Information for Students and Applicants

Prerequisite Biochemistry Knowledge for Alaska WWAMI First-Year Students

Alaska WWAMI's first-year medical students are expected to understand the following:

• Acid-Base chemistry


• Concept of pK_a


• Amino acids


• Proteins


• Hemoglobin


• Myoglobin


• Collagen


• Enzyme action


• Enzyme kinetics


• Plasma membranes


• Principles of energetics

In addition, a basic understanding of genetic principles and the fundamentals of cell biology (cell division, cell organelles, etc.) is expected.

The depth of knowledge should be at the level of an upper-division Biochemistry class. You may want to look at standard Biochemistry textbooks (Principles of Biochemistry by Nelson & Cox; or Biochemistry by Champe et.al.) to refresh your knowledge of these prerequisite topics.