Remembering Biochemistry: A study of the patterns of loss of biochemical knowledge in medical students

Abstract

A questionnaire consisting of twenty-five multiple-choice biochemistry questions was given to a random sample of students one year (N = 100), three years (N = 60), five years (N = 49), and eight years (N = 20), after passing the examination ‘biochemistry in medical studies’ (first course). The results showed increasing memory loss with time, falling to the level ‘C’ just one year after examination, independent of the level obtained beforehand. The results also suggest that the areas in which students more frequently need to use the knowledge in the following years of medical studies (eg metabolism of carbohydrates and enzymes) are better preserved than those in which there has been no need of its use (biomolecules and genetics, mainly). No relationship was observed between social or personal factors and the phenomenon of remembering biochemical information.