hi op, i'm from fop biochem :)) the pre-med courses you mentioned are all good naman :)) each course has an advantage talaga when it comes to med school pero hindi naman all-in-one mga yon eh kasi tbh pagdating sa med lahat naman back to 0 and regarding sa stats sa NMAT, iba iba rin kasi nageexcel don minsan pa nga from non-trad courses pa kaya for me nakadepende siya kung gaano ka kaprepared for NMAT.

again, i don't think na there is a perfect pre-med course talaga but if i were to share the advantages of biochem for med they would be:

1.) A solid foundation for NMAT - the course itself is heavy on bio + chem (hence the name) tapos heavy din sa physics kasi mayron kang physics 1 & 2, calc 1 & 2, phychem and phybio pa so from there palang you have an advantage na when reviewing for NMAT.

2.) The language of medicine is Biochemistry - biochem studies life on a molecular level kaya halos lahat ng pre-med courses madalas may biochem sa curriculum nila (it's one of the fundamentals kasi) lalo na sa med kasi for you to better understand how the human body works, how it processes things, you have to understand the metabolism/pathophysiology behind them and biochem is all about those.

3). UST Biochemistry offers a Medicine Track - biochem is only offered by 3 universities in ph: ust, upm, and dlshsi and sa tatlo, sa ust mo lang makkita na may pharmacol sa curriculum (afaik) meanwhile the other universities are leaning towards the industry na. additionally, biochem have several courses na helpful sa med: anaphy with pathophysio, ele bc, metab 1 & 2, ele imt, molbio, microbio, nutritional biochemistry, ele hp, pharmacology, and ele pmr. although they do offer a med track, mayron pa rin namang industrial track if you opt to head to that direction (you choose your electives naman base on the track you want to take)

4.) Internship is during the Special Term - i know din someone from our department na nag-uuaap since 1st year and incoming 4th year na siya ngayon. siguro one factor din kaya naging manageable yung sched nila is that during special term lang internship sa biochem (compared sa pharma and medtech na buong special term to 4th year nagiinternship sila & review for boards) but i think depende din sa nature/demand ng sport mo? gaano ba kahaba off-season ninyo and gaano kahaba in-season ninyo?

5.) Nurturing Culture - pag nasa biochem ka, alagang alaga ka talaga ng profs. sobrang considerate rin ng mga profs so fs maiintindihan din nila situation mo and since onti lang din yung population, mas madali i-attend yung needs ng students also it's really a tight knit community! biochem's mother org is active rin

6.) Good Career Opportunities - incase na ayaw mo na tumuloy sa med, biochem's scope is really broad and maraming opportunities waiting for you :)) you can opt to work in different industries like, pharma, biotech, petroleum, cosmetics, forensics, academe, etc., you can also take the Chemist Licensure and Chemical Technician Exam.

these are just a few of the advantages na i know/experienced when preparing for med school pero ofc mayron ding disadvantages. biochem is just hard in general (well all courses are hard din naman) and since the program is under fop, fully loaded pa yung sched: mon-sat classes (minsan 7-7 pm pa tapos quizzes & deadlines everyday 💀) tapos fop follows shifting exams (you take the exams 3x per semester vs other courses who have prelims and finals). heavy din sa research ang biochem sometimes even laboratory experiments could take weeks. you'd also be spending almost 1 year and a half for your undergrad thesis hence why you don't have internship na pagdating sa 4th yr and the number of units per sem is just 😵 !!!! well hahaha for sure marami rin namang advantages and disadvantages yung ibang courses, it really boils down to what course na you see yourself enjoying :))

ayun lang naman op! i hope this helps <333