Download June 30, 2009 - Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

July 2, 2010
Welcome, NJMS Class of 2014:
You will shortly begin your work within a new type of curriculum and have a
learning experience quite different from what you have known as an undergraduate.
First year medical school courses are challenging for many reasons; while all first
year students takes the same courses, each brings different background knowledge.
We note this to be the case especially in the areas of chemistry and biochemistry.
One of your first year courses will be Molecular and Genetic Medicine
(MGM), which covers, as the name suggests, biochemistry, molecular biology and
genetics. The MGM course begins on August 16, 2010 and this year it will precede
the Anatomy and Cell Biology Course. If you want to address any self-determined
weaknesses in your background knowledge in biochemistry, molecular biology or
genetics, it is best that you do so during the summer prior to entering medical
school.
The Molecular and Genetic Medicine syllabus, which you will receive when
the MGM course begins, lists what topics are considered pre-requisite knowledge for
the course. Incoming students are advised to now consider their own background in
these areas and to preview or review this list (given below) before medical school
begins. The MGM faculty recommend early purchase of the texts for those
undertaking some preview of the course. There are two texts recommended for the
course. A number of students in last year’s entering class (especially those with
limited knowledge in the pre-requisite topics) found the Lippincott text helpful
during the course, and many of them later wished that they had reviewed with the
text in the summer prior, as it might have made eased the academic burden when
the MGM course was in progress.
To assist you in preparing for the MGM course, page numbers for areas of
requisite knowledge found in these two texts are given below, by topic. The two
texts are coded as Lippincott (L) and Thomson & Thompson (T&T). We invite you
to review the resources suggested and the topics listed; please feel free to consult
with us during the summer as you assess and refresh your own knowledge in these
areas. Faculty in the Department are available to consult with you about the content,
concepts, and level of detail expected in medical school; the Center for Academic
Success and Enrichment psychologists are available to help facilitate the work
process and the formulation of an appropriate summer study plan.
With our best wishes for a fulfilling year,
Dr. Michael Lea, Course Coordinator for Molecular and Genetic Medicine
[email protected]
Dr. Richard Feinberg, Asst. Dean for Educational Resources [email protected]
Dr. Sarah Karl, Director, NJMS Center for Academic Success & Enrichment
[email protected]
Suggested Preview Reading for MGM Course
_________________________________________________________
Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews, Biochemistry by PC Champe et al (4th Edition,
2007, published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)
Thompson & Thompson, Genetics in Medicine by R.L. Nussbaum et al. (7th
Edition, 2007, published by Saunders)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------To help focus any summer previewing you do, consider that the MGM course
assumes incoming students will possess basic knowledge of these areas :
1. Mendelian inheritance and the concepts of dominant and recessive inheritance
(T &T p. 1-3, 115-147)
2. pH and buffering of pH change (L p. 6-9)
3. The structure of fatty acids including palmitic acid and oleic acid (L p. 181 and
182)
4. The structure of sugars, particularly glucose, fructose, ribose and deoxyribose (L
p. 83-86)
5. Knowledge of the structures of purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines
(uracil, cytosine and thymine). (L. p. 291 and 292)
6. An appreciation of the distinction between nucleosides and nucleotides and their
contribution to the structure of the nucleic acids, RNA and DNA (L p. 292, 395398, 417-418)
7. The general nature of alpha-amino acids and the distinction between acidic, basic
and
hydrophobic side chains (L p. 1-6)
8. The nature of the peptide bond and the contribution of amino acids to the
structure of proteins (L p.13-18)
9. The general nature of catalysis and the importance of enzymes as biological
catalysts (L p. 53-56)
10. The concepts of reaction equilibrium and free energy change (L p. 69-72)
11. The nature of ATP and its significance in metabolism (L p. 72-73)