Whats a masters degree in BME worth for an MD?

[shadoctor]

Im currently getting my masters degree in Biomedical Engineering. At first, I planned on doing it to beef up my application and to allow me to pursue another degree rather than take a year off.

Since starting the program, I have liked it a lot and learned so much about it. I did Bio Sci as an undergrad and never took any BME classes before.

I basically was wondering what will this degree be useful for? Although we study cell/tissue engineering as well as physiology, its more quantitative and not what I expect to see in medical school. Will this program help me in getting residencies (eg, I stand out when I apply as a MS4)?

The more I think about it, the less I feel this degree will be worth anything if I dont go into research (which I dont plan on doing).

Any help or feedback is appreciated.

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[psy3]

If you hadn't started your masters and was considering it, I would have talked you out of it. Surely BME courses are interesting, can be applied if you were to do research in med school, and possibly help you during the application process. But I don't believe the benefit will be worth 30k tuition, unless you get a job in biotech. (which is why I got 1year research position instead of doing BME). Anyway, since you are already in the program, enjoy, look for interesting research projects in the department. BME is in fact a very interesting topic to discuss in interviews.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Will this program help me in getting residencies (eg, I stand out when I apply as a MS4)?

Your ability to match a residency program will be nearly entirely dependent on what you do in medical school. A publication or two before you get there won't hurt. By some odd coincidence you might do some research that matches the interest of a program directory or PGY interviewer, but by and large, M3 combined with USMLE step 1 are your indicators for residency success. Some research will help, but your access to relevant clinical research is much better in medical school than graduate school.

MCAT, undegrad GPA, EC's--LOR's and maybe a little bit of research will follow if you spend your undergrad time on these things, and your interview will be good if you spent you did quality EC's. That's the magic list for med school.

Grad program success isn't worth much to med school adcoms unless you are interested in MD/PhD or a curriculum that includes mandatory research semesters. Sorry--been there, done that. It's just not an indicator of USMLE success, and since the best applicants usually don't go to grad school, there's no way to compare you to them.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

JHU BME graduate here. If I had known you were going to do this initially to beef up your app, I would have talked you out of it.

Masters degrees usually provide little help on residency matches, with exception to the MPH and primary care. You are lucky you are enjoying it though, just do well and learn alot. Since it won't really help with med school application, you can really do the program for yourself, for your own enrichment, which is a much better purpose than a resume padder.