Hello,
I've placed this in the Nontrad forum because I am not a traditional premed student, but if that's incorrect, I do apologize.
I am a senior in chemical engineering due to graduate in May 2013. Recently, I was offered a fellowship to begin work on a PhD in biomedical engineering starting in the Fall 2013. The degree plan is 2 years of coursework and then simply research and dissertation work for 2-3 years. My school actually works in conjunction with one of the med schools in the region to assist students in a MD/PhD Biomedical Engineering. I am highly interested in this program. Basically, I have two years after May to being working on fulfilling premed requirements and preparing for the MCAT while taking graduate courses in biomedical engineering (some overlap occurs - mainly with physiology). My plan is to take 1-2 (3 may be pushing it) premed courses per quarter (my school operates on the quarter system: 3 "regular" quarters and a summer quarter per year) along with the graduate courses for biomed eng. I have listed courses that I have a already taken in my undergrad career with their respective grades. I am absolutely okay retaking some of these courses (most of the biology courses were taken my freshman year before I learned how to study!). If some of you would please take a look at what I have taken and let me know what you think would be a worthwhile retake as well as some suggested courses to best prepare me for the MCAT (remember, while I have two years to take courses, the absolute latest MCAT I can take is the one in June, so I really only have 1 year to prepare, course-wise, anyway).
Courses I have taken:
Biology for Engineering/Science Majors I - 3hr - B
Biology for Engineering/Science Majors I Lab - 1hr - A
Microbiology - 3hr - C
Microbiology Lab - 1hr - B
Genetics - 3hr - C
General Chemistry for Engineering/Science Majors I - 3hr - C
General Chemistry for Engineering/Science Majors I Lab - 3hr - B
General Chemistry of Engineering/Science Majors II - 3hr - C
General Chemistry of Engineering/Science Majors II Lab - 3hr - B
Organic Chemistry - 2hr - B
Organic Chemistry - 2hr - C
Organic Chemistry - 2hr - C
Organic Chemistry Lab - 1hr - A
Physical Chemistry - 3hr - B
Physical Chemistry Lab - 1hr - B
Physics for Engineering/Science Majors I - 3hr - B
Physics for Engineering/Science Majors II - 3hr - Currently enrolled; expecting A
And that basically wraps up any science courses without getting bogged down in engineering courses that don't really apply to this. So I know that I am actually lacking some courses for admission to my program (2nd organic lab, physics labs), but my main question is what is suggested for retake or for the best prep for MCAT (for instance, would taking 2 semesters of Biochem be more beneficial than retaking the organic sequence? Would taking Medical Micro be better than retaking General Micro just to get a better grade?) That sort of thing.
And for the record, all of these courses were taken my first 2 years of undergrad and there is actually a sharp increase in my GPA after those 2 years ;-).
In summary, I have approximately 3 quarters (excluding summer, which is not out of the question) to take courses to prepare me for the MCAT and 6 total quarters to complete premed requirements. It should be noted that the most applicable graduate courses that I take are "Physiological Systems" (basically human phys), "Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics," and "Neuroscience Engineering." All other graduate courses would not be applicable to a med school app (biosensors, mass transport, etc.).
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
I've placed this in the Nontrad forum because I am not a traditional premed student, but if that's incorrect, I do apologize.
I am a senior in chemical engineering due to graduate in May 2013. Recently, I was offered a fellowship to begin work on a PhD in biomedical engineering starting in the Fall 2013. The degree plan is 2 years of coursework and then simply research and dissertation work for 2-3 years. My school actually works in conjunction with one of the med schools in the region to assist students in a MD/PhD Biomedical Engineering. I am highly interested in this program. Basically, I have two years after May to being working on fulfilling premed requirements and preparing for the MCAT while taking graduate courses in biomedical engineering (some overlap occurs - mainly with physiology). My plan is to take 1-2 (3 may be pushing it) premed courses per quarter (my school operates on the quarter system: 3 "regular" quarters and a summer quarter per year) along with the graduate courses for biomed eng. I have listed courses that I have a already taken in my undergrad career with their respective grades. I am absolutely okay retaking some of these courses (most of the biology courses were taken my freshman year before I learned how to study!). If some of you would please take a look at what I have taken and let me know what you think would be a worthwhile retake as well as some suggested courses to best prepare me for the MCAT (remember, while I have two years to take courses, the absolute latest MCAT I can take is the one in June, so I really only have 1 year to prepare, course-wise, anyway).
Courses I have taken:
Biology for Engineering/Science Majors I - 3hr - B
Biology for Engineering/Science Majors I Lab - 1hr - A
Microbiology - 3hr - C
Microbiology Lab - 1hr - B
Genetics - 3hr - C
General Chemistry for Engineering/Science Majors I - 3hr - C
General Chemistry for Engineering/Science Majors I Lab - 3hr - B
General Chemistry of Engineering/Science Majors II - 3hr - C
General Chemistry of Engineering/Science Majors II Lab - 3hr - B
Organic Chemistry - 2hr - B
Organic Chemistry - 2hr - C
Organic Chemistry - 2hr - C
Organic Chemistry Lab - 1hr - A
Physical Chemistry - 3hr - B
Physical Chemistry Lab - 1hr - B
Physics for Engineering/Science Majors I - 3hr - B
Physics for Engineering/Science Majors II - 3hr - Currently enrolled; expecting A
And that basically wraps up any science courses without getting bogged down in engineering courses that don't really apply to this. So I know that I am actually lacking some courses for admission to my program (2nd organic lab, physics labs), but my main question is what is suggested for retake or for the best prep for MCAT (for instance, would taking 2 semesters of Biochem be more beneficial than retaking the organic sequence? Would taking Medical Micro be better than retaking General Micro just to get a better grade?) That sort of thing.
And for the record, all of these courses were taken my first 2 years of undergrad and there is actually a sharp increase in my GPA after those 2 years ;-).
In summary, I have approximately 3 quarters (excluding summer, which is not out of the question) to take courses to prepare me for the MCAT and 6 total quarters to complete premed requirements. It should be noted that the most applicable graduate courses that I take are "Physiological Systems" (basically human phys), "Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics," and "Neuroscience Engineering." All other graduate courses would not be applicable to a med school app (biosensors, mass transport, etc.).
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!