biochem I - no lab

[drj2b]

is biochem I without a lab a useful course to take?

[edoki]

Biochem 1 with lab is the best. As a biochemist , I see it as incomplete course.

Edoki

[classic]

If you have the opportunity and the time to devote to biochem lab- you should take one with the course. What you learn in lab is more applicable to what you learn in lecture. However, you don't have a biochem lab in medical school so it wouldn't actually hurt you that much if you didn't take one. Exposure in biochem lecture should give you a base for learning med school biochem- but that's just my opinion.

[drj2b]

well, i have a degree in chem already, and am only taking the biochem course for extra credit/better marks to help my application...so am wondering is the lab component really necessary?

[teratos]

As a physician, how does biochem lab help you? You don't need it unless you are going to do basic science research, then you can do an MD/PhD.

[edoki]

I still make a suggestion that as a physician, you are likely going to come in touch with lab info that you can use to apply to some diagnosis. Especially if you are dealing with clinical stuf- blood sugar range e.t.c. But all is left with you to decide.

Edoki.

[classic]

I'd have to go with Teratos on this one. Biochem lab gives you a better working knowledge of how tests are performed in the lab and what reactions occur during the procedure- but you interpretting the procedure or the reactions doesn't necessarily play a role in placing a diagnosis on a patient. It's more based on your interpretation of the results (not the procedures to get the results).
In general the biggest lab factor you have to consider when interpretting results is human error right? So with that being said you'd re-order a lab test if you even remotely considered the test had a sampling error of more than 500%. (well maybe less than that figure :wink: )

If you have time to take biochem- it will help you in my opinion; however it won't make or break any critical decisions you make as a physician.

[bigguy]

Stop wasting your time taking undergraduate courses and apply. If you've got a degree in chemistry already, you have enough of a background in chemistry to understand anything that the Saba program will throw at you. Saba is graduating "line worker" doctors, not researchers.

[drj2b]

thx again everybody, got the message!

hey bigguy, i am going to take one of the biochems though, i have sent my app in already, and i'm just preparing in case of denial, and even if i am accepted, i want the biochem to help me out at saba...do u think i should do the lab or not?

[OLD_DOG]

All my instructors that teach at medical schools said that biochem at a university is DIFFERENT content than medical biochem, they even use different books. That said, I still think that the LECTURE would probably help if you have never taken biochem. Every lab that I ever took, the students were just going through the motions and not learning much. The value of the labs was more valuable for learning lab techniques and equipment use than anything else. I would just go with the lecture. (I might even take it myself before I matriculate at SABA Jan 2006).
just my 2 cents!

[bigguy]

Hi Dr. J.

I'm glad you've applied, and you're smart to think forward towards improving a future application.

To answer your question, I've never taken an undergraduate lab that I thought was in any way useful. They're usually just huge time eaters working on absurd lab projects that have no little or no relevance to understanding or learning. Before I applied to Saba, I took Org2, nineteen years after having taken Org 1. The lab was the most torturous part. Dumb, irrelevant 4 hour labs twice a week, taught by an idiot TA, with endless write ups about whether test tubes turned green or not. Everyone in the lab just cheated off the only person who happened to actually do the lab (which was me). I learned how to make aspirin, and that's about it.

Having a masters degree in Psychology, and a doctorate in Law, I'm not a big proponent of undergraduate study. It moves at snail's pace, and I think it's worthless, except as a very general overview to future study.

Since you're interested in improving the application, I'd go with whatever is going to get you the highest grade. Unless you have volumes of free time, I think a class without a lab attached would be easier to pull an A in. That would be my recommendation.

Bigguy

Ps. I'm a lawyer, and I live with a doctor. Anyone who has completed an MD or JD will tell you that the most critical aspect of successful completion is economical use of your time. Many graduates go into these programs with bright eyes thinking they're going to learn medicine or law front to back. The reality is, both subjects are too broad to know cover to cover. People who achieve in these programs make smart decisions about what to learn, and how to learn, and what to pass by. You'll face issues like the one your considering now, time and time again. The bottom line is, you always have to go with the decision that's going require the least effort relative to the biggest return. I hope you get accepted and that you can drop whatever course you take, in order to prepare for med school more effeciently (like overviewing the BRS series); if your'e not accepted, I hope you go with whichever class will get you the highest grade.

[drj2b]

oh my god had my first biochem lab today, i'm still here as i type...how useless, i did all this stuff b4 doing my chem degree....aaarrrgh....!

no choice really though, the biochem without lab at the other school was cancelled.....aaarrgh!