Going from B.S. Bioengineering to Ph.D. Chemistry

[Dicer87]

I haven't posted much since starting my Ph.D. program this past fall, but I just wanted some advice on my current life path. I started out as a bioengineering major (high-ranked institution) but like oh so many other students, did not do so well in coursework (as is reflected by my shamefully low GPA haha). I then decided to work as a research associate in a biochemistry/biophysical lab on a small molecule screen before doing my master's in BME at a fairly low-ranked school. However, my master's thesis advisor suggested that I round out my education by possibly doing my Ph.D. in a different field, but can still be applicable to BME in the future. He was of the opinion that current BME curricula are not focused enough for either grad school or industry. So I applied and got accepted at a decently ranked institution for chemistry. Classes during the first semester were not that difficult, and I managed to do well in all of them in the end (despite being more biochem heavy than actual chemistry). I rotated in a few labs before joining a peptide chemistry lab. I found the research utterly fascinating but started to become a bit intimidated since it's been years since I actually took any significant chemistry (i.e. ochem, gen chem, etc.), which was nearly 7-8 years ago during my freshman/soph years (although my biochem is sufficient). My current advisor did warn me that his lab did have a significant amount of synthetic chemistry and that I would need to catch up in this area before really getting going on my primary research project. I guess some of my biggest concerns include my being intimidated by some of the other students who are purely "synthetic" chemists, my advisor feeling the need to give me such a warning, and just a personally induced anxiety that I don't really belong here. I fully do intend and am catching up in gen/ochem as quickly as possible but just cannot shake this feeling of dread and impending doom. Like I said, the research is absolutely awesome and can definitely relate to work I've done as a BME major, which makes sense from an interdisciplinary viewpoint.

 

1. Another thing I should mention is that I have never taken physical or inorganic chemistry. So should I read up/study on that even though my current lab does not heavily focus on them at all?

2. Anyone have any advice at all for me about this path? Anyone else gone through something similar and willing to impart some knowledge?

3. Assurances never hurt either haha

 

P.S. I should note that despite his warning, my PI did accept me without any reservations or conditions in the end.

[fuzzylogician]

I can't help with 1 or 2, but with regard to 3 and generally in life, it might help to assume people are well-meaning until proven otherwise. Since your advisor accepted you without reservations, and since it's indeed true and relevant that you haven't touched some of the material that's used in the lab in a long while, I'd take his "warning" as a factual description of his lab and a heads-up, which you should treat exactly as you have been - namely, as an opportunity to brush up on some of that stuff. I wouldn't over-interpret it, and I'd also refrain as much as possible from comparing yourself to others. I realize it's hard, but their backgrounds are different from yours, and more importantly their goals are probably also different. You were all accepted by your advisor and there is no reason why you can't all do a good job and graduate with good job market prospects. That aside, there's always going to be that annoying person that's better than you at [insert thing you are currently conscious about here]. Just ignore them!