Hello! My name is Tiffany, and I am a junior in college majoring in chemistry and minoring in biology. So you’re an aspiring pre-med student heading into or are in college, right? The fact that you’re reading this means you are already making great decisions in your journey to becoming a doctor, and one of the biggest decisions you’ll make is deciding your undergraduate major. Many pre-med students will inevitably choose a STEM field such as biology, psychology, or physics, as these majors tend to cover a lot of the medical school prerequisites. I’m here to encourage YOU to consider choosing a chemistry major.
Now I know you’re probably thinking I’m crazy...you’ve probably been conditioned to run and hide at the mere mention of “organic chemistry.” Lots of pre-med students LOVE to exaggerate how tortuous chemistry is, and although it can sometimes seem like a foreign language, it is not as bad as everybody makes it out to be! Additionally, chemistry is so important in understanding interactions and processes in the human body. Once you master chemistry, you will be one step closer to becoming an amazing physician.
A chemistry major typically consists of the following chemistry and supporting courses:
General Chemistry I & II with lab
Organic Chemistry I & II with lab
Physical Chemistry with lab (2 semester sequence)
Quantitative Analysis with lab
Chemical Instrumentation with lab
Calculus I and II
Physics: Mechanics and Thermodynamics with lab
Physics: Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics with lab
Capstone
So far, I have completed the General Chemistry sequence, Organic Chemistry I, Physics: Mechanics and Thermodynamics, as well as Calculus I and II. For my biology minor, I have completed a course in Cells and Organisms, Principles of Biology, as well as two biology labs. After explaining my experience with chemistry courses, I will note some differences between chemistry and biology for those of you who are debating between these majors.
The General Chemistry sequence will be a breeze for those who excel in math; it is heavily focused on dimensional analysis, balancing equations, and acid/base equilibrium. These courses also provide the foundation for understanding matter, such as with basic atomic theory, phases of matter, and characteristics of molecules and atoms (electronegativity, acidity/basicity, and polarity, for example). If you’ve taken a high school or AP Chemistry class, you will already know a lot of the topics covered in General Chemistry. Personally, my 10th grade chemistry class and AP Chemistry class covered more than what my General Chemistry classes did, which made these classes 99% review. Organic Chemistry, on the other hand, is a bit different. Organic chemistry focuses on organic molecules (think compounds with carbon); the major topics include stereochemistry, nomenclature of organic compounds, acids/bases, and reaction mechanisms. Basically none of the calculations that you learn in General Chemistry are useful for this class; however, the basics like electronegativity and polarity are still relevant! During the majority of this class, I had to think about things like “What is the most likely compound to react based on its polarity and structure? What does this molecule look like if I rotate it 180 degrees?” For those of you who are more imaginative or skilled at art, this class will probably be easier, since imagining molecules in 3D space is an important skill for organic chemistry. Otherwise, 3D model kits are your new best friend, but don’t worry, it gets easier with practice!
I’ve talked to the head of the chemistry department about chemistry classes I haven’t taken, and she explained that Organic Chemistry II builds off the principles explored in Organic Chemistry I, Chemical Instrumentation explores the different instruments used in chemistry, Quantitative Analysis covers techniques and principles of volumetric and gravimetric analysis, and Physical Chemistry is a mix of chemistry with physics and calculus. Her brief overview of Physical Chemistry had me a bit scared at first, but she elaborated that this class would ask questions like “How much work needs to be done to heat up a certain amount of this substance?” This doesn’t sound TOO bad, but it definitely emphasizes the mathematical and critical thinking skills a chemistry major must master.
As someone who has excelled in math since elementary school, chemistry, calculus, and physics have come pretty easily to me, but biology is a different story. Both chemistry and biology require analytical and critical thinking skills and both focus on processes and relationships, but I’ve had to do much more memorization for biology than chemistry, and much more math for chemistry than biology. In my cells and organisms class, I’ve had to memorize the life cycle of malaria, which doesn’t exactly come naturally. If I had forgotten the names of the different phases of the parasite on an exam, I would’ve been toast. Whereas with chemistry, even if I don’t remember a certain trend, such as increasing acidity, I would still be able to make a good educated guess based on the characteristics of the molecule itself, which is more intuitive compared to biology. Now don’t get me wrong, biology is a great field and a great major, but you’ll just probably have to memorize words like “neocallimastigomycota.”
Even if you decide not to go down the MD route, you still have great job opportunities with a chemistry degree, and will have even more if you pair it with a minor such as computer science, Spanish, or biology (and no, I’m not just talking about becoming a chemistry teacher, as many might assume). These careers include: pharmacologist, physician assistant, materials scientist, forensic scientist, geochemist, research scientist, oceanographer, food technologist, chemical engineer, public health professional, cosmetic developer, and many more!
I hope I’ve given you some insight on a chemistry major and relieved some of your stress about chemistry courses as a pre-med. Thank you for reading, and keep striving to reach your goals!
- By Tiffany
Comments