MD/PhD prep

[DrReo]

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My plans are to graduate with a chemistry degree and hopefully attend medical school. I have found an interest in biomedical engineering by reading their research and watching some of MIT's course work online. Since my degree isn't in biomedical engineering, would one recommend applying to a masters degree program to gain deficiences in the field. Or, my current program has a one year master degree that helps with the research/experience. So, what would one recommend doing while I prepare for the MCAT and apply to MD/PhD programs later?

Thank you,

Reo

 

[CCLCMer]

I don't know how things work at other schools, but here (Case Western) they want you to have a BS in BME first if you want to do the MS. If you don't have the BS, they make you take undergrad classes before they'll let you do the MS. Are you still in college? Why not take some basic BME classes now?

 

[DrReo]

My current institution doesn't offer BME courses, unfortunantly. I know Princeton allows Chemistry, Physics,and natural science majors apply, for example.

 

[PBandJ]

My current institution doesn't offer BME courses, unfortunantly. I know Princeton allows Chemistry, Physics,and natural science majors apply, for example.

princeton doesn't have biomedical engineering (BME) as a grad program, so i'm not sure what you're talking about there. the rwjms / princeton / rutgers MD/PhD program offers BME, but only through rutgers BME.

it's possible at some schools to join BME without an undergraduate degree in BME or other related engineering field, but just be aware that you will probably need to take some extra courses just to get "caught up" with the basic engineering skillset (i.e. undergrad courses). i'm not sure how you could do a masters program without having any engineering experience, but maybe there are some programs that do that. i know boston university has a program called LEAP where non-engineers can transition into an engineering graduate program, but that ends up taking at least one extra year, maybe two, before you can even start the grad courses.

finally, it is possible to get involved with BME-type research without having a degree in that area...i know of a few md/phd students who worked in BME labs but opted out of the BME PhD because it had too many requirements (they did a related biology or chemistry type of PhD).