so i was wondering if anyone of u guys could rewind back to ur freshmen year and change ur academic studies what major (classes) would u pick and why? suggestions/advice will be awesome...
thanks guys
Being a premed forum, I feel this sort of begs the question of what makes a good doctor (education-wise) and what is the ideal doctor (i.e. someone who focuses solely on medicine to the exclusion of all else, versus someone with multiple interests, or something in between). I believe a little of everything or a few candidates from each category is most desirable.
Why I would choose a
liberal arts major is below:
Enjoying my life (multidimensional/well-roundedness): Liberal arts or something that interests me that would also enrich my life. I believe that a main purpose of life is to enjoy the journey and contribute to society. Being well rounded would help me to accomplish that without taking away from my ability to be a great specialist (discussed in paragraph 3). I actually picked a double major and amassed over 300 undergraduate credits primarily for this reason.
Professional diversity: Different majors have sort of different cultures. It would value society in my opinion, for doctors to come from a variety of backgrounds in all different disciplines. For example, music majors, esp. vocalists, commonly sing to themselves while walking down the street. Music majors, esp. drummers, tend to tap rhythms on things like desks. Actors sometimes practice acting in casual settings. A psychology student, I assume, might wonder if that's crazy (or a sign of a disorder). And I should add that different majors, to some extent, tend to have different values and ideologies (ex. finance major vs. human services major vs. public relations major).
Which classes will be relevant to my specialty: Once I decide what I want to specialize in as a doctor, I have the rest of my life to take classes in that. Who knows what classes will serve you well as a doctor if you don't yet know your specialty yet...
No rewinding life/I wish I had that skill earlier: I would rather become educated in my hobbies early because the earlier you master certain skills, the longer you have to enjoy them.
No other way to get some knowledge/major is practically required: There are certain subjects that you pretty much need a major in in order to learn completely. For instance, pasting together your own music major from adult education courses might be difficult, and time might not permit.
If you are deciding on a major: Keep in mind that a BS degree will help you find a research position. Some research positions screen for a BS degree. And you can find out which courses are offered in medical school, and try to get your undergraduate curriculum to reflect that for an advantage later on. I believe that all of this is important to consider, even though I personally decided to forgo the ideas in this last paragraph. Engineering, finance, or business (maybe nursing as mentioned above) will usually get you a good job and may combine well with medicine later on. So if you prioritize job stability, you might choose one of those. As you probably know though, engineering has a reputation as a grade killer and bad grades can be an obstacle to medical school.
