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aiepathy

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I am very fickle-minded.

I had my future set to becoming a neurologist / neuroscientist / neurosurgeon / something along that field. I find the brain to be extremely fascinating and I wanted to pursue something that involves research and clinical trials with the brain, but thinking about it, I don't know if I want to go through so much schooling and putting all that effort and then just getting started with my life at the age of 30 or so. There's so much more to life than focusing solely on academics and a successful career, and I want to explore all that life has to offer outside of education. Now, don't get me wrong. I am a VERY hardworking and dedicated student with a 4.0 GPA and in the top percentage of my high school class.

It's just that I also have a peaked interest in the arts, mainly graphic design. I have quite the creative eye for design and a natural talent for typography, and I feel like I should use my creative talent for my future career.

Is it possible to major in graphic design for my undergraduate studies and then see if I still want to pursue medicine by the end of my four years? I know these two majors are incredibly remote from each other and the salary gap between the two is pretty big. I don't know, should I maximize my academic ability to its fullest potential or do something in which I have the raw talent and passion for?

I was thinking of maybe majoring in graphic design and minor in a science like neuro or psychology. If I don't get into med school, then my backup plan is to be a graphic designer and do something that I would enjoy. I know that med schools don't look at majors as much as GPA and MCAT scores, so as long as I am passionate about what I choose to do and excel in it, I'll be fine, but I need help deciding what I should pursue...

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people go to medical school will all sorts of majors (there isn't really a pre-med major but there are definite benefits being in BCPM majors). One of my friends just started medical school and he majored in art history and since his sGPA and cGPA was stellar it impacted him very little (he intended to go into med school as a freshman, but still stuck to the art major).

For your own sanity + since major counts very little in comparison to gpa/MCAT which you mentioned do something you like, but at the same time make sure you plan where you'll fit in your pre-med pre reqs since they're a solid 40ish credits you'll have to stick in somewhere so you don't get overwhelmed.
 
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As an FYI some schools are shifting to add 'medical design' concentrations in medical school, so you could potentially use both talents to design things useful to the field of medicine (i.e. A textile that would decrease infections rates, etc. ). At a recent interview, my interviewer was telling me about their school partnering up with a local university that has a popular art program to make this possible in the coming years. It sounded very interesting. I also heard something similar at another school.

But like others said, your major doesn't matter as long as you complete your pre-requisites and do well!
 
You can major in whatever you want, as long as you get all the pre-reqs done before you apply. You should check out Mike Natter, he's a fourth year medical student who studied art and neuropsych in college. He did a post bacc, ended up at Jefferson, and he recently just matched in Internal Medicine. He has quite the following on instagram where he posts a bunch of his artwork - he used it to help him study throughout med school!
 
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