Another Day, Another Class by Bryan
So as promised earlier, this week I’m highlighting another one of my classes, 7.05 Biochemistry.
Class Details:
Lecture: 3 times a week for 1.5 hours
Recitation: Once a week for 1 hour
Problem Sets: 8, not graded
Exams: 4, graded
Final Exams: 0
This class is also taught by three different professors:
Michael Yaffe
David Bartel
Gene Brown
Interesting tidbit #1: Professor Yaffe is from Baltimore and his dialect is very strong. Thus, he pronounces what we know as H20 as “woodur.” Too bad I don’t have a sound recording of it.
Tidbit #2: Professor Yaffe is also an MD. Thus, to prove it to us and also demonstrate the effects of EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) on blood, he drew blood from the head TA in front of the entire lecture in 10-250.
So basically, this class is designed to teach us about basic biochemistry, so we’re learning about proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and how they exist in the body. So far, it’s been pretty good.
Today, in lecture, we learned about epinephrine. And of course, what would an MIT class be without some form of software associated with it. In his last day lecturing us, Professor Yaffe put up a transparency with a picture of his favorite computer game offered by Mad Scientist Software. (I thought he was joking). At this point, I took out my laptop and tried to validate his software allegations. Surprisingly, the game “Cardiac Arrest” actually exists. Being the gamer that I am, I decided to play and while the graphics were decent at best, I definitely realized I’m not cut out to be premed.
Oh well…grad school here I come.
Hi!!!Just a question
12 p.m is at noon or at night??
[email protected]
^^^^noon
so less waiting; yes!
Er… Sam… 12 AM, Saturday is 12 hours BEFORE 12 PM saturday. Just to make the note.
To Brian, that class sounds amazing.
Epinephrine is crazy stuff. My friend told me about the prof drawing the TA’s blood in class. She thought it was so cool. I’ve never seen anyone so excited about blood…
And that game looks…interesting.
You didn’t mention (or maybe he doesn’t do it this year) that Yaffe memorizes the name and photo of everybody in 7.05, then calls on people by name and scares the crap out of them!
i remember a game similar to that one that i used to play in fifth grade. if i recalled correctly, you had to shoot up all the sickle-cell red blood cells. fun.
Professor Yaffe must be awesome indeed if two bloggers are highlighting and taking his 7.05 class!
^^^at the same time.
I like your blog and I think I’m gonna love college!
I want to try this game! hmmmmm. I bet my patient will die sooner than yours. heeeeee.