BME classes that can be considered BCPM?

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pritomd

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Hello

What Biomedical Engineering classes are generally allowed to count towards BCPM if any at all? I've taken classes like Physiology I, II, and Cell and Molecular Biology (although each of these classes said "...for Engineers" following the title) and those were the primary concerns of mine.

In addition to those, how about other classes like Biomechanics, Biomaterials, etc?

Or are all of these considered engineering courses and wouldn't fly for BCPM? Also, any idea how this would apply for D.O. schools, or should I make a separate thread?

Thanks

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You can choose whatever you want, but you might have to justify it. IMO, i don't think the "...for engineers" tag would make it less rigorous than a "...for arts majors" tag so most schools wouldn't think you're taking the easy way out. I think the bio classes would pass for BCPM, but biomaterials and biomechanics wouldn't pass without some justification. I entered biomaterials and biomechanics as non-BCPM and I'll be verified in 2 weeks, so we'll see how that turns out.
 
I personally only put classes from the Biology, Chemistry, Math and Physics departments in our College of Arts and Sciences as BCMP courses and was verified quickly. You can choose whatever you want...you just may have to fight to keep it that was if AAMCAS disagrees.
 
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Hey man, nice to see another BME.

I doubt those classes you took that had the "for engineers" label on them would be counted out of your BCPM GPA. There are many universities such as Rutgers who have a good Biomedical Engineering Program, and actually encourage Pre-Med students to be open about BME (Drexel does this too). Well these universities have general science classes for engineers as well such as basic chemistry. These BME students would end up taking General Chemistry for Engineers rather than just regular General Chemistry, and I have not heard a problem about this. So you should be fine.

Good luck with BME.
 
I checked as many BME classes I felt I could support (6ish) as Biology. The Amcas system only changed one back to engineering. I didn't believe the one class was worth arguing for so I let it go. Go for it
 
Count the ones you got good grades in as BCPM so they inflate your sGPA, and leave the ones with bad grades as "engineering" classes.

But srsly, just do what you think is right. If it's a chemistry class for engineers, it's chemistry. FWIW, I classified my Materials Engineering course as a Chem class (it was basically an intro Physical Chemistry course) and it was approved without correction. Same with my Fundamentals of Semiconductor Physics (it was essentially a quantum mechanics physics course, not a lot of application).
 
Seconding the 'just do what you think is correct'.

An example of this is a Pharmacology class that I took. Although AMCAS says that 'Pharmacology' should NOT be BCPM (Health Science), I put it down as it anyways....why? Because this was a rigorous 5 hour a week course where I studied:

-the anatomy and physiological of all organ systems
-the chemistry of drug and receptor interactions
-the structure-activity relationships of drug compounds
-the basic bio-distribution and kinetics of drugs (ADME)

This was obviously BCPM.

Edit: The bottom line is that if something can be tied directly back to the study of biology/chemistry/physics by all means list them as such. The only thing they can do is say no and switch it. You can then appeal if you like.
 
I entered a "Principles of bioengineering design" class as Math considering that the most of the class was stats based, the book was about biostatistics, and 80% of the tests focused on stats. I'm ready to fight AMCAS on this point because I definitely do not want to take stats next year just for ucla and ucd.

Anyone have any experience on how course disputes work?
 
I entered a "Principles of bioengineering design" class as Math considering that the most of the class was stats based, the book was about biostatistics, and 80% of the tests focused on stats. I'm ready to fight AMCAS on this point because I definitely do not want to take stats next year just for ucla and ucd.

Anyone have any experience on how course disputes work?

If you are having the class count for a school's specific stats requirement, you need to contact them directly. I though my BME Probability and Stats class would count, but was shot down by 3 different schools I sent the syllabus to. I will now be taking a 300 STAT class this fall in case I need it to matriculate at one of those schools.
 
Hey, always good to see a fellow BME.

I'm a BME at Johns Hopkins, and here the Pre-Professional Office states:

"If 60% or more of the course material was on a specific subject (for example, Biology), then you can code the course as that subject.
It's not an official rule, but I generally used that rule when determining what was BCPM and what wasn't. For example, I had a Materials Characterization class. It was essentially 80% "surface chemistry of materials," so I classified that as Chemistry. So look at your BME classes and just consider which ones are "majority" of a certain field (Bio, Chem, etc) and classify them that way. If AMCAS says no, you can always hand over your syllabus and materials for the class.

As for specific classes counting towards specific prereqs, ask the specific school.
 
Hello

What Biomedical Engineering classes are generally allowed to count towards BCPM if any at all? I've taken classes like Physiology I, II, and Cell and Molecular Biology (although each of these classes said "...for Engineers" following the title) and those were the primary concerns of mine.

In addition to those, how about other classes like Biomechanics, Biomaterials, etc?

Or are all of these considered engineering courses and wouldn't fly for BCPM? Also, any idea how this would apply for D.O. schools, or should I make a separate thread?

Thanks

First comes to worst, you add them as BCPM and they change it. Whether you fight for it or not... different story.
 
There's really no general list. You should go off the course description so you have something to back it up with. I put down "MECH 350 - Bioengineering Apps" as Biology based on the course description

This course deals with a discussion and
application of the following fundamental
concepts. (1) basic anatomy and physiology
of the overall human body; (2) basic anatomy
and physiology of specific structures including
brain, ear, eyes, heart, kidney, gastro-intestinal
system, articular joints, and bones; (3) an
appreciation of the engineering basis for
current and developmental products designed
to diagnose and replace these biological
structures; (4) exposure to biochemistry,
biomaterials, and biomechanics at a
fundamental level; and (5) an understanding
of current laws which govern bioengineering

device manufacturing.


It was verified without a hitch.
 
Kind of along the same lines, do yall think a biomechanics class would count towards a physics prereq?
 
You can choose whatever you want, but you might have to justify it. IMO, i don't think the "...for engineers" tag would make it less rigorous than a "...for arts majors" tag so most schools wouldn't think you're taking the easy way out. I think the bio classes would pass for BCPM, but biomaterials and biomechanics wouldn't pass without some justification. I entered biomaterials and biomechanics as non-BCPM and I'll be verified in 2 weeks, so we'll see how that turns out.
I would so take a "Biology for Art Majors" class 👍
 
I had the same question as a biomedical engineer.
My advice is that you should talk to your prehealth advisor (if you have one), or talk to someone from BME in your school who has previously applied to medical schools.
For me, I got three BME classes as BCPM (biophysical chemistry, quantitative physiology, quantitative biology). For all the other ones, they were just engineering although I think they really belong in BCPM (e.g. biomechanics, tissue mechanics, biofluid mechanics, etc etc)
 
I have a course listed as bme but it is titled "the human genome" a comprehensive course on the study of the human genome. Could this be considered a bcpm?
 
Subject Area: Course Title
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Plant Physiology
Chemistry: Intermediate Inorganic Chemistry
Public Health: Contemporary Health Issues
Could these be considered BCPM?
 
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