Biochemistry not required...

[Pharm702]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Just thought I'd get some input...I got accepted to USN for Class of 2012! 😀 But one of my friends told me that I should definitely take Biochemistry before I start school. The only class available before I begin my life as a pharm student is offerred during the summer session, which means everyday for 1 month! I kinda wanted to take it easy before I started, but don't want to be behind the 8-ball for the first block. Can anyone tell me if they think taking this class is worth it?

 

[charfdorn]

Just thought I'd get some input...I got accepted to USN for Class of 2012! 😀 But one of my friends told me that I should definitely take Biochemistry before I start school. The only class available before I begin my life as a pharm student is offerred during the summer session, which means everyday for 1 month! I kinda wanted to take it easy before I started, but don't want to be behind the 8-ball for the first block. Can anyone tell me if they think taking this class is worth it?

You're going to be eating, sleeping, breathing this stuff for four years and you want to fill your last free summer with a hard science class? You're crazy. Yeah, it'll be helpful, but I think a relaxing summer would be better for you. You'll learn the biochem; you just won't have the leg up that some of your classmates will.

 

[Lisochka]

I am in the same boat. Also USN 2012
Are you gonna take biochem online?

 

[aboveliquidice]

I would relax - if it isn't in the Pre-reqs - they do not expect you to know it before you get there.

They will likely spend an adequate amount of time on it (as opposed to a review of subjects they assume you already know).

 

[lymmys]

Just thought I'd get some input...I got accepted to USN for Class of 2012! 😀 But one of my friends told me that I should definitely take Biochemistry before I start school. The only class available before I begin my life as a pharm student is offerred during the summer session, which means everyday for 1 month! I kinda wanted to take it easy before I started, but don't want to be behind the 8-ball for the first block. Can anyone tell me if they think taking this class is worth it?

on my interview, I asked the P2 student what their advices for P1, and this was what they told me. She told me if you get accepted, by all means, try to take a biochem course. You got accepted already so you don't have to worry about GPA anymore. I would take it easy but since both P2 students said that,I will say...Take it!

 

[Pharm702]

I am in the same boat. Also USN 2012
Are you gonna take biochem online?

No, the class I'm going to take is actually at the ASU Tempe campus. It's about an hour and a half long 5-days per week.

I also asked the P1 students that interviewed me about what I should do to prepare for school and they said I should take biochem. That's the only reason I'm even considering this torture!

 

[Montclair]

No, the class I'm going to take is actually at the ASU Tempe campus. It's about an hour and a half long 5-days per week.

I also asked the P1 students that interviewed me about what I should do to prepare for school and they said I should take biochem. That's the only reason I'm even considering this torture!

I'm on my last quarter of a year long biochem series course, and I recommend you take it, even if it was for fun. I LOVE THIS COURSE! It's so interesting to take a closer look inside the body at metabolic pathways, enzymes, etc. And yes, I heard the same thing as lymmys. Dr. Deyoung's assistant (Ms. Laurie Briggs---LOVE her!), told me that taking biochem will do wonders for the first couple blocks. You have nothing to lose if you take it. But don't feel pressured. I'm SURE that there are students that haven't taken biochem and are doing great in pharmacy school (I'm just pulling that out of thin air, I don't have any statistics to back that up.....🙄)

 

[mrblah]

take biochem if you get the chance. At USN, you spend the first few months learning ALL the pathways. It will be alot easier if you have some of the general concepts and general terminology down before you start school. You have to realize at USN, you have a assessment every 2 weeks, so its much easier for you to focus on the conceptual fundamentals of biochem vs. learning terminology. At USN, they will just give you a bunch of crap to memorize, so its easier if you've already familiarize with the terminology.

I would suggest enrolling in any biochem class, and just get pass/no pass. I don't care if you do homework, or even study......you're goal is to familiarize the subject.

btw, congrats.

 

[Pharm702]

take biochem if you get the chance. At USN, you spend the first few months learning ALL the pathways. It will be alot easier if you have some of the general concepts and general terminology down before you start school. You have to realize at USN, you have a assessment every 2 weeks, so its much easier for you to focus on the conceptual fundamentals of biochem vs. learning terminology. At USN, they will just give you a bunch of crap to memorize, so its easier if you've already familiarize with the terminology.

I would suggest enrolling in any biochem class, and just get pass/no pass. I don't care if you do homework, or even study......you're goal is to familiarize the subject.

btw, congrats.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm gonna do it. I just had a lot friends that were telling me I was crazy for trying to fit this class in with a wedding, moving & working full-time all before starting school in August! None of my friends are in a program like this & I wanted to get some opinions from people in the same boat.

 

[WhiteSnows]

My advice: ask the school if you fail the class, will it affect your acceptance? I do not mean that you will fail, but just to make sure.

 

[tahi193]

I'm in the course right now and I'm not sorry for taking it. However, I do regret taking it before applying to pharmacy school. Biochemistry concepts are not that difficult if you put in the work, but it seems professors of this course in particular are often out to make your life difficult. I got As in organic chemistry and I feel like I understand biochem well but it doesn't show up on my exams. I've probably got a B- in the course right now. It's definitely all about the professor.

My advice is absolutely take it, but avoid it before your last semester at all costs unless you know the professor is decent. It's not worth a bite out of your GPA. 😳

 

[Pharm702]

My advice: ask the school if you fail the class, will it affect your acceptance? I do not mean that you will fail, but just to make sure.

Great suggestion! Just sent an email off to the school.

Lisochka: I'll let you know what the verdict is if you're curious.

 

[STEV0]

If anything, just speak to the professor scheduled to teach the class and ask him if you could just audit.

 

[Pharm702]

Got my reply e-mail from Dr. DeYoung and he said that my acceptance is not affected by passing or not passing biochem. He said that I could fail the class and it would't change anything! So...that settles it I'm in! Now I just have to learn something!

 

[Okie7123]

Even so, you can always just audit the class so you can sit in but not need to try for a grade...that way, you get someone to teach you in lecture but aren't pressured with all the work...that is, if you're worried about a grade or stress

 

[Lisochka]

Got my reply e-mail from Dr. DeYoung and he said that my acceptance is not affected by passing or not passing biochem. He said that I could fail the class and it would't change anything! So...that settles it I'm in! Now I just have to learn something!

cool! thanks for the info!

 

[slight365]

Get a copy of Lippincott's and live it and beath it. You can also go for one from The Board Review Series. Even though the latter is kind of pointed at physicians, you can really get a lot of concepts and advanced stuff with the combo of the two. I recommend Lippincott's, at the least.

 

[Pharm702]

Get a copy of Lippincott's and live it and beath it. You can also go for one from The Board Review Series. Even though the latter is kind of pointed at physicians, you can really get a lot of concepts and advanced stuff with the combo of the two. I recommend Lippincott's, at the least.

Is this the Lippincott Biochemistry book? Just making sure before I invest in the wrong book. Thanks!

 

[slight365]

Yep, I have the old edition (2nd), and around 2004, they updated it greatly. I don't know if there were updates since the 3rd edition yet. I found it to be indispensible, and I augmented it also with readings from other biochem and non-biochem books and wrote all my notes directly on the pages so I have a condensed version of everything I need. However, it will help break you in, despite not having the "mass" of a full-blown text, which you will need anyhow. Lipincott's is a review book, but I also find it very good to be an introductory book as well. It does give the advanced concepts, condensed, and in an highly reduced form pictorially as well.

Pre-pharm, it should help you out a lot. They also have a Pharmacology book that a lot of people don't know about. I've used it and had a great time learning from it. You have to establish patterns for pharmacology.

I also recommend this book for beginning students in pharm:

http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Concepts-Pharmacology-MCGRAW-HILLS-CONCEPTS/dp/0071458182

It really helps understand the basics of how to associate and group the drugs, thus minimizing the study work to focus on the differences, rather than the similarities. That's not the best description, but it's a good book to get a heads up.