Ochem

[DrEaMeRcHiCk]

I was wondering if any of you struggle alittle with organic chemistry when you first starting learning it. The reason I ask is because I know pharm school is a lot of organic chem and I'm sorta worried how I'd actually do because I semi-understand, but I still need practice. The chem course I'm taking is a little weird, its half thermodynamics and half organic which we're starting on now. I've heard from many people that my prof. can't teach organic chem and he's even said it himself, "I'm not an organic chemist".

Anyone have any helpful tips or experiences to share?

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[pharmer_tami]

I was wondering if any of you struggle alittle with organic chemistry when you first starting learning it. The reason I ask is because I know pharm school is a lot of organic chem and I'm sorta worried how I'd actually do because I semi-understand, but I still need practice. The chem course I'm taking is a little weird, its half thermodynamics and half organic which we're starting on now. I've heard from many people that my prof. can't teach organic chem and he's even said it himself, "I'm not an organic chemist".

Anyone have any helpful tips or experiences to share?

I think learning ochem is like learning a new language. The first time I took the first course in the 3 course sequence, I ended up withdrawing bc I just didn't want to move on without understandingthe basics well. I ended up getting a B- my second time taking it, but I soon learned to get the hang of it through working the problems out and earned A's in the subsequent quarters. My suggestion is to just work out as many practice problems as you can. Ochem is more about understanding than memorization.

Good Luck!

 

[mbapharmd77066]

Organic was like HELL!!! Getting your hands on old exams and practice problems is vital to your success. Also check out Wade's Organic Chemistry Book and/or the Pushing Electrons book. These 2 books helped me get through the vigors of OCHEM!

 

[OoShimmeroO]

I think Pharmacy school focuses more on biology and disease states. I really doubt you'll be doing synthesis reactions.

 

[endlesslove]

Organic was like HELL!!! Getting your hands on old exams and practice problems is vital to your success. Also check out Wade's Organic Chemistry Book and/or the Pushing Electrons book. These 2 books helped me get through the vigors of OCHEM!

I <3 ochem! synthesis is the best b/c it can be challenging. i live, dream, think, eat, smell, and breathe ochem. haha, Oneday_9 can attest to that.

just study hard, it's the "funnest" class in undergrad!

 

[DrEaMeRcHiCk]

I think Pharmacy school focuses more on biology and disease states. I really doubt you'll be doing synthesis reactions.

Really? Most people say pharm school is lots of ochem and if you don't like ochem you're screwed. If this is not true...

What do you really focus on in pharm school?

I guess I'll get better at ochem as I do more problems...I'll take a look into that Wades organice book..=)

 

[dgroulx]

Really? Most people say pharm school is lots of ochem and if you don't like ochem you're screwed. If this is not true...

What do you really focus on in pharm school?

I guess I'll get better at ochem as I do more problems...I'll take a look into that Wades organice book..=)

Pharmacy school is learning about disease states and how drugs can help those disease states. The amount of Ochem is minimal. We had 2 semesters of introductory medicinal chemistry in our first year and we have 2 semester of hard core med chem in year 2. You need to understand nucleophillic attacks, what makes a good leaving group, pKA values of functional groups, what is ionized at physiological pH, solubilities, acid/base properties and mechanisms of action. You will not be doing any synthesis. You may have to draw a few drug structures and push around a few electrons.

I concur with Wade's. It got me through Ochem.

 

[emogrrrrl]

It depends on what school you go to as to how much med chem you will take. My school is clinically oriented, so we have med chem interspersed into some of our classes, but we don't take multiple classes on just med chem.

 

[Tuck]

We have one term of introductory medchem in the first year, although they term it foundations of drug action. In year 2 we have 3 terms of medchem, and they are 10 credit classes each term

 

[CSzGirl]

I really enjoyed OChem. But, I also took it at a community college, so there were only 20 people in my lecture and 5 in my lab (hence, we got a lot more in-depth interaction with the professor).

There is a set of three video from the Standard Deviants company for Organic Chemistry, and I found them relatively helpful for getting down some of the basic concepts (the videos are completely goofy, but good). Also, flash cards, flash cards, flash cards!

 

[DownonthePharm]

I hated O-Chem the first three times I took it. I couldnt get above a C. Im sure it didnt help that I took it at a Big 10 University with 500+ people in the class and a teacher that didnt feel like helping us out a bit.

Five years later Im taking it again at a community college and am pulling a 98%. Now I actually LIKE O-chem!!! I really enjoy the smaller class and my study habits have changed. I tried to memorize everything before, which this is NOT a class you can do that with. Now I understand the mechanism, and everything is going just fine....

I highly recommend Organic Chemistry as a Second Language by David Klein. It sums up the entire semester of O-chem in about 300 pages, and makes things very easy to understand.

 

[DrEaMeRcHiCk]

I hated O-Chem the first three times I took it. I couldnt get above a C. Im sure it didnt help that I took it at a Big 10 University with 500+ people in the class and a teacher that didnt feel like helping us out a bit.

Five years later Im taking it again at a community college and am pulling a 98%. Now I actually LIKE O-chem!!! I really enjoy the smaller class and my study habits have changed. I tried to memorize everything before, which this is NOT a class you can do that with. Now I understand the mechanism, and everything is going just fine....

I highly recommend Organic Chemistry as a Second Language by David Klein. It sums up the entire semester of O-chem in about 300 pages, and makes things very easy to understand.

Yeah I go to a school where the course is divided into two lectures....and there's still 350 students!!! =P I'm kinda used to it now, but I wouldn't mind having the smaller class size. My professor isn't much help either...