I took Dr. Heyboer for ochem 1&2 for F25 and Sp26. He is a new professor (F25 was his first semester teaching at UVA), having only recently earned his PhD from Emory in 2025. That being said, he is still a very good instructor. His lectures are extremely organized, he is very kind and understanding, and genuinely wants you to succeed, though he won’t make it easy. I hope this review will be useful to our future doctors :)

Textbook: Organic Chemistry, 4th Edition By David Klein

Format:
Two lectures and one discussion per week. The lectures consist of a few polleverywhere questions in the beginning (ungraded), followed by an hour of lecture where he walks through the content in the slides (which are always published before class). He also makes sure to have time for practice problems sprinkled throughout the lecture where you can apply the stuff you just learned. The discussion is 2 hours per week, during which you will complete a worksheet 6-8 pages long with a group that you are assigned to covering the content you learned from lecture that week. There are TAs (and sometimes Dr. Heyboer) that walk around which you can ask for help. Still, the discussion typically took me the entire 2 hours, but you can get a head start on it since he always publishes the worksheet beforehand (he does encourage you start it during discussion time, though). Also, there is an online homework set and quiz every week.

Content:
The course is kind of based on what the MCAT tests.
for ochem 1, in order:
Chapter 1, gen chem review
Chapter 2, molecular representations (drawing stuff)
Chapter 3, acids and bases
Chapter 4, alkanes and cycloalkanes
Chapter 5, stereoisomers
Chapter 6, chemical reactivity and mechanisms
Chapter 7, Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2 rxns
Chapter 8, alkene addition reactions
Chapter 9, alkynes
Chapter 14, IR spectroscopy
Chapter 10, radical reactions
Chapter 17, aromatic compounds
Also, he does not put an emphasis on nomenclature or pKa memorization. I think we only had one exam question on the first exam in the fall naming molecules, and it was literally like 2-methylpentane. In general, he favors conceptual, mechanistic understanding over pure memorization (it's still a lot of memorization, unfortunately).

Character:
Dr. Heyboer is extremely kind. He understands that most of the class are pre-meds, and that organic chemistry is difficult. He never makes anyone feel stupid for asking a question, is very patient with his students, and tells you honestly when he cannot give a satisfying answer. He is responsive by email and very approachable. He only runs office hours twice a week, but he is frequently in his office outside those times if you want to ask questions.

Exams:
There are 3 midterms and 1 final. The midterms are taken during discussion time, so you have 2 hours to complete each. They are a mix of draw the mechanism, predict the products, provide reagents, conceptual reasoning, and synthesis problems. In my experience, the questions tend to be slightly more difficult than anything presented in the textbook, lecture, or discussion. He likes to add a lot of intramolecular reactions and questions that bridge different topics/reactions. As mentioned previously, he emphasizes conceptual understanding, so there are often questions just asking you to explain concepts and draw structures to prove understanding. If after the exam he sees that one of the questions was answered disproportionally wrong, he will give everyone points for that question. From what I have heard about other professors, his exams lean toward the more challenging end. This leads into one of my biggest gripes about his course, which is his "C is average" mindset. He'll tell you "you're doing just fine" if you are in the 60-80 range, which for a class full of pre-meds can be a bit discouraging. Although I understand that the class is difficult and a C average can be a good benchmark, I think he should make his exams solely be a representation of what he wants you to take away from the lessons, regardless of what the prospective average will be. Anyways, sorry for the tangent.

Grading:
For my cohort, the grading scheme was as follows:
10% Homework
10% Quizzes
10% Discussion
45% Midterms
25% Final
Additionally, there are either midterm reflections for extra credit, or exam corrections for 1/2 points back.
93.0 is an A, thankfully (no rounding though)

Final thoughts:
Consider taking Dr. Heyboer if you are reasonably smart, willing to put in the time and effort, and want to have a strong foundation for the MCAT. If you think that you will struggle a lot with organic chemistry and just need the A, consider taking a professor whose grading/exams are more lenient.

Lastly, please stop calling it “orgo” because it makes no sense, the second “o” doesn’t stand for anything, “ochem” is just way more consistent with gen chem, pchem, etc…

Best of luck!