The weekly online quizzes are a pain because they quiz you on a new research paper each time and some of those papers were so boring and hard to get through. In a way, it's a continuation of MDSC 203 but with more of a focus on applying the skills we learned (understanding research papers and writing our own papers). The two papers you need to write can feel overwhelming because of how much they counted towards (especially for me who had been told in MDSC 203 that my writing style was "really weird"). But once again Hendrikse was a super reasonable prof that was willing to give extensions if needed (especially because this was the start of COVID lockdowns so all of our Winter 2020 classes were suddenly moved online halfway through the semester.

Read research papers, read some more research papers, find your own research papers to read, write your own research papers. But in all honesty, it is a very useful class, it really teaches you how to research and it's a skill you will continue to use for possibly the rest of your life.

Again Hendrikse is a little odd at times and I had the luck of being assigned to his small discussion group rather than one led by a TA, but he was always very kind and keeps students engaged.

For the weekly quizzes they are so much easier if you print out the paper (they are open book so you can have the paper there with you), and when you read it ahead of time use a colour coding system when you highlight so that important information is easy to find (ex. orange for important data results, yellow for key terms, green for misc information you think may be important, etc.).

The class will be easiest if you stay on top of reading the papers assigned each week. The individual assignments can be tricky because, for most, this is their first time writing scientific papers of this calibre, but the profs understand that and give us numerous times to discuss the assignments one on one with the TAs. The group assignments are fairly easy and enjoyable as long as everyone works equally hard (the groups are assigned to us). Presentation day can be a nightmare but just know that everyone is equally stressed. All in all, you'll be ok :D

This class is a class that all students in the undergrad ******* school of medicine programs take, so that means we all learn topics relating to biomedical sciences, bioinformatics, and health and society. You don't actually learn "content" in this class necessarily, it's more about learning how to research/read/understand/write scientific papers. During class, you will learn some random topics in medicine but there is no final exam or tests that test your knowledge of what has been learned (the final project is the last thing you do in this course).

The professors (there are actually two, Hendrikse and Anderson) are very intimidating at first but once you get to know them they are very kind and very willing to help (especially Hendrikse). Just don't be surprised when Hendrikse is explaining a concept and uses the example of him being a bachelor NUMEROUS times.

Going into this class I was terrified because this was the MDSC class and biomedical sciences is an honours program so it will probably be really hard. But I soon learned that due to the small program size (it's the smallest program offered at the U of C), the profs and TAs really get to know you well and are very kind and considerate if you are ever struggling and need to ask for help.