How useful is undergrad major after med school?

[mellyrocker]

Hey! I was curious as to know how useful your undergrad major is after one graduates from med school. Let's say you majored in finance... Would you still be able to remember the knowledge of financial principles after med school? Would the knowledge still be useable?

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[Ismet]

Finance/marketing are not a common major in medical school.

That doesn't mean it increases your chances of getting into medical school. It just means that not that many finance/marketing major apply to medical school.

 

[lnvictus]

It really depends on where you want to see yourself doing. For example, if you want to enter investment banking or venture capital in the healthcare space, this background might come in handy. Or even, if you (in the long run) decide to get into hospital administration, knowledge of finance will come in handy. Business knowledge is useful regardless of you become a doctor or not. If you just want to become a doctor and don't want to apply the knowledge, you don't have to know it. In my opinion, marketing or management are more applicable than finance if you want to be a doctor.

And it might increase your chances of getting into medical school. Finance/marketing are not a common major in medical school.

Agreed.

Relevant experience involving use of one's business education before attending medical school will supplement your knowledge acquired in undergrad well, I would imagine.

 

[darkjedi]

Hey! I was curious as to know how useful your undergrad major is after one graduates from med school. Let's say you majored in finance... Would you still be able to remember the knowledge of financial principles after med school? Would the knowledge still be useable?

I appreciate my finance background from undergrad and still hope to apply it in my career, maybe supplementing it with either an MPH or MBA. While I didn't like my finance career a whole lot, I definitely loved what I had studied and there is a lot of room for these types of skills in things like health economics and public policy.

 

[moop]

Don't be a chump. Be hardcore. Do finance.

(In all seriousness it's a great area intellectually and practically. Plus, having real quant experience [read: not one semester of calc and stats] is always a plus for med school and research. Also, as pointed out, great applicability to policy areas and stuff like that, if you see it in your future. Quant geeks run the world.)

 

[mellyrocker]

Hmm what of sociology??

 

[deleted407021]

Hmm what of sociology??

It seems med schools are emphasizing the importance of the principles of the social sciences, specifically in sociology. I imagine that you would find much of that knowledge rather useful throughout your career. The overarching rule is to major in what you like, and applicability can factor into that decision.