Turns out Harvard Medical School isn't alone in questioning the value of a year's worth of organic chemistry as a much-dreaded fixture in the pre-med curriculum.
In an article in this morning's WSJ, Health Blogger Jacob Goldstein elaborates on his post from mid-summer about a New England Journal of Medicine piece by a Harvard Brahmin questioning whether pre-med students "really need a full year of organic chemistry to prepare for the study of biochemistry."
Take, for instance, the Diels-Alder reaction, that orgo classic that has to do with the different ways two molecules combine to form a ring of six carbon atoms. It comes in handy if you're into chemical manufacturing. But here's what Robert Alpern, dean of the Yale School of Medicine, has to say about it: "In my many years of medicine, I have never heard the Diels-Alder reaction mentioned once."
Meantime, there are poor souls out there like Patti Van Leer, who found herself dreaming about carbon molecules and chemical reactions when she was taking orgo in college. And Kara Naber, who started sketching chemical reactions in the steam on her shower door during her second semester of orgo at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
There may be some respite in sight: The year-long introductory course in orgo may soon be pared back to make room for other subjects. The Association of American Medical Colleges and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have a committee working on what basic science all entering medical students should know. They're likely to include biochemistry, genetics and statistics. It's unclear what exactly will happen to orgo, but one aim is to give colleges latitude to experiment with interdisciplinary classes.
Some comments:
Ridding American medicine of useful ways to distinguish the best and brightest from the not-so-bright seems to be the goal?
Medical school is a huge intellectual challenge and admitting the less capable, with much higher chances of failure is unfair to them and the more capable applicants passed over.
Comment by jgkmd - September 16, 2008 at 11:03 am
to eliminate o chem is another example of the dumbing of medicine in the USA. the thought processes that are required to achieve excellence in o chem are the same required to understand and diagnose complex biological interacting signs and symptoms in a sick person.
then again, health policy wonks believe that even with an ill-designed hit device (eg, computer ) paraprofessionals should be given the authority to make complex decisions that affect the lives of millions.
why not just issue licenses to practice medicine to anyone who wants to enroll…eg a lottery system?
Comment by dr. zhivago - September 16, 2008 at
11:21 am
Let's face it, organic is useless to 99% of physicians (including myself), and it's hard to explain its usefulness outside of being a weed-out class.
I think replacing this with classes that are both useful AND challenging, like statistics, is a good move. Docs need to know statistics to be able to interpret studies, but most lack a decent understanding. While orgo might be a test of one's ability to grind (and memorize), I'd rather judge students on their ability to comprehend and apply subjects that are actually germane to the practice of medicine.
Comment by How about...? - September 16, 2008 at
11:35 am
If pre-med students aren't given their organic chemistry, how else are we going to continue developing drugs like in the hyper-competitive world of synthetic organic chemistry of the '80s, when they turned 10-DAB into Taxol?
Comment by taxusin - September 16, 2008 at
11:41 am
I have to say this is ridiculous! Can we trust our medical education any more?
Comment by Dr. Kindt - September 16, 2008 at
11:53 am
NEJM article:
Relevance and Rigor in Premedical Education
