Biochemistry

Biochemistry is one of those classes which is guaranteed to grab one's attention. Lulled into the belief that you must be pretty smart if you made it to medical school, this course is like a bucket of ice water on a hot day. It comes as quite a shock to the system! One soon finds that more information is dispensed in one day than one normally would encounter in several weeks of the average undergraduate course. This, in fact, is the rule: Approximately one semester of work is completed every three weeks. Biochemistry, like most medical school courses, is presented in blocks. Each professor has a fixed amount of time to teach his or her material. They all do their best to fill the time by presenting every detail that can be wedged into the allotted lecture time, and then some.

Since biochemistry is in the first semester of first year, it is quite difficult to find a point to much of the material. In part, this is because biochemistry by itself seems rather removed from the study of medicine. It really is not but it appears as though there is no detail too small to memorize, and no concept too big to ignore. It is fortunate that the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place with later work. Some items are re-visited many times, and they turn up in seemingly unlikely places.

last updated 6/6/95

The Mature Medical Student

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