Biochem pathways

[deleted647690]

I never took biochem II, so I never learned about metabolism. I studied for the mcat last summer and memorized some of the pathways, but have forgotten them (never ended up taking the exam). I am studying again now for my test in July, and I would not be able to tell you all of the intermediates in any of the pathways.
I pretty much have just read through the BR chapters and watched khan academy videos, but I don't feel like I have retained much. I could probably analyze a pathway in a passage if it was given to me.

Do you think I'd be okay just memorizing the overall reactants/end products for each pathway and the regulatory steps? I think I'm okay forfeiting the one discrete that might require knowledge of the intermediates if it means I don't need to spend 4999 hours trying to cram the pathways into my head so that I can just forget about them the next week (especially when I could be doing other mcat practice).

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[DoctorCrush]

Don't know about you, but I've been passively watching AK lectures on Youtube and he's amazing when it comes to biochemistry. Give that a try.

 

[deleted647690]

Don't know about you, but I've been passively watching AK lectures on Youtube and he's amazing when it comes to biochemistry. Give that a try.

I like his lectures too, and that's how I've been approaching biochem; just passively watching stuff and writing things down once. But I haven't really drilled the pathways into my head or anything like that

 

[Podstar]

I would know the intermediates that are key for other pathways, regulatory steps, and a general knowledge of how everything connects.

 

[rufflev]

If it helps, for the TCA cycle the mnemonic "Officer Can I Keep Selling Sex For Money" is fairly useful to memorize "Oxaloacetate, Citrate, Isocitrate, a-Ketoglutarate, Succinyl-CoA, Succinate, Fumarate, and Malate."

 

[Spr1ngrolls]

Like you said, it's a little extra to scrutinize every intermediate and enzyme that is in the metabolic pathways. Know the big players.

You might also be interested in looking at this topic I started: Warning to MCAT Takers: MCAT Readjusting Again? (5/13 taker)

Essentially, it seems like the MCAT is really moving away from biochem and sheer memorization of metabolic pathways. It's much more about reading a passage and mapping things out now. You'd have more success doing more practice imo, but this is just based on my personal observations on the last 5-6 MCAT reddit posts.

 

[tj123]

learn inhibitors/activators of the pathways and relationships between pathways. Just understand what happens if in glycolysis if theres an accumulation of ATP in the body. Or what happens in the TCA cycle if there's an accumulation of citrate or lack of oxaloacetate. You can look up charts about these things for all of the cycles. They are focused on the relationship between everything, so just understand what will induce a pathway (like starvation in gluconeogenesis or glycogenolysis) and what will inhibit a pathway.

 

[DoctorCrush]

learn inhibitors/activators of the pathways and relationships between pathways. Just understand what happens if in glycolysis if theres an accumulation of ATP in the body. Or what happens in the TCA cycle if there's an accumulation of citrate or lack of oxaloacetate. You can look up charts about these things for all of the cycles. They are focused on the relationship between everything, so just understand what will induce a pathway (like starvation in gluconeogenesis or glycogenolysis) and what will inhibit a pathway.

Hey, have you decided when you're going to take your exam? Hows the studying going?

 

[tj123]

Hey, have you decided when you're going to take your exam? Hows the studying going?

Yes, June 17! It's going well! It's a lot better now that I'm not working and in school. Scores in all of my sections are continuing to go up so we'll see where I am in a month!

 

[Spectar]

I never took biochem II, so I never learned about metabolism. I studied for the mcat last summer and memorized some of the pathways, but have forgotten them (never ended up taking the exam). I am studying again now for my test in July, and I would not be able to tell you all of the intermediates in any of the pathways.
I pretty much have just read through the BR chapters and watched khan academy videos, but I don't feel like I have retained much. I could probably analyze a pathway in a passage if it was given to me.

Do you think I'd be okay just memorizing the overall reactants/end products for each pathway and the regulatory steps? I think I'm okay forfeiting the one discrete that might require knowledge of the intermediates if it means I don't need to spend 4999 hours trying to cram the pathways into my head so that I can just forget about them the next week (especially when I could be doing other mcat practice).

I would know all the glycolysis intermediates with structures, and enzymes, how many atp go in and out. Same with TCA cycle. Also I would memorize fatty aid synthesis and degradation as well as know fermentation (just 2 steps). I would remember the important regulatory steps. I would know all amino acid structures, 3 letter and 1 letter names. I think knowing all this probably helped me on my exam with like 5-6 questions. I would consider these high yield.

It's interesting that your school doesn't teach this in Biochem I.