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Studying Biochemistry in Nigeria: Requirements, Challenges & Job Opportunities
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Jan 5, 2025
Thinking about a Biochemistry degree in Nigeria? This video gives you the lowdown on what to expect. Discover the unique challenges faced by Biochemistry students, from inadequate laboratory facilities to limited research opportunities. But don't worry, we'll also explore the bright side! Learn about the diverse job prospects available to Biochemistry graduates in various sectors like healthcare, pharmaceuticals, food science, and research. Get insights from current students and professionals to help you make an informed decision about your academic journey. #biochemistry #university #challenges #jobopportunities #careers #education #science #nigeria
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0:00
good afternoon good afternoon uh what's
0:02
the name CH okay nice to meet you what
0:04
about you Joel Joel are you guys about
0:07
chemistry students right third year okay
0:10
so what is bioch chemistry as a course
0:11
in University in layman terms it's just
0:15
like the chemistry of biology like
0:17
studying the chemistry of how the body
0:19
works and also like the breaking down of
0:21
like biomolecules like proteins
0:23
carbohydrates lipids and how they help
0:26
like the body biologically like
0:28
reproduction respiration nutrition
0:31
essentially that okay okay so how how
0:35
demanding is this C like does he give
0:37
you the opportunity to like know do all
0:39
that things or it's just my about
0:41
chemistry 100% uh it's very demanding to
0:44
say the least but um I think at the end
0:46
of the day it's just how you handle it
0:48
and all because um it's very demanding
0:51
sh nothing much it's just as a student
0:53
you have to just fix it okay but then if
0:55
you can actually plan very well you can
0:57
yeah you you navigate through it
0:58
obviously okay okay so
1:00
biochemistry right it's from biology and
1:03
chemistry right okay so basically you
1:05
guys study biology and chemistry in an
1:07
advanced level we have we study more of
1:10
the like chemistry in biology than the
1:12
biology in chemistry okay that's it okay
1:15
okay the chemical processes of what's
1:18
going on biologies so let's say for a
1:20
student that did not get a good
1:22
foundation of chemistry or biology uh in
1:26
secondary school is it possible for that
1:29
student to study by chemistry and do
1:31
very well here at the University I don't
1:34
really know because you need to have
1:36
like a sound knowledge of both of them
1:38
and not just not not just chemistry and
1:40
biology you need to have a sound
1:41
knowledge of math too because there's
1:44
there a lot of calculation in chemistry
1:46
and like even biological like cses there
1:48
are lot of like calculation so but I
1:51
think you just you just have to know it
1:52
because even in your first year in here
1:54
in un you do by 151 you do k11 and by1
1:59
is like a three unit load 3 unit load
2:01
and you need to pass it like it's a it's
2:03
a big perquisite not just in biological
2:06
sciences but in any Sciences like math
2:09
biology and chemistry is like very
2:11
essential like for like a science
2:13
student like you need to like focus on
2:14
that yeah okay so how many what's the
2:17
course duration how many years do you
2:18
study this course at University um it's
2:20
four but I think for upcoming years now
2:22
they making it five okay okay so you're
2:24
trying to make it 5 years yeah and do
2:27
you guys go for it at any Lev level uh
2:31
yes for now we attend it with our
2:34
classes so okay but I think for the I
2:36
don't know how they are planning to do
2:37
it for the coming years which I said is
2:39
five but for now we are going to
2:41
attending it as well as classes at the
2:43
same time okay okay okay so uh what are
2:46
the opportunities are avilable for
2:48
graduates of this course like after you
2:50
finish school what are the
2:52
opportunities first of all a lecturer
2:54
but I don't not everyone wants to be a
2:56
lecturer you also have a biomedical
2:59
researcher those are are like people
3:00
that want to go into like Health Care to
3:02
see how like biochemistry cuz
3:04
biochemistry is like a breakthrough for
3:05
a lot of things for a lot of like cancer
3:07
research like different types of
3:09
research so you can either be like a
3:11
biomedical researcher like an academic
3:14
researcher you can also like be lab
3:17
technician yeah that type of thing okay
3:20
so uh how would you describe have you
3:24
had have you had any like challenging
3:26
experience so far from your first year
3:27
to this level based on like as a about
3:30
chemistry students it could be any
3:32
mistake you've made in a time pass or
3:33
something you wish you could correct uh
3:36
the thing is I think the journey have
3:38
been good so far but it's just there was
3:42
a time I did not read for an exam or
3:45
study hard for an exam so it eventually
3:48
ended up spiting me back so if there's
3:51
any mistake I'll try to correct is maybe
3:53
trying to read for that particular exam
3:56
and then probably do well in it you
3:58
understand so if like my advice to
4:02
people coming in saying they are they
4:04
want to study biochemistry is you just
4:07
have to be ready study out and then
4:08
everything will be fine at the end of
4:10
the day okay thank you very much so how
4:12
would you describe the typical day of a
4:15
about chemistry students and the
4:17
university based on your schedule like
4:19
when you wake up in the morning like how
4:21
does it go when do you guys finish
4:23
classes uh do you guys go for like
4:26
Saturday class okay basically like for
4:28
this semester we have morning classes we
4:32
also have practicals practicals like
4:34
from 2: to 5: and it's compuls to attend
4:37
because obviously you need to know like
4:39
know what you are
4:40
doing like not to make mistakes and also
4:44
it depends start from 8 sometimes your
4:46
day can end early maybe around 12 or 1
4:49
if there's practical probably
4:51
5 and also that's um lecturers that like
4:54
want to assist can also like fix classes
4:57
to elaborate more on the topics that
5:00
they were assigned to teach you so you
5:01
can have fixed classes like it depends
5:03
on the day and not only like we don't
5:05
only like do biochemistry like
5:07
biological science courses you're also
5:08
doing like other like auxiliary courses
5:11
like starts computer and this thing ggs
5:15
that General Studies program which is
5:17
like Universal for everybody so yes I
5:20
think you just have to be like focused
5:23
wake up early attend your classes like
5:25
attend your practicals especially
5:27
because like it's a practical lied
5:29
course it's not just theoretical so it's
5:31
more of practical so attend your
5:33
practicals attend your classes read up
5:35
on your materials and you have to like
5:37
read reads so it means it's demanding
5:40
okay something just came to my mind
5:41
because one thing I've always heard
5:43
about bi chemistry is that in like all
5:45
the universities in Nigeria about
5:47
chemistry is a difficult course like
5:50
when you're talking about first class
5:51
like they say they don't produce first
5:53
class I don't know if that's true like
5:55
can you just clarify me on that uh I
5:57
don't I can't say really but um it's
6:00
difficult for me it's difficult you
6:02
understand but maybe about producing
6:04
first classes I don't I don't know about
6:06
that I can say but have you heard
6:08
something like about chemistry is
6:09
difficult that they don't even produce
6:11
obviously like depending on like this
6:13
like the cost of studying about
6:15
chemistry is like it's hard because the
6:18
amount of Pathways you have to keep in
6:20
your head the amount of names everything
6:23
just like overlaps so whether you are
6:26
yeah whether you studying medicine like
6:29
phy see biochemistry like as it's a an
6:32
alone course it's difficult because you
6:34
can't study anything medical or anything
6:37
Health without studying biochemistry
6:39
because it's it's that important yeah so
6:41
obviously you're dealing with health and
6:43
you're also dealing with like dayto Day
6:45
activities so obviously you have to be
6:47
very careful and those type of things
6:49
are not something like you can learn in
6:51
two days something that takes even after
6:53
like these four years you have to like
6:55
read like progress your Masters your PhD
6:58
maybe going to another like Health cost
7:01
or something like that so it's it's
7:02
demanding and it's hard show how to show
7:05
how rigorous it is Pharmacy too they
7:08
have something call in pharmaceutical
7:10
biochemistry okay I think there's also
7:12
medical biochemistry too so it's not
7:14
like it's not so it's very very rigorous
7:17
at the end of the day you get so talking
7:19
about this part we it involves crumming
7:21
right it's it doesn't just involve
7:24
cramming you need to understand it
7:26
because if you say oh I want maybe
7:28
you're in 200 level and you want to cram
7:30
it for your bch2 one exam you're going
7:33
to need it in bch 3 something or bch 4
7:35
something even after you leave the
7:37
school like it's something like it has
7:39
to be a part of you it should be your
7:41
like morning prayer s like as you waking
7:43
up you are reciting your gtic pathway
7:46
your TCA cycle like everything that
7:48
should be some part of you yeah so
7:50
talking about like study technique is it
7:52
like you go for n9th classes or you read
7:54
during the day like and the thing is
7:57
everybody have how they like navigate
8:00
through things for me personally I don't
8:02
attend night classes because I think I
8:04
attended twice and I slept off so what I
8:07
do is is that I read at home I read in
8:09
school so that's I just navigate through
8:11
what I do okay so uh lastly I want to
8:15
ask what advice do you have for a
8:17
student that is trying to apply to study
8:20
about chemistry at the University first
8:22
I think you need to like like every
8:24
other course if you're passionate about
8:26
it like approach it with an open mind
8:28
don't be close-minded and like
8:30
oh it looks difficult I don't think I
8:31
will understand it I don't think I'll
8:33
know it because most of us you we we to
8:37
don't know because that's that's why
8:38
you're in school first of all to know it
8:40
so but if you're coming with that
8:41
mindset like oh it's too hard I don't I
8:43
would just want to cram it and go it be
8:45
like a waste of your 4 years so you just
8:47
come with come to class come with it an
8:48
open mind always like ask the lecturers
8:51
question have study groups and one of
8:53
the things that also like helps is also
8:55
YouTube videos like watch YouTube videos
8:58
like talk with your friends
9:00
like me now like like those now if I
9:04
read on my own can get confusing and
9:06
over stimulating so what I do is that I
9:08
meet a friend like who knows it or
9:11
someone like just have like a brief
9:13
knowledge about it so we can just
9:15
discuss about it and use like our own
9:17
layman terms so like when I'm reading it
9:19
on my own I can know something like
9:22
somebody use it as a joke or something
9:24
like that then remember it I use
9:25
pneumonics too there are different type
9:27
of study techniques because like you
9:29
said nightcloud doesn't like work for
9:30
everybody someone like me I might sleep
9:33
off might be too strous it can work for
9:34
me sometimes but not all the time I
9:36
think just find the study technique that
9:38
work for you just find it find the
9:40
technique that work for you because it
9:41
doesn't work for everybody also also you
9:44
should just have like a background
9:46
knowledge of all these things
9:48
biochemistry per you should know like
9:50
biology chemistry because I think CB
9:52
cycle I've had of crep cycle in my
9:54
biology only for me to come here now 200
9:57
level I'm seeing T TCA cycle meaning
10:00
that that's SCP cycle like it was then I
10:02
was trying to like connect the dots
10:03
which I should have done since so I
10:05
think you should just have to be good in
10:07
your Secondary School level before like
10:09
even coming here to further
10:13
more so what subjects are required to
10:16
study disc I mean all level subjects
10:18
okay like w yeah your W NE for me my w
10:22
what I most the three most important is
10:25
obviously your bi your biology your
10:26
Chemistry your physics math
10:29
English um I did economics it's not
10:34
compul at the end of day they just speak
10:37
like five which are English mask just
10:40
five the jam coures the jam courses are
10:43
what is most important that's your bio
10:45
your chem physics and English Okay so
10:47
biology chemistry physics and English
10:49
that's your like jam courses then O
10:52
level is just like your normal science
10:54
courses just pass pass everything with
10:57
at least should I say a credit or
11:01
C don't get it these days don't get it
11:03
all right all right so you've seen the
11:05
old level requirements and everything
11:06
you need to know about this course so uh
11:09
thank you very much I really appreciate
11:10
thanks guys you're welcome
11:15
[Music]
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