How My Biomedical Chemistry Degree Has Helped Me

I graduated with a degree in Biomedical Chemistry and it has helped me reach my goal of entering into medical school. I feel my major greatly assisted in not only getting into medical school but also in preparing me for the challenges I would face as a first-year medical student. Also, my degree has had several unexpected benefits unrelated to medical school.

My degree in Biomedical Chemistry was a hybrid chemistry and biology major. It consisted of mostly chemistry classes, starting with the fairly simple General Chemistry courses (1 year), Organic Chemistry (definitely a "weed-out" class, eliminating many student's dreams of being pre-medicine), and cumulating with "fun" courses such as Physical Chemistry and Oncological Chemistry. These later, upper division classes really pushed me to my limits but I was able to eventually champion over them and do fairly well in the end.

For the biology side of my Biomedical Chemistry degree, I had to take Intro to Bio, plus several upper level biology class, along with their required lab courses. Most memorable of these was General and Comparative Physiology, Immunology, and Ecology. I actually really enjoyed the Ecology course, getting to go outside and hunt bugs and fish for lab projects was considerably more interesting than pippetting for hours. Being an avid angler and outdoors fan also added to my interest in the Ecology class I took.

Most of the classes I took really helped me prepare for my goal: medical school. While the material in medical school is much more detailed than in undergraduate, the various courses I took in college helped ingrain in me habits that have helped carry me through medical school. By this I am referring to study habits that have stayed extremely helpful all the way through college and into medical school. Of courses, I have had to tweak these a bit to fit the "fire-hydrant" load of material medical students face (as opposed to the relative "water trickle" load in college) but the underlying principals in how I approach studying have stayed the same.

During my senior year of college, I was busy with medical school interviews, and then was busy with planning moving to my new academic environment during the Sumer after I graduated. The topic of my degree came up several times during my interviews, always in a positive light. I am definitely glad I majored in Biomedical Chemistry.

One of the totally unexpected benefits of my science degree in Biomedical Chemistry was that I was granted a nice group discount on my car insurance as a result of it! My car insurance policy grants discounts to people who have graduated with certain degrees and mine happened to be one of those! I definitely did not expect this when I signed up to major in Biomedical Chemistry during my college years.

A degree in college in any science field, be it Biology, Engineering, or Biomedical Chemistry is not for everyone, but I feel it has helped carry me into medical school and prepare me for the challenges I now face.