What should I self study: a&p or org chem?

[Corgi]

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Hey everyone,

So I have a lot of time on my hands right now, and I want to self study either Organic Chemistry or Health and Medicine on Khan Academy.

O Chem: Organic chemistry | Science | Khan Academy
Health and Medicine: Health and medicine | Science | Khan Academy

Reason for Ochem: I am taking Ochem next year.
Reason for Health and Medicine: I plan to become an ED scribe, and this knowledge may be useful.

Which one would you recommend and why? (note: I don't think I have time to self study both).

 

[Kumorebi]

If you want ochem, i suggest learning IUPAC nomenclature and all your functional groups. Don’t dive straight into ochem, but review the electron negativity of different elements. e.g. when you have a carboxyl functional group (C=O) the oxygen pulls more electron density towards it (oxygen is more electronegative than carbon) so you can imagine (+C=O-) the carbon having less electron density and being more positive while the oxygen hogs electrons. This makes the carbon susceptible to nucleophilic attack by a nucleophile. If the carbon also has a good leaving group attached, you can substitute the leaving group with your nucleophile. This type of reaction is called nucleophilic acyl substitution.

#1 rule of ochem - negative to positive. Good luck!

 

[Corgi]

Thank you! I will focus on learning that instead (especially the functional groups)

 

[Sky138]

I’d recommend buying a lehninger’s textbook and going from front to back making sure to do all the practice problems. If you can do that you’ll smash ochem easy and honestly, it’s not that hard. A lot of people struggle with it because they’re not solid with the fundamentals so make sure you know your mechanisms

 

[Ole_Toe]

I would highly recommend picking up ochem as a second language and working through it. Knowing mechanisms and nomenclature before you start will all but guarantee you a good grade

 

[Corgi]

Unfortunately, my college doesn't use either of those textbooks. Would you still recommend buying lehningers or ochem as a second language or should I just get the textbook my college uses (Vollhardt)?

 

[Sky138]

Ehhh. Depends on your financial status. I can’t speak to the other ones but Lehningers with the solution manual was an absolute godsend. I literally went to rate my professor and picked the crappiest teacher knowing I could teach myself and use the curve to my advantage. Something to consider if you really want to get ahead. Also I’d invest in a good whiteboard or whiteboard table. That can go a long way

 

[eigen]

I’d recommend buying a lehninger’s textbook and going from front to back making sure to do all the practice problems. If you can do that you’ll smash ochem easy and honestly, it’s not that hard. A lot of people struggle with it because they’re not solid with the fundamentals so make sure you know your mechanisms

Lehninger's is a biochem text, not an ochem text. Did you mean to recommend something else?

That said, if you do want to buy it to self-study biochem, go with a used copy of one of the previous editions. The changes from 6th to 7th edition are minor with respect to most undergrad biochem material.

Klein or Clayden are the ochem texts I'd recommend, but there are also plenty of good resources online for self study. If you want to prep for ochem, it's a good idea to figure out which book your school will use as well as determining content order. Different schools organize Organic 1/2 content differently.

 

[Sky138]

My bad, completely spaced. I meant Klein. If you wanted to really get ahead id consider buying an older version of Klein for cheap and then going through the practice problems so you don’t have to completely rehash the problems during the year. Good luck!

 

[natalux]

Unfortunately, my college doesn't use either of those textbooks. Would you still recommend buying lehningers or ochem as a second language or should I just get the textbook my college uses (Vollhardt)?

Ochem as a second language is a great resource to get comfortable with the fundamentals without a ton of effort - I think if you try to work through an actual textbook without actually being in an ochem class, it'll be hard to maintain the level of motivation necessary to actually stick with it/get much out of it (unless you're super disciplined idk, for me personally I would be bored out of my mind without a grade to light a fire under my ass lol). Ochem isn't so hard that you need to completely self-study it a semester before to succeed. Get Ochem as a 2nd language, read through the whole thing and do the practice problems, go forth and destroy your ochem class

 

[Corgi]

I will get one of those textbooks (and hopefully survive ochem). Thanks!

 

[jhmmd]

1. Pushing electrons DO THE WHOLE BOOK the semester before ochem
2. Organic as a 2nd language as a supplement throughout the course; this helped me immensely as our course textbook was rather dense
3. I made a master folder of mechanisms and reactions halfway through the course
4. Good luck and remember to use office hours!!!
5. I did all of the above and got an A+ in ochem I and II (lecture and lab)