I think unlike chemical biology, biochemistry doesn't have a specific "final destination" for all students. It's an interdisciplinary program that you gives a you a wide view of the chemical and molecular basis of life. Rather, your "final destination" is up to you: in your fourth year (when most students do a senior project/thesis), if you want to study drug design, there are thesis labs for that. If you want to look at pathogenesis of microbes, there are labs in the department for that as well. If you want to learn how to characterize proteins and study how they affect biological functions, there are labs and a couple of courses for that.
I can't speak for all biochemistry students, but the way I've seen the program is that they expose you to most of the biochemical phenomenon and research today (which spans molecular biology, genetics, mechanistic biochemistry, genomics, evolution and systems biology) and give you the tools to tackle issues in these fields through hands-on laboratory classes (a
full year lab class in second year, no other program/department in the Faculty of Science that I know of gives you that kind of lab experience so early) and inquiry projects where you look at current journals and articles and discuss and present the sciences in groups.
In terms of the specialization, well it's up to you. If you're interested in drug design, you can join a drug design lab in your last year. If nucleic acids, aptamers and riboswitches are your fancy, there are like 4 labs in the department that study that. The department teaches you the big picture of the chemical/molecular basis of life, and you choose your own "final destination" based on your own interests. Yeah, you have to take certain classes in microbial genetics for biomedical specialization and genetic engineering for the biotech specialization, but you just can't generalize the department and say "the final goal of all classes is A, B and C" because the program is so interdisciplinary.
I personally think the program is research heavy: if you want a career in Research and development or are pursing graduate school, then this program is for you. Obviously, the theory comes from the classes, but in every single year you have at least 6 units of lab-specific courses which allows you to apply what you learned in classes in the lab. I've learned much more in my lab courses (on experimental design, interpreting results, reading scientific literature [which you'll be doing
a lot of, by the way] etc) than in classroom courses.
Finally, I think people see the term 'biochemistry' and literally think "biology + chemistry classes" which is a common misconception. The department defined the term quite nicely in their
Undergraduate Handbook (which I highly recommend that you read if you're considering the program):
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Undergraduate handbook
Biochemistry is the study of chemical or molecular basis of life and builds on a strong foundation of the other natural sciences. The science of Biochemistry ranges from the study of structures and properties of individual chemicals and molecules (such as proteins and DNA) to their function and integration into the whole organism. It deals with the chemical and physical properties of living organisms and understanding vital biological processes.
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It's a great program and I highly recommend it.
