Big fan of Esdin. His lectures were super interesting and engaging. He made learning a lot about particular diseases easy and manageable. The biggest difficulty I had with the class was with exams. Sometimes he would provide quizzes where I felt I could have benefited from a slightly longer
time. His exams were also difficult in the sense that he has a bank of questions and sometimes the questions correspond to details he never mentioned. Because of that you really have to grind for your grade. Workload was super manageable. The paper was interesting and doesn’t require too much time.

Dr. Esdin is probably one of the best lecturers at UCLA! This class is pretty fast paced, but it's basically
a continuation of 111B. A lot of the material should honestly just be review if you take this class the summer after finishing the PHYSCI core series. However, even if you're taking this at the end of your senior year, it should still be manageable. Dr. Esdin is great at teaching the material and is very clear at explaining topics. He also loves to try and make the lectures entertaining so the lectures aren't too boring to get through. However, the lectures are not recorded unless he specifically says he'll post a video after class ends (so make sure to come to class). The exams were somewhat difficult but were multiple-choice and online. There is no homework, but there are 5 quizzes based on papers that you read (similar to 111A/111B) and 2 lecture quizzes. There is also a research paper (8-10 pages) assigned week 2. He gives everyone their topics randomly and its due on the final week of class. The paper is pretty chill and I personally thought the research was actually pretty fun! Overall, the class is really insightful and applicable to real life. Its really interesting so take this class if you actually want to learn something cool and if you want to have a pretty chill summer.

Professor Esdin has been one of my favorite Professors at UCLA. This class in particular was invaluable as it covered very applicable lifestyle interventions to combat the cumulative/progressive nature of cardiovascular diseases. The subject matter was personal and engaging and his lecturing is definitely a strong suit. Readings and material was all relevant and the class was overall pretty awesome. I'm a bit partial since metabolism, diet, exercise, etc was already interesting to me, but I commuted to this 8am class (~1hr) and always felt interested. I think had the Professor been different that wouldn't be the case.

Dr. Esdin is one of the best professors at UCLA and I thoroughly enjoyed taking this class, even if it meant I had to wake up at 5 AM to get there by 8 AM as a commuter. I think the material is the most directly correlated course with real-life application and learning about how these diseases are caused and managed really enlightened my perspective on my own life. Overall the class consists of weekly (5 in total) research paper quizzes, 2 lecture quizzes (read the questions carefully, I have made dumb mistakes), 1 final research paper, a midterm, and a final (not cumulative). The workload is manageable if you are only taking this class, I studied about 2-5 hours a day, and 10 hours a day before exams, and did relatively well. Paper quizzes are occasionally loaded with DENSE questions but can also be full of easy ones, all depending on which end of the question pool you get. The research paper is on a subject he randomly assigns to you, and the goal is that he wants you to learn the most from the paper rather than just regurgitating to fill up the word count. In its entirety, you will enjoy the class and Esdin definitely makes the lecture worth your while (he's a funny guy!). The best recommendation would be to keep your 111B notes for the Cardiovasc and Liver/Kidney modules, they will be useful. Hope this helps!

Dr. Esdin is by far one of the coolest professors you’ll get in the PhySci department. He is clear and knowledgeable on the material, which makes grasping it easier. He makes everything you learn about apply to real life situations which really helps with peaking your interest in the class. Not to mention he’s funny and doesn’t let you get bored with the info. Esdin is also pretty understanding and if the class seems tired he lets you go early and posts the remainder of the lecture as a video on canvas. The exams were tough (34 questions, 50 minutes) because at times it didn’t feel like there was necessarily one clean answer, but if you study well and know your stuff you’ll do well. Our midterm average was an 85%.

Even if you’re not interested in the class I’d say take it just because Esdin is great.

I learned a lot of valuable information that can be applied in real life. Professor Esdin is passionate about teaching this class, and it shows through how he presents it. The test is difficult, but one can do good on it if they study hard. I will recommend this class to anyone who is interested in learning more about how their lifestyle and dietary choices can impact the development of chronic diseases.

The class was fairly easy and Professor Esdin was very accommodating.

100% recommend this course to anyone that wants to learn about the basics of diet and exercise or needs to fulfill the GE. I took this course because I heard great reviews from previous students and wanted to learn more about living a healthy lifestyle. I can say that the information that is taught in this course is extremely useful and I have changed my diet for the better.

Professor Esdin is also a great lecturer and very clear about the topics he goes over. The lectures are at a great pace and he posts all this materials onto canvas. The exams and quizzes are also very manageable if you pay attention in class and read through your notes. He is also very helpful during his office hours if you have any questions and he offers many insights beyond the scope of the course if you ask him about it. Amazing course overall.

Dr. Esdin is truly so genuine and sweet. I had a health issues this quarter and every time I would speak to him after lecture he would check up on me. If anyone has anything bad to say about him, I would not believe it!

His syllabus contains participation in lecture, participation in labs, 3 lab quizzes, 2 lecture quizzes, midterm exam, final project, and final exam. Overall, it is easy to accumulate points throughout the quarter. He also gave us about 8 points extra credit for evals and a survey he posted!

All exams and quizzes were administered online and are very fair! As long as you attend lectures regularly and read the course reader, you will get an A!

PhySci 5 is one of the most interesting courses I have taken at UCLA. Dr. Esdin is a wonderful professor who is respectful and cares about student learning. His lectures were engaging, clear, and very easy to follow. His office hours were extremely helpful as well in preparation for exams. He simplified the material so it's easier to understand and gives plenty of examples. Dr. Esdin is one of the best STEM professors teaching. He knows how to break down complicated physiological topics into small digestible chunks. Some of the topics we covered I still remember years later because of how impactful his teaching methods are.
The content is extremely interesting and relatable as it's about the diet we eat and how food impacts our health. This class covered a lot of useful topics about human physiology and nutrition, which is very useful as a pre-health student. As long as you pay attention during lecture and take good notes and keep up with the assignments, the class is very manageable. There is a final project that is time-consuming, so make sure you start early. This class was fun and I enjoyed studying for it. I definitely recommend you take him!