is a VERY good idea to take both classes now. It will be a HUGE help to you during your first year at d-school. I would highly recommend taking them both.

 

[QCkid]

I would say that it is a VERY good idea to take both classes now. It will be a HUGE help to you during your first year at d-school. I would highly recommend taking them both.

I agree. Both are time consuming and tuff because of the amount of material. I took Biochem in undergrade and it was tuff, only a few people in the class got A's. It made learning it in d-school a lot more bearable. I wished that I had taken Anatomy and physiology as well.

 

[vaio]

I'm not sure how the curriculum is at AZ, but at UOP, we have one quarter of general gross anatomy and one quarter of head/neck anatomy. The first quarter wasn't too bad, just a little harder than what I learned in undergrad. Head/neck is a whole other ball game, there are just so many small muscles and nerves to remember. Biochem was the total opposite, piece of cake in dental school. Million times harder in undergrad. The biochem covered at UOP was just a gloss over memorize key words kind of thing. Questions were very similar to what was on the boards, so there's no need to really learn it as in depth as in undergrad unless you plan on doing research.

pretty much the same experience with me, except i only had one semester of anatomy; and the head/neck portion was the most complicated

 

[vaio]

taking biochem in undergrad definitely helps...it did for me