Author Archives: Kenny Lin

BIOL 300: Fundamentals of Biostatistics (Review)

Posted on May 23, 2020 | Leave a comment

We all know statistics courses can be relatively dry, but BIOL 300 spices things up with interesting biological examples! BIOL 300 is an introductory level statistics course at UBC, which fulfills the statistics requirement for life science majors.

format of the course

The format of this course is usually what you see in most science courses. What makes this course unique is the lab component, where you learn computer coding. Wait … computer coding in a statistics course? It turns out that most statistical analyses are tedious to do by hand, so instead we learned how to automate these calculations. In class, we learned about the different statistical approaches for different contexts, while in lab we learned how to actually run these analyses. Continue reading →

Tips to Ace Your Classes

Posted on May 23, 2020 | Leave a comment

Whether you’re a fresh first year or a seasoned fourth year, a good study routine is essential to doing well in school. Here are some tips, that I personally follow!

Taking notes in class

Many people tend to use a notepad/notebook to lectures fore notetaking; however, I discourage you from doing this. This is an inefficient form of note-taking, because people tend to copy down what’s shown on the slides instead of paying attention to the lecturer! Instead, I encourage you to bring a device, where you can annotate the (usually posted) pre-lecture slides. By doing this, you can write down things that the lecturer mentions, which are NOT on the slides and be more engaged.

In this regard, I personally used an iPad and apple pencil. It keeps my backpack light and all my notes in one place. I strongly recommend investing in one, or a similar note-taking device. Continue reading →

PCTH 325: Rational Basis of Drug Therapy (Review)

Posted on May 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

Ever wanted to learn about drugs, but in a stress-free course? Well PCTH 325 is the course for you! PCTH 325 is a pharmacology course at UBC, targeted towards life science students. The goal of this course is to inform students about the common drugs used to treat illnesses in different body systems, as well as give a glimpse into how new drugs make it to the market.

Format of the course

I found the format of this course to be more unique than your average science course. There is no single lecturer in this course, instead, there is a new lecturer every two or three lectures. The backgrounds of these lecturers are incredibly expansive, ranging from an anesthesiologist to a statistician, who are all experts in their portions of the lectures! I came out of this course feeling more informed and appreciative of the pharmacology field. Continue reading →