Prep for chemistry PhD is as hard as for physics

In his commentary in the March 2019 issue of Physics Today (page 10 ), Sankar Das Sarma opined that “all-encompassing expertise merely to begin their thesis research is essentially unthinkable in chemistry.”

I received my PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1977. Before students could begin their research in that department, they had to demonstrate graduate-level expertise in all areas of chemistry, even those seemingly unrelated to their research. Thus I also had to pass courses for inorganic and physical chemistry.

To become a PhD candidate, one then had to pass six, hours-long cumulative exams given periodically over two years. The questions depended on the specialty of the professor who set the exam. If that was photochemistry, then the questions were all about that field; likewise for physical organic chemistry, natural products, and so on. Moreover, questions were sometimes written in German; if you could not understand them, then too bad for you! Most students taking one of those exams did not receive a passing grade.

I am left to conclude either that educational standards in the physical sciences have declined considerably over the years or that Das Sarma’s institution is an anomaly.