In my US chemistry undergrad program, we were required to memorize ~40 elements that were frequently used. We had reference material available to us in the test packets, but the test time given was so low that if you hadn't memorized those elements, you didn't have time to finish the test.

Our general chemistry class was one of the hardest classes you could take and much of the grading seemed unfair. Very minor mistakes that could propagate throughout your calculations would lose full points. There was never enough time for exams: you were expected to be very sure of how to run your calculations, there wasn't extra time for you to be unsure or have to redo an entire question because you messed up. It truly sucked.

That said, it was very effective at graduating competent chemists. I didn't trust any of the biologists, nurses, pharmacists, etc. to do even basic unit conversions unless they took that class. You can often tell well into someone's professional career if they went through such a rigorous training program because many of the calculations and principles we learned in this class are ones we use daily. I run into PhDs in biology fields who don't know the difference between molar and molarity, ones who are inconsistent at converting masses to mols, etc.

It's embarrassing to reach that point in your career and lack these basic skills. I'll hear, "yeah, but they aren't chemists, so it's not so important that they know these things." If that's so, then why do they need to do it as part of their job? Skills like these are agnostic to degrees and positions, it's like learning basic arithmetic for most scientists.

I fucking hated that class and the professor for putting us through that, but that faded quickly with time. He made the rest of our education easier and prepared us well for the work that was ahead.