Here are some recommendations to improve your score in the Bio Biochem section:
1. Know your amino acids! We have been saying it since the beginning of class, but the AAMC really REALLY loves testing amino acids. Be sure to memorize the one letter codes, the three letter codes, the structures, and the properties of all 20 amino acids.
2. Solidify your content knowledge. There is a LOT of detailed information in the Bio Biochem section, and there are a few different ways that you can approach it, depending on your learning style and size of the content gap.
For large content gaps, consider making a study sheet. For example, if you haven’t reviewed the kidney yet, you would make a sheet with the parts and functions of the nephron, the hormones that regulate fluid balance, and other bodily functions the kidney performs.
For small details, you can make flashcards, write down the facts in a notebook, or make notes in your lessons learned journal. As you continue reviewing, you will see this reference grow — a nice marker of your progress!
3. Get comfortable with academic journals. Yep, there are a lot of experiment-based passages on the MCAT, and that is not going away after medical school. You will be reading academic literature for the rest of your life, so embrace it now! To build your analytical skills, read the results section of a journal article and come up with your own conclusions. Then read the conclusions section and see if your thoughts align with those of the authors. If not, go back and analyze the data again looking for how the authors’ conclusions are justified by the data.