Engineering to Medicine

[beavers03]

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I'd like to hear the stories behind engineers who decided to pursue medicine.

1) What made you decide to change and why medicine?
2) How long did you work in the tech field, which field specifically, what companies did you work for, and what was your work schedule like? (intensity, # hours per week, managers calling on weekends, etc.)
3) How does your current life as a pre-med or med student compare? Are you taking classes while working as an engineer? Who are you getting your LOR's from?
4) Are you happier now that you've decided to pursue medicine?

My first post! *yay*

 

[thegenius]

I'm earned a BSE in Engineering Physics and a MS in Biomedical Engineering from U of Michigan. Been in the workforce now for about 6 years. I am now applying to medical school at age 30.

1) I've always wanted to be a doctor, it was something that was felt natural to me. Out of all the jobs I've ever had I have always enjoyed the human relationship aspects of them. I simply feel really good about myself when I'm able to help someone. For instance, there are some people who look at disabled people and wonder "it must not be a good life they live, it's got to be hard." Instead I think "I wonder what I could do to help them, help them overcome their disability."

I actually applied to medical school in 1998 but didn't get in. So now I'm applying again after working for 6 years. I actually feel more comfortable about this now than when I was younger. I now have a wife and a son. It puts a completely different perspective on my life and what I should do with it.

2) Been a software engineer and manager for 6 years. Worked at 4 different jobs. Worked at a tech consultancy and 2 startup jobs. When I first started in this field I was working between 50 - 60 hours a week, often on the weekends. I've curtailed that down to 40 hours a week. I don't want to work any more hours than that.

3) because I applied when I was younger, I had all my pre-reqs in. I did take the MCAT again last August and got a 31S. I was quite happy with that...I wasn't supposed to do better than 85% of the people who take the test but I did. I studied really hard for that exam. I started in late March and averaged 15-20 hours a week. That is hard to do on top of having a job and wife/child. So I think I'm up to the academic challenge med school will present. I have my LORs from the first time I applied, and I'm going to ask my graduate mentor for one, and a few of my bosses (CEO's actually!)

4) Yes I'm happier. I find software engineering generally dull and unchallenging. There are challenges, on a daily basis, but they often do not translate it making the company materially stronger. That's my problem with technology. I work my butt off and have no real say in how well the company does. I can build (and have built) several great products and yet our companies still didn't do well. It's just unfulfilling. Now when I volunteer at the ER on a regular basis, I often (however not always) feel better about myself when I leave.

I've been incredibly blessed in this world. I have great parents and siblings, an even more wonderful wife, and now a son who is just the best living thing on this earth. I live in the middle of San Francisco, I make great money, am healthy, and have wonderful friends. I've been blessed 10 times over. But I didn't get here all by myself. I had help along the way from other caring people who wanted me to see success and be happy.

Because of this, I want to give back to people and help them be blessed like I have. And I've found the way that I can do that. There are many ways I could channel my desire to do something for the greater good (teacher, social worker, fireman) and I want to be a doctor. I become probably the most important person (outside their immediate family and close friends) in a patients life and look at all the good you can do for them! It's really amazing and I have such respect and admiration for good doctors who really treat the patient and not the disease.

 

[chris07777]

Looking back in time, hoping to get into Medical School, I did put in a lot of effort but missed the cut off grades required to get into medical school. I pursued engineeering, however, as I did have an aptitude for Engineering too. I completed my graduation in Mechanical Engineering in 1996 in India.
I loved my job, sailing on the ship around the world from port to port on the high seas. The job gave me a lot of satisfaction besides giving me the opportunity to see different countries. I was doing financially well too, got my promotions quickly.
But the incident that changed my life was when my brother died in Sept' 2003. He was a doctor, studied in the best institute in India, 'ALL India Institute of Medical Sciences' and was working as a State director for the CARE organization.He was working on a project for the betterment of women and children health in the rural parts of India.
While touring India after he died, and lost in my own grief, I did visit one of my brother's close friends, also a doctor. I did get interested in our conversation about medicine and asked her to show me some slides of cancer tissues (she is a pathologist) and seeing my interest she did tell me that its not difficult to pursue medicine at my age, 30 yrs, if I were considering a change of career. (I had mentioned to her about my teenage desire to pursue medicine.)
When I got home after my touring, I mentioned to my mother that I intended to pursue medicine and she simply said "She remembered that I wanted to do medicine when I was doing my high school, and if it were my sincere desire then I should pursue my calling." She added if finance was a problem, she would sell all her wedding jewelry and belongings but I shouldn' stop myself from doing medicine.
I do have another brother who is also a doctor, presently working in U.K.
Presently I am, residing with my sister and brother-in-law in New Jersey, looking for some guidance to do the postbacc program to complete the medical pre- requisites, which has brought me to this site.
I have done my TOEFL and am preparing for the SAT test. Hoping to get into a pre-medical program in Jan' 2006.
I my 7 years of travel and experience I did see a lot of suffering among villagers and poorer countries, and its my sincere wish to work for the Peace Corps as a doctor, to pursue community medicine.

chris07777.

 

[DrBuro]

I'd like to hear the stories behind engineers who decided to pursue medicine.

1) What made you decide to change and why medicine?
2) How long did you work in the tech field, which field specifically, what companies did you work for, and what was your work schedule like? (intensity, # hours per week, managers calling on weekends, etc.)
3) How does your current life as a pre-med or med student compare? Are you taking classes while working as an engineer? Who are you getting your LOR's from?
4) Are you happier now that you've decided to pursue medicine?

My first post! *yay*

I should first explain that my college requires each student to work 2 years full-time in the area of their major during undergrad, my major being electrical engineering. After I had finished classes sophomore year, I was hell-bent on working for a government defense company. I thought it sounded awesome, especially when you hear stuff about working with weapons, helicopters, tanks, etc. I interviewed and finally received what I had wanted, or thought I wanted. It was about 4 - 5 months into the job when I realized that the defense field just wasn't for me. Like another poster said, no matter how much work or time I put in, I felt my individual contribution made absolutely no difference.

Because of this, I gathered my interests and took up a biomedical engineering minor. I interviewed and received a great job with the one of the two largest biomedical engineering companies in the country. After doing this for a little while, I realized I was very interested in the human body, but still wasn't sure engineering was the road for me. I really wanted to be a primary part of the patient's care.

My sister was accepted to medical school in NY, but decided to pursue being a PA because she wanted to have more time for her new husband and family-to-be. When I talked to her about my disinterest in engineering, she steered me towards medicine and recommended that I volunteer at a hospital. I proceeded to do so and absolutely loved every second in the hospital, even though I wasn't getting paid. I still work for the biomedical engineering company to pay bills, but am working my butt off to get into medical school.

To answer the rest of your questions, I still work the normal 40+ hour weeks that anyone would work.

My life as a pre-med is pretty much the same as before since I am taking the same classes as before.

Overall, I find myself much happier knowing that there will be life after engineering, that I will not have to be tethered to a desk or a lab bench every day of every week for the rest of my life, that no matter how much I make or whether or not I get laid off from a job, that I still made a difference in so many people's lives.

 

[somz]

quick summary:

degree: BS w/ Honors in Electrical Engineering from Univ of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
engineering work experience: 2.5 month internship with NASA, 8 month co-op with AMD
# of med schools applied: 6
# of interviews: 2
# of acceptances: 1 (off waitlist)

i graduated with my engineering degree and then decided to go to med school. i had to take the aug mcat in order to apply for fall 05 admission, so i registered even though i knew i wouldn't be prepared. my engineering curriculum only covered physics (took 2 years of physics stuff) and gen chem (had AP credit), so i still had to take orgo, bio, and biochem. took the mcat while enrolled in orgo but without having taken the other stuff. now that i've finished all the prereqs, i can say that they are EASY compared to electrical engineering classes.

i had lor's from 2 orgo profs, a bio prof, and the attending ER doc where i volunteered. it was a BIG pain getting it all together and making sure all the schools received the letters. most people suggested that i only get 1 engineering prof lor, if any at all, cuz it would be totally irrelevant to medicine.

i'm attending MUO/MCO this fall, and i'm really lucky to have gotten in anywhere given my rather fast and unplanned transition from electrical engineering to medicine. given the things i've heard about med school, i don't think the concepts are going to be harder than anything i've seen in engineering. however, i do expect MUCH more memorization and spitting it back out.

 

[gdk]

i worked in the aerospace field for about 11 years and got my undergrad and master's in aerospace engineering from auburn. i worked for nasa, pratt & whitney, lockheed martin and ge. my hours could be as little as 40, but most often were 50+. i was never "on call" from my boss, but i did spend quite a few weekends working when needed.

i slowly got interested in medicine and started shadowing, taking classes at night, etc... and now i'm here and i'll most likely be attending mcg this fall.

good luck to you!

 

[DrBuro]

now that i've finished all the prereqs, i can say that they are EASY compared to electrical engineering classes.

Couldn't agree with you more.

 

[beavers03]

quick summary:

degree: BS w/ Honors in Electrical Engineering from Univ of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
engineering work experience: 2.5 month internship with NASA, 8 month co-op with AMD
# of med schools applied: 6
# of interviews: 2
# of acceptances: 1 (off waitlist)

i graduated with my engineering degree and then decided to go to med school. i had to take the aug mcat in order to apply for fall 05 admission, so i registered even though i knew i wouldn't be prepared. my engineering curriculum only covered physics (took 2 years of physics stuff) and gen chem (had AP credit), so i still had to take orgo, bio, and biochem. took the mcat while enrolled in orgo but without having taken the other stuff. now that i've finished all the prereqs, i can say that they are EASY compared to electrical engineering classes.

i had lor's from 2 orgo profs, a bio prof, and the attending ER doc where i volunteered. it was a BIG pain getting it all together and making sure all the schools received the letters. most people suggested that i only get 1 engineering prof lor, if any at all, cuz it would be totally irrelevant to medicine.

i'm attending MUO/MCO this fall, and i'm really lucky to have gotten in anywhere given my rather fast and unplanned transition from electrical engineering to medicine. given the things i've heard about med school, i don't think the concepts are going to be harder than anything i've seen in engineering. however, i do expect MUCH more memorization and spitting it back out.

Interesting! You went through the entire EE coursework and then totally changed to medicine and took an extra year in undergrad to take premed req's? What prompted this change of heart?

 

[beavers03]

I'm earned a BSE in Engineering Physics and a MS in Biomedical Engineering from U of Michigan. Been in the workforce now for about 6 years. I am now applying to medical school at age 30.

1) I've always wanted to be a doctor, it was something that was felt natural to me. Out of all the jobs I've ever had I have always enjoyed the human relationship aspects of them. I simply feel really good about myself when I'm able to help someone. For instance, there are some people who look at disabled people and wonder "it must not be a good life they live, it's got to be hard." Instead I think "I wonder what I could do to help them, help them overcome their disability."

I actually applied to medical school in 1998 but didn't get in. So now I'm applying again after working for 6 years. I actually feel more comfortable about this now than when I was younger. I now have a wife and a son. It puts a completely different perspective on my life and what I should do with it.

2) Been a software engineer and manager for 6 years. Worked at 4 different jobs. Worked at a tech consultancy and 2 startup jobs. When I first started in this field I was working between 50 - 60 hours a week, often on the weekends. I've curtailed that down to 40 hours a week. I don't want to work any more hours than that.

3) because I applied when I was younger, I had all my pre-reqs in. I did take the MCAT again last August and got a 31S. I was quite happy with that...I wasn't supposed to do better than 85% of the people who take the test but I did. I studied really hard for that exam. I started in late March and averaged 15-20 hours a week. That is hard to do on top of having a job and wife/child. So I think I'm up to the academic challenge med school will present. I have my LORs from the first time I applied, and I'm going to ask my graduate mentor for one, and a few of my bosses (CEO's actually!)

4) Yes I'm happier. I find software engineering generally dull and unchallenging. There are challenges, on a daily basis, but they often do not translate it making the company materially stronger. That's my problem with technology. I work my butt off and have no real say in how well the company does. I can build (and have built) several great products and yet our companies still didn't do well. It's just unfulfilling. Now when I volunteer at the ER on a regular basis, I often (however not always) feel better about myself when I leave.

I've been incredibly blessed in this world. I have great parents and siblings, an even more wonderful wife, and now a son who is just the best living thing on this earth. I live in the middle of San Francisco, I make great money, am healthy, and have wonderful friends. I've been blessed 10 times over. But I didn't get here all by myself. I had help along the way from other caring people who wanted me to see success and be happy.

Because of this, I want to give back to people and help them be blessed like I have. And I've found the way that I can do that. There are many ways I could channel my desire to do something for the greater good (teacher, social worker, fireman) and I want to be a doctor. I become probably the most important person (outside their immediate family and close friends) in a patients life and look at all the good you can do for them! It's really amazing and I have such respect and admiration for good doctors who really treat the patient and not the disease.

I'm very impressed with how you're able to balance your family life with working and studying for mcat's on top of that. Do you have any advice on how to make it work?

I've gotten my hours down to 40 hours/week from 80 hours/week. I'm taking ochem and doing a lot of volunteer work right now, but it's difficult to find time to hang out with my boyfriend and friends on top of that... especially since he's an engineer and works 60 hours/week.

 

[beavers03]

I should first explain that my college requires each student to work 2 years full-time in the area of their major during undergrad, my major being electrical engineering. After I had finished classes sophomore year, I was hell-bent on working for a government defense company. I thought it sounded awesome, especially when you hear stuff about working with weapons, helicopters, tanks, etc. I interviewed and finally received what I had wanted, or thought I wanted. It was about 4 - 5 months into the job when I realized that the defense field just wasn't for me. Like another poster said, no matter how much work or time I put in, I felt my individual contribution made absolutely no difference.

My sister was accepted to medical school in NY, but decided to pursue being a PA because she wanted to have more time for her new husband and family-to-be. When I talked to her about my disinterest in engineering, she steered me towards medicine and recommended that I volunteer at a hospital. I proceeded to do so and absolutely loved every second in the hospital, even though I wasn't getting paid. I still work for the biomedical engineering company to pay bills, but am working my butt off to get into medical school.

To answer the rest of your questions, I still work the normal 40+ hour weeks that anyone would work.

My life as a pre-med is pretty much the same as before since I am taking the same classes as before.

Overall, I find myself much happier knowing that there will be life after engineering, that I will not have to be tethered to a desk or a lab bench every day of every week for the rest of my life, that no matter how much I make or whether or not I get laid off from a job, that I still made a difference in so many people's lives.

It sounds like you've always had an interest in medicine, but it was mainly your volunteer experience at the hospital that pushed you towards actively pursuing this. Correct me if I'm wrong. What specifically made you so enthusiastic? The excitement and slight chaos of the hospital or ER environment vs. coding in a cubicle? Any specific interactions with patients or doctors while you were volunteering?

 

[DrBuro]

It sounds like you've always had an interest in medicine, but it was mainly your volunteer experience at the hospital that pushed you towards actively pursuing this. Correct me if I'm wrong. What specifically made you so enthusiastic? The excitement and slight chaos of the hospital or ER environment vs. coding in a cubicle? Any specific interactions with patients or doctors while you were volunteering?

Yes, the volunteer experience played the biggest role in my decision. Have you ever got that feeling deep down in the pit of your stomach telling you that "this is where you're supposed to be. this is what you're supposed to do"? Just being in the hospital and experiencing the atmosphere and relationships between all the employees gave that to me. Seeing how much patients appreciate what the doctors and nurses did for them was awesome. Being touched by patients that I hadn't even helped, but wish that I could.

I need an atmosphere that is fast-paced because I tend to get bored VERY quickly. I'm pretty sure there is no other job that is more fast-paced than Harvard's teaching hospital.

Almost all of the doctors I talked to told me to turn my back on medicine and stick with engineering, but I really didn't care. I don't listen to what people tell me, just go with my deepest feelings.

Oh, and I don't code in a cubicle, I'm not computer engineering. I spent most of days designing and testing circuit boards for that defense company(a.k.a. zzzzzzzzzz). Now I design surgical oncology instruments. I actually am starting to love both careers (biomed eng. and medicine) equally and am trying to figure out how I can work to combine the two interests.

 

[Mixtli]

I'd like to hear the stories behind engineers who decided to pursue medicine.

1) What made you decide to change and why medicine?
2) How long did you work in the tech field, which field specifically, what companies did you work for, and what was your work schedule like? (intensity, # hours per week, managers calling on weekends, etc.)
3) How does your current life as a pre-med or med student compare? Are you taking classes while working as an engineer? Who are you getting your LOR's from?
4) Are you happier now that you've decided to pursue medicine?

My first post! *yay*

1) I hate MATH!!! Volunteering and working in the hospital made me realize how more I enjoyed it even on friday nights.
2) I didn't work in the tech field, just some research.
3) Pre-med + engineering = lots of work. I should have done neuroscience. I got LORs from math professor, English professor, research professor, ER doctor, and humanity professor.
4) Only if I get in, or else I have wasted my precious time doing premed stuff.

 

[DrBuro]

1) I hate MATH!!! Volunteering and working in the hospital made me realize how more I enjoyed it even on friday nights.
2) I didn't work in the tech field, just some research.
3) Pre-med + engineering = lots of work. I should have done neuroscience. I got LORs from math professor, English professor, research professor, ER doctor, and humanity professor.
4) Only if I get in, or else I have wasted my precious time doing premed stuff.

You hate math and you majored in engineering? Were you smoking crack when you filled out your undergrad application?

 

[dubes454]

-

 

[Robizzle]

now that i've finished all the prereqs, i can say that they are EASY compared to electrical engineering classes.

same with BME classes.
granted my GPA ain't stellar but i, and i'm sure all of you, have worked my/your asses off to have it where it is today.

and then i read all these "should i take chemistry/bio in the same semester threads?" and im just like wow, u actually have time to take them separately?? 😀

as for my story, i have never tried engineering industry.. i think i'd like it, but i think i'd like medicine a lot more.

just taking biomedical engineering courses have made me more n more interested in biology and medicine and its a shame that i have not had more time to take upper level bio classes and instead have been fulfilling eng prereqs like mechanics and circuit theory. taking an engineering approach to the human body has been amazing.

in my opinion, biomedical engineers are the guys in the background coming up with all the genius ideas with medical instruments while doctors are the people who read the instructions and use them and get aaaall the credit! lol just kidding, to an extent 😉 .

 

[MrMet31]

I earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, a B.S. in Industrial Engineering, and i'm working on an M. Eng. in Biomedical Engineering right now. I spent about a year working for a biomedical company. I can honestly say that I am not cut out for cubicle life. I spent a long time volunteering on my local ambulance corps so I know what its like to roll up your sleeves and work one on one with a patient. Its much more satisfying then staring at your computer screen all day. If you are going to have a job for the rest of your life, you better love what you do or you are gonna be miserable.

 

[ESzczesniak]

I guess I have a bit of a different take on this. I started off Biochem/pre-med, moved into mech e and then moved back to biochem/pre-med. I was attracted to engineering bascially for the "cool toys". I've been taking things apart since I was 18 months old and this seemed kind of like my thing. As I went on, I moved towards vechicle dynamics and powetrain design and worked for two years with a group that designs Formula race cars (during my undergrad, not later).

Eventually however I ended up with two things that really moved me back to medicine. One was the fact that connecting rods and pistons were really poor dates on a Friday night and engineering design just didn't have the social aspect I wanted. The other was how engineering tended to focus in on a small isolated project at one time (yes, there is an overview picture, but that's not where you spend most of your time. Most of it is seeing if you can increase thermal efficiency in you exhaust by .1% or something).

Strangely, unlike what a lot of people are coming up with, I thought biochem classes were the ones that required more thought (admittedly, not the pre-reqs, but the higher level classes you inevitably take when you're a biochem major). The engineering classes were harder to get good grades in simply because fellow classmates were far more competent. The average engineering student is ten times more studious, hard working and intelligent than the pre-med/I wanna be a doctor, who is really not much in the way of competition usually. However, engineering coursework was easy to fall back into numbers and math and focus on a single thing while higher level biochem classes required overviews of a much larger picture and didn't have the comfort of being able to use math to solve these things. I guess a lot of this could have just been my undergrad though, and actually making it through diff eq without much difficulty (I still hated it though 🙂).

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

I'm going to go ahead and give the Cliff's Notes version of my story:

* Started out as Chemistry major at US Naval Academy (no true pre-med program, and otherwise difficult to get prereqs done).

* Switched to Aerospace Engineering sophomore year due to distaste for spending several hours with test tubes - realized I could still pursue medicine later while studying something I was fascinated with as an undergrad.

* Chose submarine community to fulfill service obligation due to intense nuclear engineering training program, camaraderie, and diverse opportunities to conduct missions.

* Upon completion of sea tour, began volunteer work in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - working with the little ones and mostly their parents, I have confirmed my desire to pursue medicine, and I am not looking back. I have recently begun shadowing docs in Orthopedics, Emergency Medicine, Anesthesia, and Pediatrics. Also began research for a prospective study on the role of ethnicity in preterm labor and intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD).

* I have not been involved in any hardcore design in an engineering field...I have mostly applied my engineering background in an operational setting. That being said, I do know that the cubicle and crunching numbers (while it can be quite fun at times) is not for me.

 

[cwb]

1. Pretty much the same reason why everyone else has said here... I figured if I was working I might as well do it helping people rather than struggling up the corporate ladder.
2. I had coops with Procter and Gamble and Exxon Mobile as well as an internship with small defense contractor. Exxon Mobile was really cool but only because you got to see just how much money there is to make in oil but I thought they all sucked... Nothing appealed to me about making some corporation a few extra dollars.
3. Just talking to my friends in industry they all talk about how they hate it. They all love to talk about how much money they make but when it comes to job satisfaction things get really weird because you know that they hate it but they just won't admit it. My LOR's came from one of my supervisors, the public relations director for this charity I donated to, and professors. As far the difficulty - I know several ChE's who have went to medical school and said it's easier than engineering but that you have to study more just to memorize everything. I agree with previous posters I love hearing people on this board complain about their class schedules - taking p-chem, o-chem 2, diff-eq, probability and statistics, and bio 2 all in one semester makes me feel like I can handle anything in med school in the fall
4. I think it's far to early to say that I will for sure be happy pursuing medicine. I know that I love helping people and want to make a difference but I also feel that with HMO's and the changing enviornment in medicine that it might come at a cost - I don't think anyone in medical school knows either, until we get into at least residency I think it's tough to say that you are going to love a career that you have never done and I won't pretend to act otherwise... Nonetheless I know that I would have never been happy in engineering so I think it's worth the risk.

 

[bwbaker]

I'd like to hear the stories behind engineers who decided to pursue medicine.

BS EE NCSU

1) What made you decide to change and why medicine?
I was unhappy at my current job, and I had thought about medicine my last couple years of college but didnt pursue it due to my grades not being what i thought to be medical school caliber. I shadowed a local doc one day and from that point on, I knew thats what i wanted to do.

2) How long did you work in the tech field, which field specifically, what companies did you work for, and what was your work schedule like? (intensity, # hours per week, managers calling on weekends, etc.)

I worked for 2 years at Frito-Lay i generaly worked 55-60 hrs a week for 52K/yr plus bonus. I am curently working for Hospira while i am waiting to get in school. I took one year off between jobs to do post bach.

3) How does your current life as a pre-med or med student compare? Are you taking classes while working as an engineer? Who are you getting your LOR's from?
My post bach was all science courses and i maintaind 4.0. It was much less demanding that my job was.

4) Are you happier now that you've decided to pursue medicine?
I am by far happier now that i have decided to pursue medicine! Medicine will also allow me to live in easter NC, unlike my engineering job that required me to live in larger city, especily to be able to climb the latter. I am also happy that i will no longer have to play the politacal games required to make it in the corparate world.

 

[Who M.D.]

I'm an engg graduate hoping to enter med.

1) What made you decide to change and why medicine?

I'd had some interest in medicine in high school. In university, I studied engineering physics (think "core of electrical + honours physics" which trains one for emerging fields like optoelectronics, nanofabrication, photonics, etc.). However, while working in a research job and doing research projects it really hit me how disconnected I was from the end results of what I was doing—studying the properties of non-oxide glass so that we can design better fiber optic circuits is fine, but I didn't know how that would help anyone. In contrast, my volunteering experiences in a hostpital and my working for a physician in public health had a very clear purpose which I found very grounding. This made me realize that I would be much happier in medicine.

2) How long did you work in the tech field, which field specifically, what companies did you work for, and what was your work schedule like? (intensity, # hours per week, managers calling on weekends, etc.)

Never worked in engineering outside of summers. After my undergrad, I began post-bac work to get pre-reqs done, boost marks, etc.

3) How does your current life as a pre-med or med student compare? Are you taking classes while working as an engineer? Who are you getting your LOR's from?

I've been taking classes full time to raise my grades (taking 14 half-year courses per year instead of 10 like other students aboslutely killed my engg GPA—the 14 courses was the requirement, not my choice). My LORs are coming from someone with whom I did medical research, a science prof, a humanities prof, the head of my engg program, and a couple of people who can discuss my extra-curricular work.

4) Are you happier now that you've decided to pursue medicine?

No. I'm still taking classes and have the added worry that I won't get in. Once I get in and once I'm working as a physician, I'm sure that will change!

 

[durfen]

I'd like to hear the stories behind engineers who decided to pursue medicine.

1) What made you decide to change and why medicine?
2) How long did you work in the tech field, which field specifically, what companies did you work for, and what was your work schedule like? (intensity, # hours per week, managers calling on weekends, etc.)
3) How does your current life as a pre-med or med student compare? Are you taking classes while working as an engineer? Who are you getting your LOR's from?
4) Are you happier now that you've decided to pursue medicine?

My first post! *yay*

I actually came into college looking to do computer science and apply to med school at the end. I'm now applying and can't be happier with the decision, but if I had to choose between the two I'd choose med. Medicine is more computerized now so engineering guys who know medicine (or vice versa) are at an advantage when it comes to innovating while doing medicine. That's my reason anyhow. That and a life as a software engineer / manager in industry doesn't appeal to me. I might end up doing that in a startup while being a doctor but hey at least I will have tried.