-

[WJV031]

-

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SaraTonin_15]

Wow. Computational Toxicology was a field I helped start back in the day at US EPA. And now they are teaching courses in it?! To answer your question you could categorize it as a bio course, depending on the course code. There isn't really enough structural chemistry on it's on unless you were using computational models to predict chemical structure based on toxicity (other way is more bio). Drug Action also doesn't have a ton of chemistry, but would count as biology. I took something similar in graduate school and since it was through the Toxicology and Pharmacology department it counted as biology. Really depends on what the course listing and the person verifying.

Can you PM me what school this is? It is crazy they are offering courses like this. I had to make a lot of this stuff up as I went, but got some descent publications out of it.

*edited: I trust @gonnif comment because he is very knowledgeable about the process, but don't necessarily agree. Edited comment to give more detail.

 

[gonnif]

Neither course will fufill Bio or chem for AMCAS

 

[chemphysicsinstructor]

Does anyone have an idea whether I could classify these courses as Chem or Bio on AMCAS? Pharmacogenomics sounds closely related to pharmacology but from what other students have told me these two classes focus a lot on OChem mechanisms and toxicology. Both classes are offered under the Nutritional Science department.

Computational Toxicology

Introducing the use of bioinformatics tools useful in linking the molecular structure of chemicals to the toxicity they induce in biological systems. Discussions on the highly interactive process of collecting, organizing, and assimilating chemistry and toxicology information - and the use of computer programs to visualize, browse, and interpret this information to discover chemical structure-toxicity correlations. The importance of these concepts in drug discovery and development and food safety will be emphasized.

Drug Action

Basic principles and quantitative aspects of drug action and risk/benefit as applied to the discovery, design, and development of human therapeutics. The course will highlight the importance of integrating pharmacology, toxicology, and pharmacokinetics to create effective and safe treatments for human disease. Special emphasis will be placed on pharmacogenomics and variation in individual response.

Regardless of whether it officially counts or not, you are advised to learn about pharmaceuticals/pharmacokinetics/etc. and to see real-life applications of organic chemistry. Yes, the pKa of a functional group does matter for absorption across the lipid bilayer. And the first order chemical kinetics equations your learned in general chemistry are important in pharmacokinetics.