Engineering Major - Pre Reqs for medical school?

[CPREme]

Hi everyone,
I am a freshman at a 4 year college pursuing a degree in computer engineering. After completing my degree I would like to go to medical school. So far I’m having a couple of problems...

1) My university is more orientated towards engineering so they don’t really have anyone here who can help me learn about the pre reqs or advise me in what I need to do for medical school. I have been looking online to help understand what the pre reqs are so far I have found:

1. 1 year gen chem
2. 1 semester gen biology
3. 1 year organic chem
4. 1 semester physics
5. 1 semester psychology/sociology
6. 1 semester calculus

Are these right, are there any others I should know about?

2) I’m having a hard time fitting in my engineering courses along with the pre reqs for medical school, I’ve started taking general chemistry; for next semester, one of the best options for me would be to take my physics course at a community college or online from a community college, but I saw that it is frowned upon by medical schools, is that true?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[PapaGuava]

Don't forget to add Biochemistry to that list. I've had multiple peers be perfectly fine getting into medical schools after taking physics at a community college. I wouldn't advise taking a lot of courses at a community college, but if the circumstances help you fit everything into your schedule for physics, then there shouldn't be a problem with that idea. However, someone who is, or has been on ADCOMS may chime in on your thread with more input.

Be sure to stick around SDN, there is tons of resources/people here to help you along these next four years.

 

[curbsideconsult]

1. This thread should be moved to pre-meds
2. Buy the MSAR
3. For the sciences, in general you need at least one FULL year each of: biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics.
4. Biochem and calc/stats are good ideas too
5. Avoid online classes for the prereqs
6. There are a handful of schools that don't have prereqs other than you graduating with a good GPA and getting a good MCAT score
7. Do not blindly trust the advisers on campus for anything med school related
8. Look into volunteering and clinical work - you don't necessarily have to start the work right now, but it would be a good idea to start looking right now
9. Also look into doing research - not an absolute necessity but doing research will open up more schools to you

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

A full year of general bio and physics are usually required

 

[Moose A Moose]

Hi everyone,
I am a freshman at a 4 year college pursuing a degree in computer engineering. After completing my degree I would like to go to medical school. So far I’m having a couple of problems...

1) My university is more orientated towards engineering so they don’t really have anyone here who can help me learn about the pre reqs or advise me in what I need to do for medical school. I have been looking online to help understand what the pre reqs are so far I have found:

1. 1 year gen chem
2. 1 semester gen biology
3. 1 year organic chem
4. 1 semester physics
5. 1 semester psychology/sociology
6. 1 semester calculus

Are these right, are there any others I should know about?

2) I’m having a hard time fitting in my engineering courses along with the pre reqs for medical school, I’ve started taking general chemistry; for next semester, one of the best options for me would be to take my physics course at a community college or online from a community college, but I saw that it is frowned upon by medical schools, is that true?

Unless things have changed, it’s a full year of physics.

I took a class at a community college. ADCOMs didn’t seem to mind.

 

[CPREme]

Sounds Good Thank You!

 

[a-robit]

Generally you'll want a full year of english/writing/literature as well. When I was in undergrad, I was told to stick to classes within the writing and english department, because writing intensive courses may not count.

 

[drcivil]

I am by no means an adviser but as someone who just completed an engineering program while simultaneously fulfilling medical school requirements I may have some insight.

At my school, one year of gen chem and physics were built into my engineering program and took care of those requirements. Any math requirement was also not an issue as most engineering programs are overloaded with math. For classes like psych and sociology I was able to take these classes to fulfill my humanities requirement.

Biology and Orgo were different stories. You will find that completing your engineering courses and medical school requirements creates a real scheduling headache. I faced many scheduling conflicts which forced me to take the bio courses during the summer at a local 4 year university. I managed to complete Orgo 1 and 2 during the regular school year. However, beware as some universities are quick to charge you for adding extra credits to your allotted amount of credits for the semester.

Lastly, one of the biggest struggles I faced was how I framed my application. Based on the advice I received from my pre-health adviser (and perhaps @gonnif or others might be able to elaborate/correct me on this) was that you should be careful not to make yourself come across too heavily as an engineer. I found that the first drafts of my PS and activities were based heavily on engineering activities and my experiences as an engineer. That is not to say you should totally separate yourself from your engineering background but make sure you come across as fully committed to medicine. My advice would be to seek out pre-health organizations or honor societies on campus and get involved with them. Just start doing some volunteering/community service/shadowing as early as possible.

I don't say all this to discourage you. I chose to pursue medical school after my sophomore year and wish I had someone to tell me this earlier. I wouldn't have done it any other way. If you are committed and willing to put in the work (which I'm sure you are) than it will pay off in the end. Feel free to PM if you ever have any questions.