General Chemistry vs. BioChemistry

Nursing Students General Students

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I am currently taking General Chemistry which is required to get accepted into the Nursing program and get on the wait list. I am doing ok in it. I have a B average right now and need to pass with a C or better, so I think I will make it.

My question is this...I have to take BioChem before I can start my nursing classes. There must be a big differnce between Gen. Chem and Bio otherwise why else would they make you take both, right?? In general what are your thoughts on the level of difficulty between the two?

Thanks in advance for any answers I get.

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As someone who absolutely HATED general chemistry, I have to admit I sort of liked biochem. I don't think they are very much alike at all. You will mostly study life forms - carbon, carbohydrates, proteins, etc. You no longer have to worry so much about all those silly electrons, and there is very little math involved.

I took biochemistry and microbiology in the same semester, and while I did curse myself at times, they actually complemented each other very well.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

I took organic, inorganic and bio-chem and I thought Bio-chem was the easiest and made the most sense, I was also taking it at the same time as microbiology so some of it was the same. To me, bio-chem seemed the most usable and I really enjoyed it, except for the parts on electricity and radiation, but that is party because I was like "what does this have to do with nursing?" but my dad is an electrician so I just asked him if I got stuck, but it was a very small part of it so it was not that bad

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Specializes in acute care.

I took general, organic and biochem. I loved biochem and found it to be the easiest of all 3. It is alot of reading. Good luck!

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Specializes in GERIATRICS/CHRONIC ILLNESS.

Understanding cell physiology is extremely important esp. when you get to pathophysiology. There is a level of microbiology that feeds into the whole cell physiology.. i.e. cell permeability, cell mutation/disease, dna, protein sythesis. However, it also involves nutrients, esp. calcium (i.e. bone formation, vit. D sythesis, vitamin deficiencies & related disorders), then there is K+, notorious for heart dysrhythmmias, leg cramps, electrolyte disorders (ie dehydration), just remember, K+ loves to be in the cell, Na+&H20 follow each other out of the cell or into the cell (ie. cell destruction/hemolysis/diarrhea), and Ca+ must be escorted by protein albumin from bone. Blood from epo/kidneys signals bone marrow to make it! Just remember RAA system & hypothalamus the regulator!! Understanding biochem is important too because it addresses cellular/molecular importance, how the body metabolizes and how the liver/muscles metabolize, store and utilizes it. Just remember when you get to (mirror-images-enanomers or isomers I believe), you can survive it by comparing two spoons at every angle possible, and although they may appear to be same molecular structure, when you flip one spoon and compare, they are not the same molecularly. Thats how I learned!! Good luck, Chem kicked my butt and wound up my favorite prenursing class!!

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i took general chemistry i and ii, organic chemistry i and ii, and biochemistry. the main differences are location and application (and biochem usually does not have an associated lab). gchem and ochem both involve a little algebra, lots of "laboratory" use information, and chemical interactions and structures. biochem usually steers toward proteins, bodily chemical reactions and mechanisms, etc (hence "bio," biological chemistry). i thought biochem was significantly more interesting, but there was a lot of information involved. i thought ochem was far the worst, boring!!! so many structures, such small attention span (when it comes to ochem). the key is to stay plugged in! don't let yourself stray when your in class and try to put two and two together. my professor for biochem asked a lot of applied or thinking questions on the tests, so learn how to associate the material.

good luck with both!

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
Just remember when you get to (mirror-images-enanomers or isomers I believe), you can survive it by comparing two spoons at every angle possible, and although they may appear to be same molecular structure, when you flip one spoon and compare, they are not the same molecularly. Thats how I learned!! Good luck, Chem kicked my butt and wound up my favorite prenursing class!!

Ha! You are giving me flashbacks to organic chem. :D Actually, I'm really glad I took that class now. It does change how you look at things. For example, I can read ingredient lists and say, oh yeah...3-cyclohexene...I know what that is...levodopa...I know what that means...

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Ha! You are giving me flashbacks to organic chem. :D Actually, I'm really glad I took that class now. It does change how you look at things. For example, I can read ingredient lists and say, oh yeah...3-cyclohexene...I know what that is...levodopa...I know what that means...

I know what you mean.....I now understand the chemical difference between racemic and lev-albuterol and why the lev-albuterol will likely have substantially less side effects :-)

I've only done a year of Gen Chem and one term of independent study for O-chem. I'm planning on taking my full year of O-Chem this coming year and then bio-chem the year after that.

Peace,

Cathie

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I am currently taking General Chemistry which is required to get accepted into the Nursing program and get on the wait list. I am doing ok in it. I have a B average right now and need to pass with a C or better, so I think I will make it.

My question is this...I have to take BioChem before I can start my nursing classes. There must be a big differnce between Gen. Chem and Bio otherwise why else would they make you take both, right?? In general what are your thoughts on the level of difficulty between the two?

Thanks in advance for any answers I get.

Your nursing program requires a year of 200 level gen chem and then a year of 300 level organic chem? I've never heard of a nursing program require that....very cool. What program is it?

I'm taking those classes because I want a minor in Chemistry with my BSN.....but as far as my nursing program, they're considered electives.

To answer your question, yes they're very different. From the chemistry perspective, biochemistry is a subset of organic chemistry (organic chemistry is the study of carbon-based chemistry, whereas biochemistry is organic chemistry that sustains life). In fact, general chemistry and biochemistry are so different that many folks that struggle in gen chem, ace biochem....and vice versa :-)

Peace,

Cathie

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Thank you everyone for all your posts. I cannot tell you how releived I am! Gen. Chem is really a struggle. It is nice to now that if I can pass Gen. Chem, I should not have a problem with BioChem!

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I am currently taking General Chemistry which is required to get accepted into the Nursing program and get on the wait list. I am doing ok in it. I have a B average right now and need to pass with a C or better, so I think I will make it.

My question is this...I have to take BioChem before I can start my nursing classes. There must be a big differnce between Gen. Chem and Bio otherwise why else would they make you take both, right?? In general what are your thoughts on the level of difficulty between the two?

Thanks in advance for any answers I get.

At my school, the class is called Intro to General, Organic & Biochemistry, and it's split into 2 semesters. The first semester is general chemistry stuff and the second semester has a little bit of o-chem with the rest being biochem. I *HATED* that class - it was so much studying (at least for me, because my entry into NS DEPENDED on that class and I had to get the A). You'll study proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, DNA/RNA structure/function, touch up on nutrition and of course, MY FAVORITE :banghead: - ATP synthesis (glycolysis, kreb's cycle, electron transport chain, etc). I actually had a dream that dealt with all the steps of ATP synthesis :chuckle - I guess I was studying it a little TOO much!

Seriously though, if you have good study habits and you stay on top of the material, you'll do just fine. There *ARE* reactions that your instructor will probably make you remember (I remember there was a lot to remember for the o-chem portion and not nearly as much for the biochem portion) but I didn't have to do any balancing or anything, and I didn't have to do any math calculations, either (so no stoichemiotry or any of that crap)

HTH! :)

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My BSN program also requires all 3 of the Chemistries: Gen, Organic and BioChem. We also have to do 3 quarters of anatomy and physiology, 2 quarters of pathophysiology and 2 quarters of pharmacology, oh yea, can't forget microbiology and physics! We are science fools. :)

Organic is the toughest, it requires at least 2, if not 3 hours daily of study. But, if you plan at all to go onto graduate school, it is a must.

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