Engineer To Doctor

[249596]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Deleted.

 

[Stixman28]

Sounds like you've got your mind made up! Go do it.

Your engineering background will only help you as you develop your skills as a doctor.

Additionally, in case your worried, the average age of incoming med students is something like 24-25.

Will will be smack dab in the middle when you finish your postbac.


I came right out of undergrad to a post-bac, it was a great time for me, relaxing compared to full time undergrad, and I was able to build up my resume during that time.

 

[SaharaGirl]

Deleted

 

[slight365]

I think you have a good shot. There's the angle of diversity many schools like to see, and so long as the required courses are there and strong and the Mcat is good, there's potentially a better shot at doing this, as you won't be buried beneath the millions of bio, psych, or life sciences majors. You'll probably be there with the few English, (somewhat more) Biochem majors.

As far as what engineering can offer, if you have an analytical mind that engineering taught you and your visualisation ability is generally what an engineer might have, you will be a phenomenal physician and some schools I spoke to knew this. I had an engineering background and got lots of advice from the US, though I'm in med school in Europe now.

The road is a bit difficult if your bio background is a bit weaker, as it's a different type of learning, but in my experience, it only takes a few months of independent studying BEFORE the classes to get that out of the way. In fact, I do most of my studying during vacations and review during the semesters.

 

[gman33]

Med school won't care where you take the prereqs, as long as it is at a 4 year school. Make sure you do a bunch of shadowing, volunteering, etc.
Try to have at least 200 hours plus of patient contact time by the time you apply. It will also greatly help in deciding whether you want to be around sick people for the rest of your life.

Make sure you are doing this because you like medicine, not just because you don't like engineering.

 

[atomi]

I'm sure there have been and will be many more people with my story, which gives me hope.

I'm 22, and in 3 months will be graduating with my BS in Microelectronic Engineering. It was a 5 year program (to include co-ops in industry), which I now regret. I've finally made up my mind that I will never be happy as an engineer and I need to do what I've wanted to do my whole life..be some sort of doctor (I know the specialties I am interested in, but am reluctant to pin point since I know that I may change my mind when I actually try those specialties).

My short-term goals are that I am looking into the Post-Bac/Pre-med program at the U of R, but have a back-up plan of taking the same courses elsewhere until I meet the life science and chemistry pre-requisites. Other than that, I am not 100% sure how to go about the whole process.

Any advice, suggestions, or personal experiences?

Thanks!!

Post-baccs are a waste of time and money. I was in your exact situation. Here is what you do:

1. Take o-chem this summer at U of R. Do it exclusively and ace it. No excuses. You don't need chem first if you haven't already had it. Do o-chem now.

2. Get a full-time job to start after summer classes and take bio and chem (if you need it) at night. As an engineer, you should be able to start out around 60k - you would be foolish not to use your education that you have earned to make a lot of money in your 'down time' between med school. Additionally, the work experience will be valuable to your applications.

3. Next January start studying for the MCAT whenever you have time. Study exclusively using the examkrackers books. Taking bio and chem at the same time will help keep everything fresh in your mind. Take the MCAT after your night classes end in May sometime.

4. Hold your job while you apply and interview. Save as much cash as you can.

You are in a sweet position. Don't blow it on a post-bacc unless your undergrad GPA is absolutely dismal.

Why do you not want to do engineering? I'm kind of regretting not going for a PhD in eng...

 

[DrJosephKim]

Seems like there are more and more engineers who want to pursue medicine. With all the recent advances in medical technology, this doesn't come as a surprise.

 

[236056]

.