I have been given the opportunity to get a full tuition stipend at my current university and do research in plastic surgery, continuing my current research for the past 2 years which has been in different aspects in surgery. I am trying to boost my profile to get into a US school. With my tuition waiver I have been allowed to either get an MS at the medical school here in I believe anatomical sciences, physiology, or microbiology, an MS in BME, or I can take additional science courses. My other option is to attend a top tier institution, live rent free, and get an MS in BME. My professor at my current intuition owns his own firm and is netting millions in revenue, and wants to help me attain my goal, but he asked me if I was interested in other schools he has served at (top universities). My profile is barely crossing 3s and broke the 30 barrier on the MCAT with an engineering degree. I want to someday get into plastic surgery and do not have a genuine interest in osteopathic manipulative medicine and dont want to take a 2 year vacation in the islands.
Take additional courses or get an MS
- Thread starter DrMagic
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If the Biomedical Masters you've been offered is one of these listed programs, that seems like a good option in your situation: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=640302
It is not one on the list and is not advertised as an SMP. I am in a situation though where I can get a free degree from a medical school or BME department, not the biology department. The MS from the medical school has basically the same names as some of these programs. I personally think it is kind of rediculous to do those programs in my situation, because I want to also be involved in my research. If I go to an SMP, I will have to pay a ton of money, will most likely not be able to do research in plastic surgery, and have to build new faculty connections. The way I read about it on the website, it mentioned the MD program a lot, as if some of the courses are taken within the MD degree.
If I could do research with the faculty at a school offering an SMP, then I would definitely do that if I could get a full tuition waiver. But I am not about to buy into a program where people had pretty darn good credentials anyways, and then paid a ton of money to go to one of these programs. If I can get a free degree in my situation, wouldn't I be a fool not to take that opportunity, or would it make no difference on being accepted. I feel like any MS degree from a medical school would be weighed differently than an MS degree from the biology department, correct me if I am wrong. I also was recently talking to an admissions representative at a school, and he was saying the reputation of the school plays a big impact on admissions, not just numbers.
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Does the website have some contact information so you can ask someone if their program has a proven track record of alumni getting accepted to med school (which means it's value is recognized by other schools)? If it doesn't, it's probably not going to do much for you as far as getting into a med school, and you'd be better off taking postbac courses in upper-level Bio at your current institution.
You might also consider Searching in SDN's Postbaccalaureate Programs Forum for mention of the program, and if not, creating a thread to ask the question.
A masters in biomedical engineering is unlikely to help you much. But you could still do it because you want a solid background in that area.
I just spoke with a neurosurgeon at the café today and told him of my situation. This café always has tons of medical people in it every day. He said that it wouldn't hurt to have the master's degree if I'm not doing anything else. He said he liked that there is research involved; he told me how the medical school likes research people. He said you would probably want to take courses for a year anyways, so if the MS degree is paid for it's not a bad thing.
As for your previous question, I don't believe it is designed to get people into medical school, however it is a master's in the medical school that sometimes surgeons or research types take while involved with the medical school. I was given a name of someone to talk to about this. The thing I feel good about is I'm not spending 30-40K, I would be spending 0K.
The masters in BME on the other hand I like because of my interest in research, and the name of the school is very good, but really just getting into the MD program would be great.
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I'd agree that any masters degree you earn, to learn a discipline you're interested in, won't hurt you (provided your grades are OK). To receive such an amazing benefit free of charge is a measure of the respect in which you are held, and you should feel good about that.
And while a traditional masters degree may not be much regarded by the majority of med schools (except as a very nice EC), it will earn you bonus points when it comes time to apply to residency programs.
But who knows: perhaps the medical masters will be perceived by other med schools as the same as a formal "Medical Masters" and will have the additional benefit of boosting your chances at med school too.
And while a traditional masters degree may not be much regarded by the majority of med schools (except as a very nice EC), it will earn you bonus points when it comes time to apply to residency programs.
But who knows: perhaps the medical masters will be perceived by other med schools as the same as a formal "Medical Masters" and will have the additional benefit of boosting your chances at med school too.
