Help me choose class

[lee0539]

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I'm having hard time deciding between taking molecular biology or taking immunology. Which class is most related to what pharmacy students learn in pharm school?

 

[PharmDstudent]

I'm having hard time deciding between taking molecular biology or taking immunology. Which class is most related to what pharmacy students learn in pharm school?

Immunology.

 

[Hels2007]

Most pharmacy schools have a mandatory immunology class, so you might have to endure that twice (which may be good or bad). Molecular biology is less relevant but it may make biochem easier for you. I would say, take the class you think you will like more - simply because these are some 50 hours of your life you are never getting back. By the time you will need any of this information in pharmacy school, it will all be long forgotten. I remember as P3s we hit cardiology in therapeutics, and our professor was asking whether we remember a particular concept. He insisted it should be in our physiology notes. All 60+ of us swore that we have never seen it before (including me). When I went home, I checked my notes from my P1 year - and sure enough, it was right there, one of the basic things. And I had an A+ with some 98% in Physiology. So that shows how little you remember a couple years after studying it.

 

[Quiksilver]

i'm going to be the devils advocate and say molecular. The reason why i say is that that may be the future of pharmacy. We might see a rise in drugs that effect gene expression or alter something along the process of transcription. I have taken both prior to attending Rx school. And I really feel that molecular was a more difficult and complex course and to be honest, you must think in the context of the system. You need to think of an entire environment. I loved molecular as a class, moreso then immuno. Not to mention we got to do our own Gene Expression experiment which was reallly really cool

 

[Old Timer]

I would also take molecular biology. You'll get immunology in Pharmacy School. Molecular biology will give you a leg in understanding many disease states, especially neoplasms.

 

[lee0539]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. Let me change the question. If you were admissions committee which would you like to see on the transcript? Maybe that is a better question than which is closer to what is learned in pharm school. Seems like molec bio is the way to go for now, I'm still open to more suggestions till my enrollment window is up.

 

[Quiksilver]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. Let me change the question. If you were admissions committee which would you like to see on the transcript? Maybe that is a better question than which is closer to what is learned in pharm school. Seems like molec bio is the way to go for now, I'm still open to more suggestions till my enrollment window is up.

i really don't think many will look at a class like that and say whether or not it matters for pharmacy school. they are more concerned with the required courses and how you faired in that. However, it might effect your GPA and that is one thing that is considered. Although during my interview, I did have one question that kind of threw me off, "what was the last movie you saw" i was shocked and i answered "Disney's Hercules, because my gf and i were trying to see how they represented Greek art in it because we were taking an art history course in greek art" and i joke how that was the answer that got me in. So i guess the lesson is, you never know! Pick your classes based on your interests as well as keeping a solid grade.

 

[VCU2011]

you may want to look at the pharmacy school pre-req's before deciding because i know that every one of them that I looked at (im pretty sure a strong majority of them) require molecular biology. Actually our school just changed their requirements this year to require immunology also so really they wont look any different on a transcript- especially if they are both required.

 

[lee0539]

you may want to look at the pharmacy school pre-req's before deciding because i know that every one of them that I looked at (im pretty sure a strong majority of them) require molecular biology. Actually our school just changed their requirements this year to require immunology also so really they wont look any different on a transcript- especially if they are both required.

neither are required for any schools I applied this year.

 

[janeno]

I would take immunology. Even though you will have it again in pharmacy school, you will be much better prepared for the course if you take it in undergrad. You will learn the basics in undergrad, and when you take it in pharm school, you can focus on details. Immunology is very important since you need to understand the immune system and how it works before you can administer drugs.
I also think that it will look better on your transcripts (assuming you get a good grade: A or B) for admissions. Admission committee will be able to see that you can handle the material that will be presented to you in pharm school.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I would take immunology. Even though you will have it again in pharmacy school, you will be much better prepared for the course if you take it in undergrad. You will learn the basics in undergrad, and when you take it in pharm school, you can focus on details. Immunology is very important since you need to understand the immune system and how it works before you can administer drugs.
I also think that it will look better on your transcripts (assuming you get a good grade: A or B) for admissions. Admission committee will be able to see that you can handle the material that will be presented to you in pharm school.

I think you're right. There were several students who had to repeat Immunology this summer, because they had failed it last fall. It isn't an easy course to grasp if you have to learn about it for the first time in pharmacy school.
With Molecular Biology, my professor always cracks me up, because he loves to talk about the prospects of genetically engineering patient-specific drugs, but then he says that they've been talking about doing that since the 70's. Basically, they don't have a way to engineer drugs that are patient-specific, yet. Who knows when, if ever, they will be able to?

 

[Farmercyst]

Moved to Pre-Pharm.

I'd say it depends on your focus. If you're interested in pharmacogenomics, oncology or other DNA based therapies or diseases then molecular. If you're interested in infectious disease, then immunology. Really you'll get both in Pharm school.

 

[timbutt2]

I'm having hard time deciding between taking molecular biology or taking immunology. Which class is most related to what pharmacy students learn in pharm school?

I would take molecular biology just because I know some schools require it as a prereq.