Is biochemistry supposed to be this hard?

[reluctantoptimism]

I'm taking a 4000 level biochemistry course and it seems so tedious (i.e. there is so much minutiae detail and a huge volume of information to read- like 200 pages per exam of dry material). I actually enjoy most of the material we are learning it just seems like there is no way to ACTUALLY learn everything which is presented. Does anyone have any advice on how to study for this monster of a course? I'm not doing terribly (I got a "B" on the first exam) but I feel that I could be doing a lot better.

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[Azete]

I think reading a textbook is a terrible way to learn biochem. Watch some videos (I liked Moof), and do a ton of practice problems. There's some straight memorization involved, but not nearly as much as people think.

I never opened a biochem textbook in any of my undergrad or med school coursework, and it was one of my strongest subjects.

 

[reluctantoptimism]

I think reading a textbook is a terrible way to learn biochem. Watch some videos (I liked Moof), and do a ton of practice problems. There's some straight memorization involved, but not nearly as much as people think.

I never opened a biochem textbook in any of my undergrad or med school coursework, and it was one of my strongest subjects.

Thanks,
I don't know why I did not think to do this.

 

[Dream_big]

I'm taking a 4000 level biochemistry course and it seems so tedious (i.e. there is so much minutiae detail and a huge volume of information to read- like 200 pages per exam of dry material). I actually enjoy most of the material we are learning it just seems like there is no way to ACTUALLY learn everything which is presented. Does anyone have any advice on how to study for this monster of a course? I'm not doing terribly (I got a "B" on the first exam) but I feel that I could be doing a lot better.

There isn't one way to study for this course. If you want to really learn those amino acids, place them into their corresponding groups (hydrophobic hydrophilic acidic etc) and keep practicing by drawing them out on paper/white board. If you still have trouble, try looking up some YouTube videos for mnemonics.

If you're trying to learn lab techniques such as western blot, its best to practice in the lab and reallllly pay attention to the technique and its purpose. If your course does not have a lab component, you may have to resort to Khan academy videos to get a basic understanding. I would use your textbook to really elaborate on the details of whatever you're learning. That's just my opinion, but do whatever works for you.

 

[TheBiologist]

yes

 

[Lawpy]

I'm taking a 4000 level biochemistry course and it seems so tedious (i.e. there is so much minutiae detail and a huge volume of information to read- like 200 pages per exam of dry material). I actually enjoy most of the material we are learning it just seems like there is no way to ACTUALLY learn everything which is presented. Does anyone have any advice on how to study for this monster of a course? I'm not doing terribly (I got a "B" on the first exam) but I feel that I could be doing a lot better.

What textbook are you using

 

[reluctantoptimism]

What textbook are you using

Voet, I believe.

 

[eteshoe]

Voet, I believe.

Lehninger is better (albeit really dense). Also supplementing your practice problems with review articles from somewhere like Annual Reviews in Biochemistry should help your knowledge base. Overall, biochem can be tough to digest but w/ a proper plan of attack, it's not insurmountable.

 

[theBriefing]

I'm taking a 4000 level biochemistry course and it seems so tedious (i.e. there is so much minutiae detail and a huge volume of information to read- like 200 pages per exam of dry material). I actually enjoy most of the material we are learning it just seems like there is no way to ACTUALLY learn everything which is presented. Does anyone have any advice on how to study for this monster of a course? I'm not doing terribly (I got a "B" on the first exam) but I feel that I could be doing a lot better.

You're not going to learn anything by "reading." You get exposed to general ideas by reading. To learn biochemistry, you have to memorize. Grab a glycolysis pathway, and study it until you're able to write it out entirely.

 

[Goro]

I did well in Biochem by getting a large artist's pad, as easel, and repeatedly drew out pathways.

I'm taking a 4000 level biochemistry course and it seems so tedious (i.e. there is so much minutiae detail and a huge volume of information to read- like 200 pages per exam of dry material). I actually enjoy most of the material we are learning it just seems like there is no way to ACTUALLY learn everything which is presented. Does anyone have any advice on how to study for this monster of a course? I'm not doing terribly (I got a "B" on the first exam) but I feel that I could be doing a lot better.

 

[Lawpy]

I did well in Biochem by getting a large artist's pad, as easel, and repeatedly drew out pathways.

Yep. Same here.

 

[reluctantoptimism]

I guess a better plan of attack would be to use videos and draw out pathways as I learn them?

I found some videos by Dr. Kevin Ahern and they seem pretty good.

Thanks guys!

 

[Dr. Jan Itor]

I guess a better plan of attack would be to use videos and draw out pathways as I learn them?

I found some videos by Dr. Kevin Ahern and they seem pretty good.

Thanks guys!

Kevin's videos got me through Biochem. He also has a free ebook that's much less dense than most textbooks.

Similar to what @Goro suggested, I used a big dry erase board. Wrote out pathways, structures, and enzymes until I could do so it in my sleep.


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[OchemOficionado]

I did well in Biochem by getting a large artist's pad, as easel, and repeatedly drew out pathways.

THIS!! (Except I used a dry erase board.) This song helped me tremendously, haha. Biochem stressed me out as it was the first time flash cards didn't help me at all. The white board is what saved me and earned me an A by the skin of my teeth. Not only did I draw everything I could, but I also wrote what seemed like straight up paragraphs on there over and over until I committed them to memory. I created diagrams on the board to help me understand some processes. Teaching my friends in a study group has to be second runner up for me.

 

[bananafish94]

Reading about biochemistry is passive learning and a time suck. Maximize your active learning, stuff that forces you to pull information out of your head. I second the advice about drawing! It's going to be a lot more difficult to remember that NADH is a byproduct of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase if you just look at a slide or transcribe it from the course notes than if you make yourself draw the whole pathway until you can't get it wrong! And oh lord, the stories I could tell about my undergrad biochemistry course...

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

I found my best method was group study (2-3 people max though), and just talking through the material, progressively weaning yourself off of looking at any reference, and having it all down in your head.

 

[reluctantoptimism]

Lehninger is better (albeit really dense). Also supplementing your practice problems with review articles from somewhere like Annual Reviews in Biochemistry should help your knowledge base. Overall, biochem can be tough to digest but w/ a proper plan of attack, it's not insurmountable.

Do you know anything about the Berg, Tymoczko and Stryer textbook?

 

[Lost In Transcription]

Lehninger is better (albeit really dense). Also supplementing your practice problems with review articles from somewhere like Annual Reviews in Biochemistry should help your knowledge base. Overall, biochem can be tough to digest but w/ a proper plan of attack, it's not insurmountable.

Lehninger 4 lyfe

 

[787593]

I did well in Biochem by getting a large artist's pad, as easel, and repeatedly drew out pathways.

I used a white board and markers to do the same thing

 

[eteshoe]

Do you know anything about the Berg, Tymoczko and Stryer textbook?

Since one of my majors was biochem, I did actually have that book as well. I found it ok but even now whenever I need the basic science re-fresher, I thumb through my copy of Lehninger or just find the relevant review article.

 

[eteshoe]

Stryer and Lehninger? They are still around? I used them circa 1980 for my undergrad.

Pretty sure the authors of the recent volumes just keep the name out of respect for them being legends in the field

 

[Lawpy]

Stryer and Lehninger? They are still around? I used them circa 1980 for my undergrad.

Pretty sure the authors of the recent volumes just keep the name out of respect for them being legends in the field

Don't know about Stryer, but Lehninger's biochemistry is an awesome textbook. The early editions were written by Albert Lehninger himself until he died in 1986. Then came David Nelson and Michael Cox who decided to update Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry to maintain its popularity as a leading biochemistry textbook.

 

[tessellations]

I think reading a textbook is a terrible way to learn biochem. Watch some videos (I liked Moof), and do a ton of practice problems. There's some straight memorization involved, but not nearly as much as people think.

I never opened a biochem textbook in any of my undergrad or med school coursework, and it was one of my strongest subjects.

I'd never heard of Moof before this post, and I think you may have just saved my semester. My school has invested a ton of money into TBL classrooms and as such, my major biochemistry course is now TBL. All we do is read from the textbook and come to class expected to know the material. Then we just spend 45 minutes looking at proteins using Swiss PDB as I think about the amount of money I'm paying to waste my time.

I hate my textbook, but these videos are great!

 

[Horse Apiece]

Lehninger 4 lyfe

They don't call it the Biochemist bible for nothing. I was pleasantly surprised by how well concepts are laid out and explained in the book when I had to get it for my classes. Well worth the money.

 

[Azete]

I'd never heard of Moof before this post, and I think you may have just saved my semester. My school has invested a ton of money into TBL classrooms and as such, my major biochemistry course is now TBL. All we do is read from the textbook and come to class expected to know the material. Then we just spend 45 minutes looking at proteins using Swiss PDB as I think about the amount of money I'm paying to waste my time.

I hate my textbook, but these videos are great!

After I finish med school I intend on sending him a large donation -- he made Biochem one of my best subjects.