Worth taking Biochem before I start?

[marinehrnt]

I'm starting med school this fall and have all the required prerequisites completed but have been thinking about taking biochem before I start as an elective. Just looking for the opinion of current students if its worth the extra time and money? I have heard it's one of the tougher classes in med school so I was thinking it may be wise to get a little jump on it. Thanks.

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[DocVapor]

If you can take it as part of your undergrad degree, then sure. But remember that chances are it's going to be a different biochem than what you'll get in med school. Doesn't mean it won't help though.

However if you are considering taking it as an extra course, i.e. not needed for degree or over the summer, then no, don't take it. Especially if you have to spend extra money for it. It is a hard course but that doesn't mean you'll be at a disadvantage by not taking it prior to med school. Spend the time doing other things you want to do.

 

[dsoz]

I took it because it was "recommended" by my top school as a pre-req. I took a condensed course, 4 weeks long in the summer, every day for 4 hours. YUCK!

I think I will have a little advantage because I have at least studied the Krebs Cycle on a molecular level once. I know that med school biochem will be at a totally different level, but I can't change what I did two summers ago.

If you are choosing between taking the class and doing nothing, conventional wisdom on here says to do nothing. If it is a choice between two classes, then take biochem.

good luck.
dsoz

 

[Dharma]

The biochem I took in medical school is very different from undergrad, although there are overlaps. Undergrad included a lot of memorization of structures and details focusing on mechanisms along entire pathways, whereas medical biochemistry tended to focus more on regulated/rate-determing steps along with pathologies associated with such pathways.

Being that I took undergrad biochem almost a decade before medical school, I can honestly say that it helped me minimally in medical biochemistry. My advice is to only take undergrad biochem if it fits one of the following criteria: it is a mandatory course for your major; schools you are applying to require it ("recommend" isn't enough IMO); you are in the process of making a GPA comeback and must demonstrate competence in higher level sciences; you just have an interest and can't stand the thought of passing it up. If you do not fit that criteria, you may be kicking yourself in the rear when you're memorizing the light and dark phases of photosynthesis wondering "why, WHy, WHY?!?!"

Spend the credits taking anatomy, neuro (if interested), or any other subject of interest. Or, better yet... like NeuroSpeed mentioned, enjoy your free time. Because come August... it's GONE!!!

EDIT: just wanted to add... biochem is not THAT hard in med school. plus, it's not considered high yield on Step 1 (which holds A LOT more weight that your preclinical grades).

 

[marinehrnt]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Since I would be paying for this class out of pocket and trying to complete it while working full-time it sounds like my money and time would be better spent elsewhere. It's not a required class and the only reason I was thinking about it was to give me a bit of a leg up when it came to tackling the class this fall. I think at this point I will just enjoy the free time and save a little extra money. Thanks again.

 

[marinehrnt]

I took it because it was "recommended" by my top school as a pre-req. I took a condensed course, 4 weeks long in the summer, every day for 4 hours. YUCK!

I think I will have a little advantage because I have at least studied the Krebs Cycle on a molecular level once. I know that med school biochem will be at a totally different level, but I can't change what I did two summers ago.

If you are choosing between taking the class and doing nothing, conventional wisdom on here says to do nothing. If it is a choice between two classes, then take biochem.

good luck.
dsoz

Ouch, taking the entire class in four weeks sounds a little rough. I'm guessing you must have done the summer intensive course at PSU? I looked into a couple of those classes but could never make it happen with my work schedule.

 

[dsoz]

Ouch, taking the entire class in four weeks sounds a little rough. I'm guessing you must have done the summer intensive course at PSU? I looked into a couple of those classes but could never make it happen with my work schedule.

PSU is exactly where I took it. It really wasn't that bad, except I was not able to do anything else while I was taking the class. I was taking it just prior to med school applications, and I had a 3.6 GPA. I could not afford to get anything less than an A, so I studied my butt off. I would come home and read/flash card memorize Krebs cycle/learn Henderson-Hasselbalch equation(or whatever it is) until it was dinner time, then I would do some stuff around the house (housework, yard-work, etc.) before crashing so I could do it again the next day. I ended up with an A- (91 or 92% ).

The only bonus to the whole summer was that The class ended on Thursday, and two days later I was on an airplane to Maui for two weeks of relaxation.

dsoz

 

[museic]

Depends. My undergrad professor wrote a medical school biochem book and his area of interest (or by the level of my misery would suggest) was metabolism. One thing that I noticed is that most undergrad biochem may cover krebs/glycolysis lightly but not so much all the other pathways. If you can get a course that will cover all of metabolism (every pathway, structure, regulation, co factors etc. etc. etc.) then I would say heck yes. In order to get to that level you will have to cover the basics of proteins & RNA/DNA stuff during the year as well. If your biochem class is multiple choice and takes a shotgun approach then I would say it won't make a big difference. Usually you will find this level of detail at a graduate biochem level so you may want to look into those course and see if you can use it for undergrad credit.

 

[kgpremed11]

The biochem I took in medical school is very different from undergrad, although there are overlaps. Undergrad included a lot of memorization of structures and details focusing on mechanisms along entire pathways, whereas medical biochemistry tended to focus more on regulated/rate-determing steps along with pathologies associated with such pathways.

Being that I took undergrad biochem almost a decade before medical school, I can honestly say that it helped me minimally in medical biochemistry. My advice is to only take undergrad biochem if it fits one of the following criteria: it is a mandatory course for your major; schools you are applying to require it ("recommend" isn't enough IMO); you are in the process of making a GPA comeback and must demonstrate competence in higher level sciences; you just have an interest and can't stand the thought of passing it up. If you do not fit that criteria, you may be kicking yourself in the rear when you're memorizing the light and dark phases of photosynthesis wondering "why, WHy, WHY?!?!"

Spend the credits taking anatomy, neuro (if interested), or any other subject of interest. Or, better yet... like NeuroSpeed mentioned, enjoy your free time. Because come August... it's GONE!!!

EDIT: just wanted to add... biochem is not THAT hard in med school. plus, it's not considered high yield on Step 1 (which holds A LOT more weight that your preclinical grades).

This is how my undergrad biochem is taught.

 

[nardini46]

I would recommend taking Biochem before med school. It will give you a background to learn med school biochem in 3 weeks as opposed to having an entire semester to learn it.

 

[Dharma]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Since I would be paying for this class out of pocket and trying to complete it while working full-time it sounds like my money and time would be better spent elsewhere. It's not a required class and the only reason I was thinking about it was to give me a bit of a leg up when it came to tackling the class this fall. I think at this point I will just enjoy the free time and save a little extra money. Thanks again.

Good call. Save some money, and enjoy the free time. Had it been earlier in the game, I'd say taking it may be a good idea. But it's not. Free time is a commodity to be cherished and used wisely. And taking the class beforehand will not free up too much time for you in med school nor will have a great impact on your understanding of the subject or academic success. As I mentioned earlier, it is really not a difficult subject to wrap your head around. If you earned a seat in medical school, you're intelligent enough to tackle the course in the allotted time. Plenty of folks do great in medical biochemistry without having exposure to it in undergrad.

 

[calvinhobbes]

No to taking a class but yes to opening a biochem review book to learn some high yield stuff.

Enjoy your summer!

 

[oreosandsake]

No to taking a class but yes to opening a biochem review book to learn some high yield stuff.

Enjoy your summer!

 

[CopToEM]

No to taking a class but yes to opening a biochem review book to learn some high yield stuff.

Enjoy your summer!

Agreed! Undergrad class will go into so much more detail than you need. Hardest part of biochem was remember, "wait, where the hell are we again?" Sometimes it's tough to remember where you're at in a process and what led you there. I liken it to navigating a room staring at the ground - anything you can do to help you see in the periphery will help you a lot.

 

[koojo]

I'm starting med school this fall and have all the required prerequisites completed but have been thinking about taking biochem before I start as an elective. Just looking for the opinion of current students if its worth the extra time and money? I have heard it's one of the tougher classes in med school so I was thinking it may be wise to get a little jump on it. Thanks.

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Are you a bio major now? If so, then it probably doesn't matter. You should get a lot of biochem in your general biology classes, which will help you in your med school biochem class. I never took biochem in undergrad but I was a bio major and chem minor, so I did well in that class. Just study for it like you would for any other class in med school (repetition!) and you'll do great.