The aim of this study was to determine the value of a system of seminars on clinically related biochemistry topics for undergraduate students in medicine and nutrition at the University of Brasilia, Brazil. During the second semester of 1998 (1998-2), the teaching staff decided to establish new and stricter rules for the seminar method and to adopt a system of peer tutoring, whereby former good to excellent students of the class Bioquimica e Biofisica helped in the planning and preparation of the oral presentations. The average performance grades for the seminars in the first semester of 1998 (1998-1) (7.19 + 1.42) were significantly lower than those for the following semesters (ranging from 8.10 to 8.91), indicating some degree of success with the new system. We also conducted, by means of questionnaires, an evaluation (scores ranging from 0 to 4) of each student seminar (14 topics) in relation to the overall biochemistry learning experience connected to the clinical expectations of the students. All seminars but one averaged above 3.0. Moreover, when asked whether (i) the seminars were relevant to a more clinical approach to biochemistry and whether (ii) the oral presentations could be viewed as valid tools for the understanding of biochemistry, 96% (n = 188) and 80.6% (n = 150) of the students, respectively, answered, yes. The students also scored the work of the peer tutors high (ranging from 3.38 to 3.90, out of 4). A seminar system for a clinically related biochemistry course may also open the minds of students about the relevance of biochemistry to their future medical or nutritional practices. (Contains 1 table.)