Engineering MSTPs

[whattodowithmys]

Hi all. I was wondering what the best programs are for biomed/bioengineering. I assume hopkins along with harvard/mit are up there. Also, which programs are actually more interested in engineering students and which shy away. For example i read on some website, that the mdphd admissions committe doesnt see engineers to fondly for admissions to thier program. Thanks!

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[Neuronix]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=128299

There may not be any more advice given here than in this recent thread. Remember, people may cheerlead for their own school or the school they really want to attend, but unless they are BE or just really know, it may not be true.

 

[GeneGoddess]

There are a few engineers that have come to my school (Univ of Texas - Houston). A current student is getting his PhD in conjuction with Rice Univ in electrophysiological modeling (he has a BS and MS in electrical engineering). A previous student (long since graduated) had a BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering and did research in the Plastic Surgery dept looking at matrices. His wife also had a BS in bioengineering. There is also a new student (he's a second year now) who has a BS and MS in Bioengineering from Johns Hopkins. And those are just the four I can think of off hand. I'm sure there are more...

 

[SaltySqueegee]

My friend got into Irivine's Biomedical Engineering program, with a focus on nanofab!

Best of luck in your searching!

 

[whattodowithmys]

"For example i read on some website, that the mdphd admissions committe doesnt see engineers to fondly for admissions to thier program."-whattodowithmys

Whoa! Where did you read this whattodowithmys?

Hi treetrunk. I think I read this on that website http://intransit.us (Not sure though... it may have actually been from another post on this site.)
I think it was in reference to Yale's program in particular. I guess some of the "old school" places are still more into more basic science stuff versus engineering?

And since I'm writing anyway...
Let's just say that I dont have the kind of GPA that will make admissions people drool.
I would certainly love to go to a bada$$ med school with an equally rockin eng school or BE program (stanford, harv/mit, duke, hopkins), but I'll face the fact that my GPA is simply too low.
With that said I was wondering what some of yall think are the second-third tier schools that still have decent engineering for mstp. (preferably east coast). I was thinking along the lines of UVa, Pitt, etc. Ive posted a similar question elsewhere, so sorry everyone for the repitition!
thanks!!

 

[agp4]

For example i read on some website, that the mdphd admissions committe doesnt see engineers to fondly for admissions to thier program.

I wouldn't say that this 100% true anymore, but I did run across my roadblocks in the process. I think the key is to know what you want. If you plan on going to a Ph.D. in the basic sciences and use your engineering training as a skillset, just say that and you should be fine - in fact, it might set you apart from the normal pre-med applicants. There were a couple of places I applied that didn't have engineering schools and the interviewers said something to the effect of: "You understand that we don't do engineering work here, right?"

The reason for this, from what I was told, is that there's a higher attrition rate for engineers within MD-PhD programs. After years of training in a very technical field where every detail is carefully documented, some engineers get very frustrated at basic sciences where many things seem like "black boxes". There a lot of things that basic scientists know but don't understand why, and apparently that doesn't jive well with some engineers (note the emphasis on some. please don't flame me on how complicated your engineering project is).

Now, if you're just applying to schools with strong BME programs, you shouldn't have to worry about any of the things I just said.

 

[ninebillion]

Hey agp4, I just noticed your location and that you're an engineer. Are you at Mayo?

 

[tofurious]

Hey agp4, I just noticed your location and that you're an engineer. Are you at Mayo?

If you look at his public profile, the answer would be yes.

 

[ninebillion]

If you look at his public profile, the answer would be yes.

Oops, my bad. Thanks.