Depends on what part. Curing diseases is quite a large area - how do you want to cure the disease? Let's say cancer. you can cure cancer by drugs, but you could also just chop the cancer out. If it's an unnecessary organ just chop the organ out even. Or you can use radiation. Chemistry can help with the first way, but you don't need any chemistry for the other 2 ways.
Chemistry is unique. It is a very applied science and it teaches you more about "how to think" and gives you the tools to apply your knowledge to practical problems, rather than rote memorization or brute force problem solving. Of course, that doesn't mean there won't be problems to do, but there's truly very little memorization needed.
You'll first learn general chemistry concepts such as stoichiometry, properties of the elements, introduction to atomic structure, basic chemical thermodynamics and chemical equilibria. This is prerequisite background knowledge to understanding any chemistry. Then you'll take organic chemistry, which will teach compound naming, reaction mechanisms, introduction to analytical techniques (that's where I got introduction to GCMS, IR and NMR), and design of synthesis pathways with applications to polymers, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals (this is why I said chemistry is about learning how to think and gaining useful tools, since the same concepts can be applied to things from fuel cells to liver cells). Then you'll take inorganic chemistry which teaches transition metal chemistry, mostly electronic structure, organometallic compounds and applications to catalysis and biochemistry. At the same time, you'll take instrumental analysis where you learn the practical tools needed to investigate chemical problems and the theory behind their operation - HPLC, GCMS, IR, NMR, Absorption/Emission/Luminesence Spectroscopy, interfacing and programming of instruments and statistics. Then you'll finally take physical chemistry, which is the investigation of the physics of chemical reactions: quantum mechanics (structure and spectroscopy), advanced chemical thermodynamics, advanced chemical kinetics, transport phenomena and statistical mechanics.
In addition to these 4 main areas (organic, inorganic, analytical and physical) you will take required labs in each area and take 5-6 electives to specialize in a certain area: organic, inorganic, analytical, environmental, materials, biochemistry, chemical engineering or computation. My school accepts Chemistry electives from Geology, Physics, Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering and Biology in addition to "in house" electives in advanced organic/inorganic/analytical/physical/computational chemistry. In addition, you'll be taking programming, math and physics classes as background knowledge in order to understand the concepts you're being taught and to gain the skills to solve real life problems.
EDIT:
you may be worried about outsourcing. in this aspect, I'll just say, the US doesn't need science and it definitely doesn't need chemistry. It needs:
wall street sharks
real estate fraud agents
wall street sharks+real estate fraud agent's enforcers (military)
the guys that make the enforcer's weapons
doctors, dentists, pharmacists, lawyers and nurses to take care of the wall street sharks.
mcdonalds workers and janitors.
pharmaceuticals are permanently downsizing, insiders all know there's no new drugs in the pipeline and everything is becoming generic when the patents wear off -> this means whoever is stronger in chemical engineering and bulk production will win the price wars, US chemical companies are shutting down and becoming more distributors for German, Korean and Chinese ones due to obsolete technology, lack of research, rigid management, excessive prices and terrible customer services.
if you want to make a contribution to science, better to move out of the US. if you want money, finance...
