I am currently a pre-med, hoping to become a reconstructive plastic surgeon. The reason why I am interested in this career is because I love both art and science. I believe that one profession that will allow me to unite both of these passions is reconstructive plastic surgery. I have an eye for detail and love being creative/artistic. In addition, I also like studying Biology. Right now, I am on track to complete my pre-med requirements at UC Berkeley. However, I have yet to decide on a major. I am considering art among a list of other more pre-med related majors (ie. Bio or Public Health). Would majoring in art be a risky decision? The job prospect will not look great if I end up not getting into medical school. In addition, will medical school take me seriously if I am an applicant with an art degree? All suggestions and advice are welcomed. Thanks!
I majored in Fine Arts as an undergrad and I wouldn't trade my experience in for the world!!! I did a post-baccalaureate program to complete my pre-req sciences.
Oh...and let me tell you the AWESOME advantages that an education in art gives you that others won't get and how it relates to medicine:
1) Life drawing classes. You learn to recognize and anticipate every indentation, curve, bulge, and plane of the human body and how it overlies the deeper anatomical elements. I can spot a slightly fractured clavicle a mile away...it just doesn't look right. And, you get comfortable staring at naked people while taking the situation seriously...and learning to fully appreciate the beauty of the human body!
2) Visual-spatial skills. You want to be a surgeon? With an art background, you'll be so well trained in observation and 3D form that you're primed to visualize entire surgeries in your head with your eyes closed and your hands moving in all the right ways.
3) Colors and contrast. Radiology actually becomes FUN. You'll be able to distinguish subtle contrasts on imaging studies that others take years of practice to identify!!!! When I worked in a medical office, the doctors actually hid the radiology reports from me and put the MRIs up to see what I could find. Soooo fun.
4) Using both sides of your brain. As your right side is stimulated and fed by art, your left side can relax and recharge. When you spend time studying science, etc, your right side can rest and recharge. Personally, I need both in my life to keep that great balance!
5) Unique applicant. With an art degree, you're not a cookie-cutter bio major.
6) If not now, when? Once med school starts, it's difficult to pursue any other interest with significant time and passion. Now's your chance!
7) Think like the ancient anatomists and artists. Science and art mix perfectly! Ever heard of Leonardo do Vinci? hee hee Read up on the old dudes who first made visual recordings of the human body. A-ma-zing.
8) Opportunities for sketching. I doodle on exam table paper all the time. I like to draw diagrams for patients - they can rip off the table paper and take it home! hahahaha...I was also in the OR once when the surgeon I worked with told me to grab a pen and paper: he had exposed a never-before-illustrated ligament in the hip and wanted me to get first crack at it! (My skills aren't THAT great, but I do have the sketch on my bulletin board.)
9) Application to other creative talents. As an art major, I also studied medical facility design and landscape architecture. I was really interested (and still am) in how a patient's indoor and outdoor environment can affect their mood and recovery. For example, the ideal color paint you choose for the office walls is going to be different in the OR recovery room, than the pediatric wing, than in the hospital lobby. AND...fish tanks in waiting rooms can cause patients BP to lower. That's a great thing if you're a cardiologist!
In the end...med schools will take you seriously (no matter your major) IF you take med school seriously. Cool? Oh...and lots of medical journals/publications are always looking for med students and doctors to submit poems, stories, sketches, paintings, etc.
Be different. It's kinda rad!
