I had Diego for MCDB 108A many moons ago and am now a medical student. I couldn't apply to some medical schools because of how low my biochem grade was. The worst professor I've ever had in the entirety of my 7 years in higher education.

If I could offer a fellow undergraduate any good advice, it would be to take this course in summer or spring with another professor. I'm having a significantly better experience in spring. This class was poorly organized, you don't know the span or depth of knowledge needed for the exams. Exams are unnecessarily long and difficult.

If it weren't for the exams, I actually would not have minded Diego's lecturing style, although he tends to over-simplify things to the point where its confusing. The exams were impossible. The final took me all 4 hours and I cried after. Absolutely crushing. Hardest test I've ever taken, and I'm a straight A student. Beware of the tests, esp final

Doesn't give any indication of what to expect on exams and says everything is fair game, so be prepared to study 24/7 and still get blindsided by unexpected questions. Sure, he gets you to "think like a researcher" by doing this but it is extremely unfair to not tell your students what to prepare for, especially for an INTRO biochem course.

Worst professor I've ever taken. This class ruined both my mental and physical health and any class that does that is bad. I studied like my life depended on this class and all he does is gloat about how hard his class is.

The hardest class I've ever taken at UCSB. He explains very briefly each slide which are all pictures and one sentence. He gives you scraps to learn, but the tests are 10x harder (esp. final) and tests on application. I tried reading the book, but it didn't help at all. This is the class that I went above and beyond for, and my efforts were wasted.