Question: Next year I will be going to university to study Biomedical science, but I am thinking of changing to Biochemistry, how was that course ofr you?

Matt Bilton answered on 7 Nov 2014:

Hi Charlotte, I found biochemistry was tough but interesting! We covered a huge range of topics all focussed on the processes that make life possible, and how they work at the molecular and cellular level.

I have a feeling that there would be lots of overlap between studying biomedical sciences and biochemistry, but maybe biochemistry is a bit less focussed on things directly related to human health and disease? For instance as well as learning about how cells become cancerous, or how the immune system fights pathogens (interesting), we learnt how to make protein crystals (kind of cool) and about plant biology (snore). We thought about evolution a lot too, and even though I was always more interested in the way human cells work compared to bacteria cells, it was pretty fascinating to think about the most distant evolutionary relationships, say between the light absorbing molecules in your eye versus those in bacteria.

From my perspective, I think Biochemistry gives a grounding in biological sciences that can lead off in many directions although having not done a biomedical degree I can’t really offer my opinion on that. If you’re thinking of switching, I’d have a good look at the options – in particular the course content and structure and see what appeals the most!