How hard is Biochemistry compared to Organic Chemistry?

[mjg713]

Just wondering how hard Biochemistry was compared to Organic Chemistry? Is it the same type of studying? or more like Biology with more memorization? I'm asking because I am taking it next semester and want to know how big I should make my course load. If it matters, Organic Chemistry took a lot of time for me and I didn't have a big course load. Thanks

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[ClemsonFirst]

It takes a pretty big chunk of study time because the class goes so in depth. It is like a biology class but dealing mainly with things at the molecular level and reaction level in the cell. Definitely not pathway derived like organic.

 

[Bis-GMA111]

you're comparing apples and oranges for the most part. while having an organic chemistry background can help you understand bits of biochemistry more efficiently, in my opinion, they are different monsters. with that said, if you're looking to take orgo 2 and biochemistry, it is difficult but doable. orgo 2 from what i remember, emphasizes more new reactions and synthesis problems.

biochem is more memorization and a small amount of application.

 

[amg09]

It takes a pretty big chunk of study time because the class goes so in depth. It is like a biology class but dealing mainly with things at the molecular level and reaction level in the cell. Definitely not pathway derived like organic.

not pathway derived? biochem is all pathways.

 

[zackc19]

Biochem is a lot of work so far. About equal to Ochem.

 

[NDPitch]

not pathway derived? biochem is all pathways.

Agreed. That's all I remember. The tca cycle. Glycolysis. Beta oxidation. FA synthesis. Glycogenolysis. Hexose mono phosphate shunt. Etc etc

 

[mjg713]

Thanks guys, would you say it would come easier to me if I am good in biology/memorizing? or is it more chemistry based? It sounds more chemistry base to me if a lot of pathways are involved.

 

[toastybread]

Not hard

 

[jeffity]

The person teaching it plays a small role as well. It's not the most fun subject to teach yourself. Random advice: try to really grasp what you learn in there for when you get to dental school. We covered almost everything I did in a full semester in undergrad in 3 days. That test destroyed me.

 

[asdfray]

taking biochem and flying everywhere right now. dying as we speak.

 

[pnmlhn]

Same here. It's bad!

 

[bprior]

A lot of it depends on who is teaching it.

 

[LaFleur]

A lot of it depends on who is teaching it.

My professor is making us teach it ALL to ourselves. It's super hard. I am currently dying.

Does anyone think that biochem helps with the DAT?

 

[asdfray]

My professor is making us teach it ALL to ourselves. It's super hard. I am currently dying.

Does anyone think that biochem helps with the DAT?

its ok! take this as training for PBL (if you do go to a school that goes by this )

 

[LaughingGas]

My professor is making us teach it ALL to ourselves. It's super hard. I am currently dying.

Does anyone think that biochem helps with the DAT?

That sucks. Biochem has very little correlation to DAT. It will give you a deeper understanding of certain topics in cell metabolism and enzyme regulation, but as far as the difficulty of questions, I would say little to not at all.

OP, IMO it really depends who teaches the class. Also it depends what type of learner you are and the book. Ochem and biochem has very little relation. I would say gen chem topics are more related than ochem itself, except for knowing the functional groups and some SN1/2 reactions here and there.

The book has a big contribution. I had Voet and Voet and omg its such a crap book.

 

[LaFleur]

its ok! take this as training for PBL (if you do go to a school that goes by this )

He's a med school professor, so he's doing it the PBL way, which basically means the lazy way where he doesn't do any teaching and we're supposed to learn on our own. My midterm is tomorrow, and I know I am not going to do as well as I was hoping, especially considering I can't sleep.... This whole PBL thing has been a horrible adjustment. I'm an audio learner, so listening to lectures is actually beneficial for me! Then again, if I end up at a PBL school, it's good to know how to do this ahead of time so there's not a huge adjustment when I get there.

Do you know which schools are PBL ones? I may not want to apply to them, depending on how this goes.

That sucks. Biochem has very little correlation to DAT. It will give you a deeper understanding of certain topics in cell metabolism and enzyme regulation, but as far as the difficulty of questions, I would say little to not at all.

OP, IMO it really depends who teaches the class. Also it depends what type of learner you are and the book. Ochem and biochem has very little relation. I would say gen chem topics are more related than ochem itself, except for knowing the functional groups and some SN1/2 reactions here and there.

The book has a big contribution. I had Voet and Voet and omg its such a crap book.

Thanks for letting me know. One of my friends told me to take biochem before I take the DAT...I don't know why....

We're using Berg. It's not a bad book. I just don't like having to teach the crap to myself, and since I don't remember gen chem or orgo, I've been behind.

 

[LaughingGas]

lol. DAT bio can be covered with AP Bio book. It's not necessary to put extra effort to do well in DAT than it is.
I've used this book throughout my biochem class as supplementary book
Lippincott Biochem
I guess they use this to review Step 1 in med school, so I intend to keep this even for dental school in case I would need extra reference.
It did save me some time instead of reading the whole textbook.BTW 5th edition is same content to 4th edition so I just put link of 4th edition which is 20 bucks cheaper.
I also found this Biochem Manga I recently purchased it but haven't had a time to read it so can't really comment lol.
I personally used a lot of flash cards for pathways and structures. Also knowing the pathway and making sense of regulation and which steps are regulated by either the end product or by product of other pathway, etc. Try to see the big picture and connect dots instead of just memorizing.
Best Luck LaFleur

 

[colombianDDS]

Biochemistry major <3

 

[yappers2009]

I'm a biochemistry major as well. At my school biochem has two sections&#8212; Biochem 1 is mostly knowing methods, techniques, protein interactions, kinetics for enzymes, etc. How things work and how to sutdy proteins pretty much. Biochem 2 is all about the cycles and how the enzymes work, pathways, a lot of memorization, etc. Depending how your school is it could be easy or hard. I personally liked organic a lot more&#8212; reactions, pushing arrows in mechanisms, synthesis, etc.... Biochem is nothing like that.

 

[Stacker]

For me, OChem, was about learning how to follow the movement of electrons and understanding the trends of the types of reactions.
Biochemistry required much more memorization and just as much concept understanding as OChem.
For me, Biochemistry is far more fascinating and it is the combination of biology and General/Organic Chemistry, as the name suggests.

 

[telemonster]

oChem is more problem-solving, critical thinking type of learning, like how to get from compound A to B. Biochem is nearly all memorization, biology-esque questions based on chemical pathways and reactions.
It basically comes down to which is easier for you: rote memorization of a great deal of material, or less memorization with more problem-solving during the test.
Sort of a cop-out answer, but that's how it goes.

 

[dentalWorks]

Just wondering how hard Biochemistry was compared to Organic Chemistry? Is it the same type of studying? or more like Biology with more memorization? I'm asking because I am taking it next semester and want to know how big I should make my course load. If it matters, Organic Chemistry took a lot of time for me and I didn't have a big course load. Thanks

Biochemistry, just like any other class, is highly dependent on the professor... some professors are easy (everyone gets As and Bs) and others are gawd awful with 50-60s averages.... now having said that....

Biochemistry is a harder class period (because every single professor I've ever had in this topic was anal and I swear, it felt like they had something to proof, like they NEED to show us how smart they are)

Biochemistry exams are on another level, they really require a special type of work ethic. Simply understanding the chemical pathways isn't enough (cause they'll hit you up with route memorization type questions) and when you decide to memorize every single pathway, with every single enzyme, with every single side-chain, with every possible substrate and all the shuttle systems involved.... you get hit with an understanding-type question. It requires BOTH mentalities: alot of memorization and alot of understanding

Now you might be thinking "it doesn't sound so bad" and you are right... with good work ethic, you'll achieve this, BUT HERE IS ANOTHER PROBLEM.... professors sometimes write exam questions that are "ambiguous" at best, you'll read the question and assume they are asking for a specific thing, but its something totally off, and all the answer choices seem to make sense.

Undergrad biochemistry was doable
Dental school biochem (at least here at U of Detroit) lol forget it.

 

[Stacker]

You might get thrown one of these...

But this was more common in my Pharmacology class than in my Biochemistry class.

 

[FutureMDiA]

How is hard is Medical Biochemistry in med school?

 

[SableFire]

How is hard is Medical Biochemistry in med school?

Wrong forum bud

 

[SXCoronado]

.

 

[customx]

I'm in biochem 2 and it's extremely difficult. Tons of memorization and concepts to remember