BS Biochemistry: Course and Careers

TL;DR: BS Biochemistry is a four-year science degree with no dedicated CHED memorandum order — schools build it under academic freedom, so curricula vary. There is no biochemistry board exam. But RA 10657, the Chemistry Profession Act of 2015, admits holders of "an allied degree" to the chemist licensure examination if they have earned at least 60 university units in chemistry including all the professional chemistry courses. Whether a specific biochemistry curriculum clears that bar is a question for PRC and the Board of Chemistry, and it is the single most important thing to check before you enrol.

Biochemistry sits on the seam between two departments, and that shows up in everything from which college runs the programme to whether you can get licensed afterwards. This guide covers what the degree actually contains, the regulatory position in plain terms, and what graduates do.

Why There Is No CHED Order for BS Biochemistry

CHED issued a batch of science programme standards in 2017, including CMO No. 47, series of 2017 for BS Chemistry and CMO No. 49, series of 2017 for BS Biology. There is no equivalent order for BS Biochemistry.

That is not an oversight so much as a consequence of how Philippine higher education regulation works. Section 13 of RA 7722, the Higher Education Act of 1994, gives higher education institutions academic freedom in their curricular offerings, subject to minimum requirements where CHED has prescribed them. Where CHED has not issued a programme-specific PSG, the school designs the curriculum and CHED regulates it through the government recognition process rather than through a curriculum table.

Practical consequences for you:

• Curricula vary more than usual between schools. Two BS Biochemistry programmes can look meaningfully different in chemistry unit load, which is the thing licensure hinges on.
• You must read the actual checklist. Do not assume. Ask the department for the current curriculum sheet with unit values.
• Programme recognition still applies. Ask which CHED government recognition covers this exact programme name.

CMO No. 47, s. 2017 does say something useful here: it names "the core disciplines of chemistry" as "inorganic, organic, analytical, physical chemistry and biochemistry." Biochemistry is treated as one of chemistry's core areas, not as a separate discipline — which is why the licensure route runs through the Board of Chemistry.

What the Curriculum Looks Like

Because there is no CHED template, the honest way to show the shape of the degree is to read a real, published curriculum. UP Manila's College of Arts and Sciences publishes its BS Biochemistry curriculum (version 2020), which totals 159 units over four years plus mid-semester terms. Its structure:

Chemistry spine (the professional sequence)

• Principles of Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry I and II
• Analytical Chemistry I, II and III
• Inorganic Chemistry I and II
• Physical Chemistry I, II and III

Biochemistry core

• Biochemistry I and II
• Biochemistry of the Gene
• Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Physical Biochemistry
• Biochemical Engineering
• Introduction to Bioinformatics and Cheminformatics
• Environmental Biochemistry
• Professional Ethics, Legal and Social Issues in Chemistry and Biochemistry

Supporting science and maths

• Integrated Principles of Biology, Microbiology
• Essentials of Analysis I, II and III, Elementary Statistics
• Elementary Physics I and II with laboratories
• Foundations of Biocomputing

Research and practicum

• Practicum (3 units), taken in the mid-semester after third year
• Seminar (1 unit)
• Research Methods in Biochemistry (3 units)
• Thesis (3 units)

Plus eight general education courses, two electives, PE and NSTP.

The electives list is a good indicator of what the field opens onto: Nutritional Biochemistry, Immunobiochemistry, Membrane Biochemistry, Bioenergetics, Industrial Biochemistry, Forensic Chemistry, Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry, Nutraceutical and Cosmeceutical Chemistry, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Nanochemistry, Polymer Chemistry and Chemistry of Natural Products.

This is one school's curriculum, offered as an illustration of the degree's shape. Unit counts and course lists differ by school. Confirm with the department you are applying to.

The Licensure Question, in Detail

There is no Professional Regulatory Board of Biochemistry. PRC supervises 46 professional regulatory boards, and the relevant one here is the Board of Chemistry.

RA 10657, the Chemistry Profession Act of 2015, sets out two licences.

Chemist

Section 16(c) requires an applicant to:

"Be a graduate of any higher educational institution and a holder of a degree of Bachelor of Science (BS) in Chemistry or an allied degree, the curricula of which are under the academic supervision of the CHED: Provided, That the applicant must have earned at least sixty (60) university units in chemistry which shall include all of the professional chemistry courses"

Two conditions, both of which matter:

1. An allied degree is acceptable. Biochemistry is not excluded by name.
2. At least 60 university units in chemistry, including all the professional chemistry courses. This is the real gate.

For context on how tight 60 units is: CMO No. 47, s. 2017 prescribes 54 units of chemistry core, 6 units of chemistry electives and 6 units of thesis and professional engagement for BS Chemistry, and the order footnotes all three as "counted towards the 60-unit course requirement of the R.A. 10657, Chemistry Profession Act of 2015." A purpose-built chemistry degree only just clears the bar with its electives and thesis counted in.

So the question for any BS Biochemistry programme is arithmetic. Count the chemistry units on the checklist. Then confirm with PRC and the Board of Chemistry whether that specific curriculum is accepted, in writing, before you enrol. A programme heavy on biology and light on physical and inorganic chemistry may not qualify, and finding out in fourth year is too late.

Exam structure. RA 10657 Section 17 lists the subjects as Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Inorganic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, with the relative weight of any subject capped at 30 percent and floored at 15 percent of the total. Section 22(a) sets passing at a general average of at least 70 percent with no rating below 50 percent in any subject.

PRC publishes the schedule and venues for each cycle. Dates move, so take them from PRC's own announcements.

Chemical technician

RA 10657 also regulates a second, lower tier. Section 18(c) requires at least 30 units of undergraduate chemistry courses from a CHED- or TESDA-recognised institution, including lecture and laboratory work in General Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. Section 19 sets the examination as Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry with equal weight, focused on practical laboratory aspects, with the same passing rule.

This is a genuine fallback worth knowing about if a curriculum falls short of 60 chemistry units.

For the wider picture of which degrees end in a PRC exam, see courses with board exams in the Philippines.

Where Biochemistry Graduates Work

CMO No. 47, s. 2017 describes the employment landscape for chemistry-cluster graduates, and it maps onto biochemistry closely. With a degree and a professional licence, a graduate "can be employed as laboratory chemist in industries and companies that deal with chemicals, food and beverage, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, oil and petroleum, mineral and metals, textile, agricultural products, pulp and paper, analytical chemistry services, quality control, research among others," and in government agencies with similar concerns, including crime laboratories for forensic analysis.

The order also notes that a chemistry degree holder "can also secure non-laboratory work such as science communication, technical writing, entrepreneurship, marketing and management, product sales, chemical information services, health and safety, intellectual property, project management."

For biochemistry specifically, the concentrations that hire most reliably are:

• Pharmaceutical and biotechnology — formulation, analytical development, quality control, regulatory affairs
• Diagnostics — assay development, reagent and product support
• Food and beverage — product development, labelling and nutritional analysis, quality assurance
• Research institutes and academe — research assistant roles, then graduate study for anything beyond
• Government laboratories — food and drug regulation, forensics, environmental testing

Two realities worth stating plainly. First, research careers in this field are graduate-degree careers; a bachelor's opens the door as a research assistant, and progression generally needs an MS or PhD. Second, CMO No. 47, s. 2017 notes that further training at MS and PhD level "would qualify graduates for tenured positions in the academe" — teaching at university level is not a fresh-graduate path.

Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biology or Molecular Biology?

These four degrees compete for the same applicants and the differences are easy to get wrong.

If licensure certainty is your priority, BS Chemistry removes the ambiguity. If you want molecular-level biological research or a pre-medicine footing with strong laboratory technique, biochemistry is the better fit — just do the unit arithmetic first.

Related reading: BS Biology in the Philippines, our BS Molecular Biology guide, and strand for medicine if the plan is medical school.

Preparing for the Programme

The STEM strand in senior high school is the natural preparation, mainly because of general chemistry, biology and pre-calculus. Our STEM strand guide covers what it contains. Students from other strands are usually admitted but should expect bridging work in maths and chemistry.

Be realistic about the workload. A biochemistry curriculum stacks 5-unit laboratory courses across several semesters, and physical chemistry is mathematically demanding. If you actively dislike maths, this is not the science degree for you — courses without much maths is a more honest starting point.

Tuition, laboratory fees and breakage deposits are set by each school and published on its own admissions pages. Laboratory-heavy degrees carry higher fees than the headline tuition suggests, so ask for the complete schedule of fees, including per-laboratory charges, before committing.

Sources

• CHED Memorandum Order No. 47, series of 2017 — PSG for BS Chemistry (official PDF)
• CHED Memorandum Order No. 49, series of 2017 — PSG for BS Biology (official PDF)
• LawPhil — Republic Act No. 10657, Chemistry Profession Act of 2015
• UP Manila College of Arts and Sciences — BS Biochemistry curriculum v.2020 (official PDF)
• Professional Regulation Commission — Professional Regulatory Boards
• SchoolFinderPH — BS Biology in the Philippines
• SchoolFinderPH — Courses With Board Exams