PreReq Confusion

[ACCitra]

Hi SDN, it's been a while.
I was hoping you all could clear up some confusion that I still have after reading various threads on the matter.
My question regards organic chemistry prerequisites, I continually read the prereq is: "One year of organic chemistry with lab"
In my major requirements, I must take two quarters of organic chemistry lecture and one quarter of lab. At our school the lab is a completely separate class and does not accompany the lecture. The lectures and labs are 4 units each.
I plan to be taking:
CHEM 140A (LECTURE 4 Units)
CHEM 140B (LECTURE 4 units)
CHEM 143A (LAB 4 units)
This is technically one year of organic chemistry with lab, but you can see my dilemma here is that I would have only completed two quarters (missing CHEM 140C) of the actual lecture course. Is this considered insufficient?

EXTRA INFO:
-I have Googled this topic and searched SDN and there are threads with students regarding this same concern, but they are very old and several come to opposite resolutions.
- My major is biochem and cell bio (In the life science department), part of the reason why I believe my major requirements don't ask me to complete the entire ochem lecture series is that my major conversely requires an extra biochemistry class in comparison to the other life science majors. I read on the threads I mentioned that biochemistry could be substituted for ochem, is this true? Would this be why my major is designed this way?

Thanks in advance and I apologize for the lengthy post, just wanted to try to get all the information I already know conveyed.

So can anyone solve this dilemma once and for all?

-NateD

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[velodork]

I also go to a California University on the quarter system (Cal Poly). There are 2 different sections of organic available, and one of them is titled "Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry" and is exactly what you described (2 quarters lecture, 1 quarter lab). I am not sure why someone would take the fundamentals course other than some kind of less-rigorous pre-health plan (PA, BSN, etc) or with a clear plan to go on to bio-chem, which seems pretty atypical.

The other section is a traditional 3 quarters of lecture/3 quarters of lab and is what most bio/chem majors take and is what will satisfy the pre-req requirement for medical schools.

If in doubt I would suggest contacting the schools you are interested in directly and/or talk to your pre-health adviser.

 

[ACCitra]

So you are enrolled in the program with three quarters lecture and three quarters lab? To clarify, the "Fundamentals" sequence at your school would be insuffuicient for premeds?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Its too early to tell where I am going to be applying for med school so I can't research the medical schools directly. I just want to clarify what the general requirement "One year of ochem with lab" actually means and if my plan is sufficient.
Any other thoughts?

Ask upperclassmen or your premed advising group what is normally done/accepted when applying to medical school. It's undergraduate school-specific. I'm on a quarter system as well, but two quarters of our organic chemistry + lab is sufficient, which is in contrast to the poster two posts above me, so it will differ school to school.

Really the best resource for you would be someone (again, probably an advisor or older student) at your school who is familiar with the medical school application process. I'm absolutely positive UCSD has successful applicants to medical schools all across the country, so figuring out what classes they used to satisfy this requirement and then emulating them would be your best course of action.

 

[ACCitra]

@WedgeDawg So you're implying that premed prerequisites do not depend on the medical school, but what the undergraduate school deems to be a sufficient premed course plan?

@velodork For the typical biochem track at Cal Poly for premeds when you say 3 lecture and 3 labs, does that still only amount to 12 units though? Or would that be 24 units? Because the lab at my school is separate and is 4 units thats why it is confusing

 

[velodork]

I just took a look at the UCSD course offerings page. Looks like you need to find your way into Chem 140A,B,C and 143A,B,C (Lab).

http://www-chem.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/courses/courses14-15.html

 

[WedgeDawg]

@WedgeDawg So you're implying that premed prerequisites do not depend on the medical school, but what the undergraduate school deems to be a sufficient premed course plan?

Sort of. I counted a government class as an english class because my undergrad said I could (which was verified as such by AMCAS). It's a two way street though - AMCAS has to approve anything the undergrad wants to do, and there are procedures for going about doing so.

Edit: I should say that you still have to take whatever courses the medical school requires, it's just that the undergraduate institution has some degree of control over which of their courses 'count' as what the medical school is looking for.

Edit2: To give an example from my own institution, most medical schools require 2 years of essentially general biology, but at my school, you can choose 2 from any of the following 5 (Cell Bio, Genetics, Evolution, Ecology, Physiology) and they each count as a 'general bio' course for medical schools, and they're fine with that.

 

[ACCitra]

@velodork
140A,B,C and 143A,B,C would be 24 units of ochem. Remember at my school the labs are separate. My major is requiring 12 units of lecture and lab combined. But the lecture sequence is incomplete and that's my main question of wether i should finish it or not. It sounds like I should make contact with some other premed students though because as @WedgeDawg says it depends on my institution.

 

[velodork]

@velodork
140A,B,C and 143A,B,C would be 24 units of ochem. Remember at my school the labs are separate. My major is requiring 12 units of lecture and lab combined. But the lecture sequence is incomplete and that's my main question of wether i should finish it or not. It sounds like I should make contact with some other premed students though because as @WedgeDawg says it depends on my institution.

Definitely do that, ultimately we have no idea what will be interpreted by your UG school and any med schools you may apply to thereafter.

 

[ACCitra]

@velodork 24 units of organic chemistry wouldn't even be a feasible option for my major as I have many other labs to complete for the bio side of my degree. Most students in life science here take only 143A the first lab. My question was more based on whether I should complete the entire lecture series.

@WedgeDawg thanks for the input. I didn't know that the undergraduate institution had that sort of pull in what 'counts' I actually found this link. Is this what you're referring to?
http://revelle.ucsd.edu/academics/tools-resources/pre-med-law.html

 

[WedgeDawg]

@velodork 24 units of organic chemistry wouldn't even be a feasible option for my major as I have many other labs to complete for the bio side of my degree. Most students in life science here take only 143A the first lab. My question was more based on whether I should complete the entire lecture series.

@WedgeDawg thanks for the input. I didn't know that the undergraduate institution had that sort of pull in what 'counts' I actually found this link. Is this what you're referring to?
http://revelle.ucsd.edu/academics/tools-resources/pre-med-law.html

This is from UCSD itself regarding pre-meds. Should this be followed like gospel?

Use that as a place to start and talk to an advisor to make sure.

 

[ACCitra]

It's unfortunate that the classes are organized so confusingly here, but thank you guys for your help, I'll probably post my findings on this thread so that other people searching with this issue will have an answer.

 

[Kaelis]

It's unfortunate that the classes are organized so confusingly here, but thank you guys for your help, I'll probably post my findings on this thread so that other people searching with this issue will have an answer.
-NateD

Also, keep in mind that different medical schools have different requirements. Your very own UCSD SOM actually doesn't have hard requirements, just "recommendations".

 

[Tman90]

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