On the Wall Street Journal health blog, they report that the backlash on the part of select universities against the dreaded organic chemistry for pre-meds continues. New England Journal started this crazy suggestion first by publishing an article that suggested that requiring organic chemistry for a year may be overkill for the biochemistry medical students need to learn. Now, reports WSJ, AAMC and Howard Hughes Medical Institute are also pondering orgo’s utility.
But hold on to your seats future doctors–nothing has been decided yet. There’s still the somewhat convincing argument that how one performs as an undergrad organic student predicts 1st year medical school performance. Hence, med school admissions committees might still want to see that they’ve braved big bad organic–at least for a semester or more.
Personally, it would seem to me that soon-to-be docs would be better served by studying genetics, biochemistry, or some other more applied science that one might actually encounter and use in one’s medical career. As long as those classes are rigorous, the future physicians are likely to be just as qualified as those who slogged through a year’s worth of organic.
Summer Johnson, PhD