How Absolutely NECESSARY is Undergrad BioChem

[LaDoctorFutura]

right now, i'm looking to take my final semester's courses and biochem I is not offered. I know that it is usually the first course learned in med school, but how un-doable is med-BioChem if you don't take an undergrad course?

If at all possible, i'll try to teach myself some stuff or take a summer course, but I was just wondering if undergrad BioChem is really necessary to do well in medical school.

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[virilep]

i'm takin it now. i have my 2nd test tomorrow.. and let me tell you, it's a lot easier to re-learn.

 

[LaDoctorFutura]

is it something you can teach yourself, or would a classroom setting be better?

 

[rockit]

take it in college

 

[deuist]

Definitely a classroom is better. I can't imagine picking up a biochem text and trying to teach myself everything.

 

[virilep]

unless you're Will Hunting

 

[emack]

More so than any other course I've encountered, biochem is the type of subject that you have to re-learn each time you see it. Nevertheless, you should take it as an undergrad if you have the opportunity. You probably won't remember anything by the time you get to med school, but it will be far less overwhelming-- if nothing else, you'll have some idea of the scope of the subject, and different strategies for learning it that you wouldn't have otherwise. My classmates who hadn't taken biochem hated it in MS 1.

Also, for what it's worth, what biochem I had to learn this year covered more ground but was less detailed than the second-year intro course I took. I don't know if that's typical.

 

[tupac_don]

right now, i'm looking to take my final semester's courses and biochem I is not offered. I know that it is usually the first course learned in med school, but how un-doable is med-BioChem if you don't take an undergrad course?

If at all possible, i'll try to teach myself some stuff or take a summer course, but I was just wondering if undergrad BioChem is really necessary to do well in medical school.

Possible to do good at it, it will be easier if you have some undergrad knowledge, but you can do well without it, but you will work harder than ones that had it. It also depends how much affinity you take towards it, and if you are good at it or not. The better natural affinity you have for it, the easier you will find it and vice versa. I would take a course if you can, if you can't so be it.

 

[hyperbaric]

right now, i'm looking to take my final semester's courses and biochem I is not offered. I know that it is usually the first course learned in med school, but how un-doable is med-BioChem if you don't take an undergrad course?

If at all possible, i'll try to teach myself some stuff or take a summer course, but I was just wondering if undergrad BioChem is really necessary to do well in medical school.

Some medical schools offer a 'prep' course for biochem/cell science during the summer for their incoming class and, I think, most are 'free'. Check to see what your soon-to-be-revealed medical school has to offer.

Good luck.

 

[LaDoctorFutura]

thanx for all the input. i'll definately look into those schools offering a "refresher" course during the summer.

 

[thackl]

Never took it in undergrad..... did very well at it in med school. Those who had said the helpfulness was over by wk 3 of 13.

 

[cindy4443]

Never took it in undergrad and frankly glad that I didn't waste my time. According to my classmates you spend alot of time learning stuff that is irrelevant in med school (lab). I worked a little harder, but way glad I didn't spend a semester or two in undergrad.

 

[LaDoctorFutura]

that's exactly what I was thinking, that the amount of material that you'll learn in undergrad will be sped through. Of course, I know you'll have more confidence thinking that you're a step or two ahead, but three weeks in, you're on the same page.

 

[beary]

Those who had said the helpfulness was over by wk 3 of 13.

I agree. I was a biochem major and didn't feel like it helped me much at all. I had never seen the majority of the stuff before.

 

[aparecida]

I did not take it in undergrad. Yes I am finding it difficult, but the people who had it as undergrads don't seem to be finding it any easier; largely they say it's quite different. I do wish I had taken biochem instead of taking orgo II because the latter was so very worthless, but I'm glad I didn't take it in addition.

Really the basics of biochem -- i.e., all you'll probably remember from an undergrad course -- are covered (albeit cursorily) in your general bio course anyway. Amino acids, the Krebs cycle, electron transport, hemoglobin, DNA. Even without having had biochem, nothing has looked totally foreign to me except fatty acid metabolism.

 

[myodana]

More so than any other course I've encountered, biochem is the type of subject that you have to re-learn each time you see it.

i wholeheartedly agree with this statement. take it if you want, but don't stress over it in undergrad. if there's something else you want to take instead, go for it. you won't be able to take islamic poetry or silkscreening in med school, but you will get plenty of biochem.

 

[lilmo]

i wholeheartedly agree with this statement. take it if you want, but don't stress over it in undergrad. if there's something else you want to take instead, go for it. you won't be able to take islamic poetry or silkscreening in med school, but you will get plenty of biochem.

i wholeheartedly agree with you. i think biochem stinks. i'd rather have one year of stinky biochem in med school, then one semester of it in undergrad + one year of it in med school. don't stress, don't try to teach yourself, just enjoy yourself.

 

[kayakgirl]

At least in my experience it's not really neccesary at all to have a biochem background. I didn't take it undergrad and actually was in the top 1/3 of my class on our exam- a lot of the background information is covered in chemistry and biology and the rest is just memorizing lots of details and pathways. And my roommate has a master's in biochem and even she said she feels like she's relearning everything as she goes and studies just as much as me. If you can fit it in it wouldn't hurt- but don't stress yourself out about it.

 

[Poety]

I'll chime in and agree with kayak on this one. I was a biochem major, wrote a thesis in biochem - and I had to relearn it all over it again - that field is so in depth, its impossible to retain it all unless you teach it.

Take it if you want prior to medical school, for the sake of making it "easier" - but don't expect to walk into that class and not have to study - I remained in the middle of my class in biochem Its all memorization

 

[Paperboy!]

i only had first semester of biochem. do you think that'll help, or not really? we never did like memorizing steps of kreb cycle or whatever. i guess that means all of what i've seen will be covered by friday of the first week of med school class

 

[secretasianman]

not necessary. there.

 

[potato51]

Apparently the top biochemistry student last year at Texas A&M Med School never took biochem as an undergrad. This is what an interviewer there told me.

 

[marimiyaz]

right now, i'm looking to take my final semester's courses and biochem I is not offered. I know that it is usually the first course learned in med school, but how un-doable is med-BioChem if you don't take an undergrad course?

If at all possible, i'll try to teach myself some stuff or take a summer course, but I was just wondering if undergrad BioChem is really necessary to do well in medical school.

I definitely don't think it's 'necessary' to take biochemistry in undergrad- i never took it in undergrad and was still able to make an Honors in it. And i enjoyed it too. But i will say that the more knowledge you have about any subjects taught in MSI, be it biochem, anatomy, etc, the easier it will be for you in medical school. For instance, right now we're studying immunology and my science background in immuno is very weak (ie: i don't think i ever really got immuno at all, despite studying it in undergrad). So i have to spend alot more time studying immuno than say another student, who has a stronger background in the subject. If I were you i wouldn't bother trying to study biochem on your own, i would try instead to brush up on other subjects that are less memorization based and more conceptual, such as physiology.

 

[LaDoctorFutura]

If I were you i wouldn't bother trying to study biochem on your own, i would try instead to brush up on other subjects that are less memorization based and more conceptual, such as physiology.

Thanks for the info. Will try to do that.

 

[Medikit]

Having biochem in college has made med school pretty slack for me since we started doing this section. Its nice to combine the detail I learned in undergrad with the clinical emphasis that I'm learning in med school. I recommend it but it's not absolutely necessary.

 

[tigershark]

You dont need it.

Dont try to teach yourself anything or take a summer course either, waste of time.