Electrical Engineering Chances?

[Millsy]

Hello, I'm currently an Electrical Engineering student studying at a state school and I've recently had the desire to switch up my curriculum to include Pre-Med. Currently my GPA is very high (>3.9) but I've only now started to take the required med school courses outside of the maths and physics'. I'm wondering what my chances of starting this late and still looking good to a med school are and what besides the basic chemistry's and bio's I should do to look appealing to a med school?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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[sector9]

Hello, I'm currently an Electrical Engineering student studying at a state school and I've recently had the desire to switch up my curriculum to include Pre-Med. Currently my GPA is very high (>3.9) but I've only now started to take the required med school courses outside of the maths and physics'. I'm wondering what my chances of starting this late and still looking good to a med school are and what besides the basic chemistry's and bio's I should do to look appealing to a med school?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Well you aren't going to impress medical school admissions committees (adcoms) by taking specific classes. You just need to fulfill their prereqs, which you can easily find on each school's website.

You do need to impress them with your extracurricular activities (ECs) and your commitment to medicine (articulated in your personal statement, or PS, and demonstrated in your ECs)

You absolutely need to have clinical exposure. This means clinical volunteering, clinical employment, clinical research, or shadowing (at minimum, you should do one of the first 3 and then add shadowing as well). Speaking of minimums, I would say you need at least a year of either clinical volunteering, clinical employment or clinical research and at least a couple of days of physician shadowing, including primary care physician shadowing.

I would say you also need EITHER nonclinical volunteering OR research. It is strongly recommended to have both of them, but you might get in with only one if it is strong. The research can be in electrical engineering if you want.

Other activities to consider: tutoring/teaching, peer leadership, hobbies

You are not at a significant disadvantage by starting late. However, you may need to spend extra time in college to finish all your prereqs and have appropriate time commitments to your ECs

 

[Catalystik]

You are not at a significant disadvantage by starting late. However, you may need to spend extra time in college to finish all your prereqs and have appropriate time commitments to your ECs

Agreed. Don't make the mistake of rushing things since you perceive that you're "behind." Apply when your application is the best it can be.

Besides the usual science prerequisites, a year of English, one course of which is writing intensive, and a year of math including Calc I and/or Stats will cover most schools. Some want to see Biochem and some upper-level Bio. A few require Behavioral Science classes.

Do you have ny ECs so far, or are you starting from scratch?

 

[Millsy]

Thanks for the advice!

You absolutely need to have clinical exposure. This means clinical volunteering, clinical employment, clinical research, or shadowing (at minimum, you should do one of the first 3 and then add shadowing as well). Speaking of minimums, I would say you need at least a year of either clinical volunteering, clinical employment or clinical research and at least a couple of days of physician shadowing, including primary care physician shadowing.

I would say you also need EITHER nonclinical volunteering OR research. It is strongly recommended to have both of them, but you might get in with only one if it is strong. The research can be in electrical engineering if you want.

Other activities to consider: tutoring/teaching, peer leadership, hobbies

I am actually currently trying to find research in EE or Biomedical for the summer, but what do you think is the best way for me to get involved with clinicals? Should I just contact local hospitals or is there somewhere I could go to find out where they need help?

And actually as for the other activities I am currently a tutor at my school, have been for over a year and plan to continue for as long as I'm here.

Do you have ny ECs so far, or are you starting from scratch?

Actually I would not say extracurriculars are an issue. I am the treasurer for my Ballroom Dance team, I was the Events Coordinator for the International Relations Club, and plan to be the President of Ballroom next year.

 

[Catalystik]

what do you think is the best way for me to get involved with clinicals? Should I just contact local hospitals or is there somewhere I could go to find out where they need help?

The easiest way to get the necessary clinical experience is to volunteer in a local medical facility. You are not limited to hospitals, but can also look into skilled nursing care facilities (not retirement homes), hospice, free, low-income, VA, family planning, or private clinics, or a rehab/physical therapy practice. You could also get certification as an EMT, phlebotomist, or EKG tech and get a job.

 

[Millsy]

Oh so it's relatively easy to find good places to volunteer at medical facilities? That's good, but I noticed Sector9 mentioned having at minimum one year of this, would it be acceptable to spread it out or do it at different locations because I would not really be able to do one year straight through at one location between school and home?

 

[Catalystik]

Oh so it's relatively easy to find good places to volunteer at medical facilities? That's good, but I noticed Sector9 mentioned having at minimum one year of this, would it be acceptable to spread it out or do it at different locations because I would not really be able to do one year straight through at one location between school and home?

It's good to have some decent longevity with some of your activities. Since you'll already have that with the tutoring, I don't feel it will be an issue if you "spread out" your clinical hours.