Drs. MacDonald and Chaney write biochemistry text

From left: Richard MacDonald, Ph.D., and William Chaney, Ph.D., with the biochemistry text they co-authored.

When Richard MacDonald, Ph.D., Professor, and William Chaney, Ph.D., were asked to write a United States Medical Licensure Exam book on biochemistry, neither had ever written a review book before.

But both are glad they did it.

“It helped us learn to focus on what our students really need to know and how to apply that knowledge clinically,” Dr. Chaney said.

“It also helped us write better exam questions for our students,” Dr. MacDonald said.

Dr. Chaney is an associate professor and Dr. MacDonald is a professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at UNMC. Both serve as lecturers and directors of the cellular processes core of the first-year medical curriculum.

All medical students are required to take Step One of the USMLE at the end of their second year before they can continue on, Dr. Chaney said.

The USMLE Road Map Biochemistry is one of many review books students can use to help prepare for the test.

It was published in July by McGraw-Hill and is available for purchase at the UNMC Bookstore.

The book covers topics such as protein structure and function, cell signaling, cancer biology and human genetics.

It is written in an outline format covering each topic, the function in the body with clinical correlation sprinkled throughout the text.

Each of the fourteen chapters ends with examples of several clinical problems and possible solutions, followed by the answers.

Drs. MacDonald and Chaney worked on the book for two-and-a-half years.

“Ultimately we did it because we wanted to improve our understanding of biochemistry for our own students,” Dr. MacDonald said.