What's the difference between a doctor and an engineer - - and don't say people.

[markshuster]

---

Members do not see this ad.

In light of Jezzielin's situation and the fact that everyone in this forum would do pretty much anything to get into medical school, I am hesitant to ask everyone's opinion for my situation - - but here goes.

I am from Northern Ohio, I finished my BS in Biomedical Engineering in 2004 and just finished my MS in Biomed. Eng. December 2005. I really, really enjoy engineering, but I began this whole journey with every intention of going to medical school in the end.

Well, I applied this year - interviewed at LECOM-E, and got accepted. So during this whole med school process I was contacted by my ex-boss from the major orthopaedic company I worked for; and he wanted to know when I was going to finish my MS (he was not aware I was interested in med school) because he wanted me to come work for him. Well I went on the interview and they offered me the engineering job with a salary of 55K a year. The job is located in Austin, TX.

So now I have a HUGE decision to make. I am a newly married man (since October 05) and my wife would be very supportive of whatever decision I make. We bought a house that we have been in for about 1 year. So we would need to sell it.

My problem is that if I pick the job, it would start immediately so I would go to TX and she would stay in Ohio until the house sells. If I pick medical school at LECOM, that would not start until August 06, so I would have 8 months to sit on my but and pickup some filler job at Home Depot or something - - just delaying my life basically.

WHAT WOULD YOU GUYS DO?!?!?! Medical school is long, hard, and expensive -- and there is no guarante that I will get the residency that I want! The job market is booming, and with this job there is a lot of room for growth. But with medical school in the end you are making BIG money. But with the job the possibilities are endless. etc, etc, etc......

I would be interested in hearing any and all input!!! 🙂

 

[Beau Geste]

Go to med school and do some research in biomed, get a killer residency in a killer specialty, get a killer job after residency and live happily ever after.

Seriously, if I was offered a job at Home Depot for the next 8 months and that's ALL I had to do (knowing med school was around the corner), I'd jump on it.

If I were you, I'd go to med school, but that's just me (and my husband would kill me if I didn't - It's all I ever talk about/dream about).

 

[Doctor Bagel]

in your initial post, you never discussed why you want to be a doctor. do you want to be a doctor? is it something you want to do for practical reasons, or is it your dream? if it's the former, you might want to give the engineering thing a try. medical school will still be there for you in ten years or whatever. one thing to note is that $55k is not a ton of money in austin. austin's one of the more (or maybe the most?) expensives places to live in texas, and you'd be hard pressed to do something like buy a house on $55k. be sure to do a cost of living comparison before jumping on the offer.

 

[markshuster]

in your initial post, you never discussed why you want to be a doctor. do you want to be a doctor? is it something you want to do for practical reasons, or is it your dream? if it's the former, you might want to give the engineering thing a try. medical school will still be there for you in ten years or whatever. one thing to note is that $55k is not a ton of money in austin. austin's one of the more (or maybe the most?) expensives places to live in texas, and you'd be hard pressed to do something like buy a house on $55k. be sure to do a cost of living comparison before jumping on the offer.

well the idea is that my wife would be able to get a good job as well, maybe in the 35-45K range, which we would have 90K together, which is plenty to buy a house in the 150-200K.

 

[Dr Trek 1]

Since you mentioned money and your family- I would suppose that that is an important factor for you. Keep in mind that if you are an excellent engineer, you will probably be able to start your own engineering company, and make lots and lots of $$$ (more so than most physicians ever will). Also, you'll have a ton more free time to spend with your family and doing things you love, and you won't have the lower pay or liability of a physician.

I personally know many engineers with their own companies who make $300-500K per year, and have no malpractice insurance or student loans to pay off. And, they work 50 hours a week tops. Oh, and they love what they do.

But if you decide on medicine, I'm sure you'll be great. BTW, when did you get your acceptance letter? I'm one of the many still waiting for mine, hehe.

Congratulations on getting into LECOM!

 

[markshuster]

Since you mentioned money and your family- I would suppose that that is an important factor for you. Keep in mind that if you are an excellent engineer, you will probably be able to start your own engineering company, and make lots and lots of $$$ (more so than most physicians ever will). Also, you'll have a ton more free time to spend with your family and doing things you love, and you won't have the lower pay or liability of a physician.

I personally know many engineers with their own companies who make $300-500K per year, and have no malpractice insurance or student loans to pay off. And, they work 50 hours a week tops. Oh, and they love what they do.

But if you decide on medicine, I'm sure you'll be great. BTW, when did you get your acceptance letter? I'm one of the many still waiting for mine, hehe.

Congratulations on getting into LECOM!

Yeah! I got my letter on Saturday, but I called Elaine Morse on Wednesday before I left for Las Vegas for the New Year holiday. And she was funny, I just asked if she could tell me where I was on the list of making a decision and she told me that a letter was being mailed out that day! And of course I asked her if she could tell me which way the letter was going to go and she laughed a little and said "my lips are sealed....but you are really going to like it!" ......so I knew the decision before I left for the holiday! Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky in Vegas!

 

[Beau Geste]

Since you mentioned money and your family- I would suppose that that is an important factor for you. Keep in mind that if you are an excellent engineer, you will probably be able to start your own engineering company, and make lots and lots of $$$ (more so than most physicians ever will). Also, you'll have a ton more free time to spend with your family and doing things you love, and you won't have the lower pay or liability of a physician.

I personally know many engineers with their own companies who make $300-500K per year, and have no malpractice insurance or student loans to pay off. And, they work 50 hours a week tops. Oh, and they love what they do.

But if you decide on medicine, I'm sure you'll be great. BTW, when did you get your acceptance letter? I'm one of the many still waiting for mine, hehe.

Congratulations on getting into LECOM!

Starting up a company is very hard, even if you are good. I did it about 2 years ago and barely break even. For an engineering-type company, you would have loans at start-up and lots of overhead. It could be a long time (<10 years) before seeing a profit.

At your age, I'm sure you didn't apply and interview at med schools for the heck of it. You must have thought about it and wanted to do it. But if you think you'd be happier being an engineer, then do it. Keep in mind that 90k (before taxes) does not go far in big cities.

Do what makes you happy. You can get all the advice you want from this thread, but in the end you have to make up your own mind.

 

[Dr Trek 1]

Yeah! I got my letter on Saturday, but I called Elaine Morse on Wednesday before I left for Las Vegas for the New Year holiday. And she was funny, I just asked if she could tell me where I was on the list of making a decision and she told me that a letter was being mailed out that day! And of course I asked her if she could tell me which way the letter was going to go and she laughed a little and said "my lips are sealed....but you are really going to like it!" ......so I knew the decision before I left for the holiday! Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky in Vegas!

Haha that is awesome! I too got the feeling that the admissions office is very friendly and down-to-earth, just swamped with work. Haha that is awesome that she basically told you of the admissions decision over the phone!!!

When did you interview? I interviewed on 12/19 and am hoping to call this Thursday (to have given them 3-4 chances to review my application on Wednesday) to see my status.

 

[markshuster]

Haha that is awesome! I too got the feeling that the admissions office is very friendly and down-to-earth, just swamped with work. Haha that is awesome that she basically told you of the admissions decision over the phone!!!

When did you interview? I interviewed on 12/19 and am hoping to call this Thursday (to have given them 3-4 chances to review my application on Wednesday) to see my status.

interview date was 11/22

 

[PlasticMan]

In light of Jezzielin's situation and the fact that everyone in this forum would do pretty much anything to get into medical school, I am hesitant to ask everyone's opinion for my situation - - but here goes.

I am from Northern Ohio, I finished my BS in Biomedical Engineering in 2004 and just finished my MS in Biomed. Eng. December 2005. I really, really enjoy engineering, but I began this whole journey with every intention of going to medical school in the end.

Well, I applied this year - interviewed at LECOM-E, and got accepted. So during this whole med school process I was contacted by my ex-boss from the major orthopaedic company I worked for; and he wanted to know when I was going to finish my MS (he was not aware I was interested in med school) because he wanted me to come work for him. Well I went on the interview and they offered me the engineering job with a salary of 55K a year. The job is located in Austin, TX.

So now I have a HUGE decision to make. I am a newly married man (since October 05) and my wife would be very supportive of whatever decision I make. We bought a house that we have been in for about 1 year. So we would need to sell it.

My problem is that if I pick the job, it would start immediately so I would go to TX and she would stay in Ohio until the house sells. If I pick medical school at LECOM, that would not start until August 06, so I would have 8 months to sit on my but and pickup some filler job at Home Depot or something - - just delaying my life basically.

WHAT WOULD YOU GUYS DO?!?!?! Medical school is long, hard, and expensive -- and there is no guarante that I will get the residency that I want! The job market is booming, and with this job there is a lot of room for growth. But with medical school in the end you are making BIG money. But with the job the possibilities are endless. etc, etc, etc......

I would be interested in hearing any and all input!!! 🙂

You have to do what you enjoy. Do you love being an engineer? Could you be happy doing that the rest of your life? If the answer is "yes", why not stick with it? However, if your dream is really to become a physician, then go for that. Do what you will enjoy. I am currently working as an enginner; actually sitting at my desk as I type this, and I cannot wait to get into medical school! All I think about all day long for years now is becoming a surgeon; I hate being stuck behind this desk! So for me it is an easy decision. Good luck to you!

 

[NonTradMed]

Hey, just thought I'd share. I am/was in very, very similar situation to you. Be aware people on this forum will be biased for the medical route simply because of the nature of the forum.



I went to college hardcore premed, but graduated with a degree in computer science from the school of engineering. I ended up doing a combined five years BS-MS program. After coming out, I felt burned out and wanted to work for a while before deciding what I wanted to do with my life. I started at a job in the midwest in a small city known for relatively cheap living with starting salary in mid-50k. Work requirement was about 45-55 hrs/week depending on how busy we were. It wasn't a bad gig. Engineering gives people a great starting salary, especially coming out of college. However, even mid-50k in a cheap city doesn't go far in terms of supporting a family.

For numerous reasons I don't want to get into in this post, I decided to take the risk and apply for medical school. I did eventually quit and go back to school for more classes and to retake the MCAT. I got one of my top choices (CCOM) and am pretty satisfied (if only my state school will come calling thus saving me $$!). I am very very happy with my decision.

To tell you the truth, having worked in the IT industry, I'm not really all that impressed with the monetary compensation of being an engineer---albeit a 'fake' one 😀 . From what my 'real' engineering friends tell me (EE, ME etc), and from my own experiences, money doesn't increase that far up in the engineering world unless one aspires to management, is a 'great' engineer (60+ hours, top of the game), or live in an expensive city. Thus far, the only engineering friends that have attained the magically six figure barrier lives in Cali and it doesn't go that far if you live in a city where a four bedroom costs you upwards of half a million or more. In my 'cheap' city, the average engineer in my company tops out at 80-90k depending on experience and responsiblities. Anything more you HAVE to do management. If that is the route you envisioned for yourself, then you will probably be happy with being an engineering, if you had intended on staying the technical route forever, well, you may be forced out of a job. I see very few technical workers past 45 around my old company.

As other posters have stated, you can start your own business---but like any business venture, it is a huge undertaking and a risk. Engineering, like medicine, is NOT a quick road to the six figure financial success story some make it out to be. I'm don't want to discourage anyone from going the engineering route, but if money is a big factor for you, I don't think going engineering over medicine will make you better off financially in the long run unless you have real business acumen---but if you were really good at running your own business, you could start your own without the hassles of getting a technical/professional degree.

Sorry if I sound like I'm pissing on engineering, but you seem enarmoured with your salary somewhat and I just want to tell you it's not as great as people make it out to be. Sure, it's great for someone coming out of college, but for all your hardwork as compared to some other majors, I think it's pretty well deserved. Unfortunately, the long term prospects for an engineering degree isn't as sanguine as the immediate rewards. That's one of the reason I kind of like medicine, you are valued more for your experience than as an engineer.

In the end, I think both routes have their goods and bads. The main thing you have ask yourself is 'what can I do for the rest of my life that won't drive me insane?'. Don't be enarmoured by the money. 50K is not much when you have to start a family. Besides, four years of med school will allow you to make about 40k as a resident. However, medicine has it's own financial issues. You have a HUGE debt unless you go to your local state school, you will be school an extra four years...is that worth the effort so you can practice medicine? The end result is an overall higher salary than if you had stuck with engineering, but also higher debt, years of lost income etc. The deciding factor will be on what YOU want to do: engineering vs. medicine.

It was a no brainer for me after working for six months in a engineering firm, I wanted to go into medicine. But for a lot of my friends worked at the company, they knew they didn't want to go into medicine. You have to decide where your passion is.

One of the best advice ever given to me by a mentor was that whatever I wanted to do education wise, do it NOW, when I'm young. Education, especially medical school, becomes increasingly harder to do once kids start popping out, once you settle into a 'routine' and have a house and family. If you can help it, don't wait until you are ten years into your career, with a house, a wife with an established career of her own, and kids, to decide to uproot everyone for your dreams---better to do it with now with minimal disruption to your life. I'm not trying to say you should hussle, but don't dilly dally either. Maybe defer for a year at LECOM and work at your new job, see if you like it. After working for six months, I couldn't get the idea of medical school out of my head, and I realized this was what I wanted to do. Maybe you will have the same epiphany. PM me if you'd like. Good luck.

 

[OSUdoc08]

In light of Jezzielin's situation and the fact that everyone in this forum would do pretty much anything to get into medical school, I am hesitant to ask everyone's opinion for my situation - - but here goes.

I am from Northern Ohio, I finished my BS in Biomedical Engineering in 2004 and just finished my MS in Biomed. Eng. December 2005. I really, really enjoy engineering, but I began this whole journey with every intention of going to medical school in the end.

Well, I applied this year - interviewed at LECOM-E, and got accepted. So during this whole med school process I was contacted by my ex-boss from the major orthopaedic company I worked for; and he wanted to know when I was going to finish my MS (he was not aware I was interested in med school) because he wanted me to come work for him. Well I went on the interview and they offered me the engineering job with a salary of 55K a year. The job is located in Austin, TX.

So now I have a HUGE decision to make. I am a newly married man (since October 05) and my wife would be very supportive of whatever decision I make. We bought a house that we have been in for about 1 year. So we would need to sell it.

My problem is that if I pick the job, it would start immediately so I would go to TX and she would stay in Ohio until the house sells. If I pick medical school at LECOM, that would not start until August 06, so I would have 8 months to sit on my but and pickup some filler job at Home Depot or something - - just delaying my life basically.

WHAT WOULD YOU GUYS DO?!?!?! Medical school is long, hard, and expensive -- and there is no guarante that I will get the residency that I want! The job market is booming, and with this job there is a lot of room for growth. But with medical school in the end you are making BIG money. But with the job the possibilities are endless. etc, etc, etc......

I would be interested in hearing any and all input!!! 🙂

You either have a dream to become a physician or not. The fact that you are even asking this question means you need to take the engineering job.

I'd never pick math and a low income over getting paid to help others, but that's just me.

 

[PlasticMan]

Hey, just thought I'd share. I am/was in very, very similar situation to you. Be aware people on this forum will be biased for the medical route simply because of the nature of the forum.



I went to college hardcore premed, but graduated with a degree in computer science from the school of engineering. I ended up doing a combined five years BS-MS program. After coming out, I felt burned out and wanted to work for a while before deciding what I wanted to do with my life. I started at a job in the midwest in a small city known for relatively cheap living with starting salary in mid-50k. Work requirement was about 45-55 hrs/week depending on how busy we were. It wasn't a bad gig. Engineering gives people a great starting salary, especially coming out of college. However, even mid-50k in a cheap city doesn't go far in terms of supporting a family.

For numerous reasons I don't want to get into in this post, I decided to take the risk and apply for medical school. I did eventually quit and go back to school for more classes and to retake the MCAT. I got one of my top choices (CCOM) and am pretty satisfied (if only my state school will come calling thus saving me $$!). I am very very happy with my decision.

To tell you the truth, having worked in the IT industry, I'm not really all that impressed with the monetary compensation of being an engineer---albeit a 'fake' one 😀 . From what my 'real' engineering friends tell me (EE, ME etc), and from my own experiences, money doesn't increase that far up in the engineering world unless one aspires to management, is a 'great' engineer (60+ hours, top of the game), or live in an expensive city. Thus far, the only engineering friends that have attained the magically six figure barrier lives in Cali and it doesn't go that far if you live in a city where a four bedroom costs you upwards of half a million or more. In my 'cheap' city, the average engineer in my company tops out at 80-90k depending on experience and responsiblities. Anything more you HAVE to do management. If that is the route you envisioned for yourself, then you will probably be happy with being an engineering, if you had intended on staying the technical route forever, well, you may be forced out of a job. I see very few technical workers past 45 around my old company.

As other posters have stated, you can start your own business---but like any business venture, it is a huge undertaking and a risk. Engineering, like medicine, is NOT a quick road to the six figure financial success story some make it out to be. I'm don't want to discourage anyone from going the engineering route, but if money is a big factor for you, I don't think going engineering over medicine will make you better off financially in the long run unless you have real business acumen---but if you were really good at running your own business, you could start your own without the hassles of getting a technical/professional degree.

Sorry if I sound like I'm pissing on engineering, but you seem enarmoured with your salary somewhat and I just want to tell you it's not as great as people make it out to be. Sure, it's great for someone coming out of college, but for all your hardwork as compared to some other majors, I think it's pretty well deserved. Unfortunately, the long term prospects for an engineering degree isn't as sanguine as the immediate rewards. That's one of the reason I kind of like medicine, you are valued more for your experience than as an engineer.

In the end, I think both routes have their goods and bads. The main thing you have ask yourself is 'what can I do for the rest of my life that won't drive me insane?'. Don't be enarmoured by the money. 50K is not much when you have to start a family. Besides, four years of med school will allow you to make about 40k as a resident. However, medicine has it's own financial issues. You have a HUGE debt unless you go to your local state school, you will be school an extra four years...is that worth the effort so you can practice medicine? The end result is an overall higher salary than if you had stuck with engineering, but also higher debt, years of lost income etc. The deciding factor will be on what YOU want to do: engineering vs. medicine.

It was a no brainer for me after working for six months in a engineering firm, I wanted to go into medicine. But for a lot of my friends worked at the company, they knew they didn't want to go into medicine. You have to decide where your passion is.

One of the best advice ever given to me by a mentor was that whatever I wanted to do education wise, do it NOW, when I'm young. Education, especially medical school, becomes increasingly harder to do once kids start popping out, once you settle into a 'routine' and have a house and family. If you can help it, don't wait until you are ten years into your career, with a house, a wife with an established career of her own, and kids, to decide to uproot everyone for your dreams---better to do it with now with minimal disruption to your life. I'm not trying to say you should hussle, but don't dilly dally either. Maybe defer for a year at LECOM and work at your new job, see if you like it. After working for six months, I couldn't get the idea of medical school out of my head, and I realized this was what I wanted to do. Maybe you will have the same epiphany. PM me if you'd like. Good luck.

I also graduated with a CS degree from an engineering & technology school, and I take your statement as offensive. I consider myself a true engineer. I don't know what type of work you do, but we do computer/software engineering. We design hardware and then write software that runs on that hardware. You have to have a good background in computer science, programming, mathematics and even some electrical engineering info to do what we do.

 

[Beau Geste]

I also graduated with a CS degree from an engineering & technology school, and I take your statement as offensive. I consider myself a true engineer. I don't know what type of work you do, but we do computer/software engineering. We design hardware and then write software that runs on that hardware. You have to have a good background in computer science, programming, mathematics and even some electrical engineering info to do what we do.

I think they meant the ones that drive trains. J/K.

 

[PlasticMan]

I think they meant the ones that drive trains. J/K.

 

[ericado]

If I were you, I would take the engineering position...work for a year or two, and see if you really enjoy it. If you think that you like engineering more than medicine after working, I'd continue the engineering position and if not, then go to med school. Taking a year or two to figure out which profession you'd be happier with is not wasted time! Good luck with your decision.

 

[NonTradMed]

I also graduated with a CS degree from an engineering & technology school, and I take your statement as offensive. I consider myself a true engineer. I don't know what type of work you do, but we do computer/software engineering. We design hardware and then write software that runs on that hardware. You have to have a good background in computer science, programming, mathematics and even some electrical engineering info to do what we do.

Well, take offense if you want, I'm proud of my CS degree, but I won't apologize for my comments. If you can't laugh at your own degree, then perhaps it's a sign of your own insecurity.

I know I'm a good engineer, with a sound engineering background, but CS has been considered a nonengineering major because in many schools, it is offered via the School of Arts and Sciences, and in some cases, grew from the school's math department (as it did at my school).

And as a result, CS is sometimes called, tongue in cheeck, a 'fake' engineering degree. In schools such as Cornell, their CS coursework used to allow you get away with mostly theory work, sprinkled in with a few programming courses. One of my CS prof did his undergrad at cornell and he was amazed at how many 'engineering' and programming courses we had to take in order to graduate. So take offense if you want, but some students are proud to say they are CS theorists rather than computer software engineers.

 

[NewNick]

Well, take offense if you want, I'm proud of my CS degree, but I won't apologize for my comments. If you can't laugh at your own degree, then perhaps it's a sign of your own insecurity.

I know I'm a good engineer, with a sound engineering background, but CS has been considered a nonengineering major because in many schools, it is offered via the School of Arts and Sciences, and in some cases, grew from the school's math department (as it did at my school).

And as a result, CS is sometimes called, tongue in cheeck, a 'fake' engineering degree. In schools such as Cornell, their CS coursework used to allow you get away with mostly theory work, sprinkled in with a few programming courses. One of my CS prof did his undergrad at cornell and he was amazed at how many 'engineering' and programming courses we had to take in order to graduate. So take offense if you want, but some students are proud to say they are CS theorists rather than computer software engineers.

You got to be kidding. CS is "fake" engineering ?!?!?!? 😕 Take a look at Microsoft or Apple or even AMD and Intel (they mostly do semiconductor products), you'll understand the "real" Computer Science. I know that there are so many schools which offer CS (emphasize IT); it means they teach their students programming some web or database applications, this may cause people feel they're not "real" engineers. Moreover, knowing how to program some languages doesn't make one a software engineer. By the way, degree is just a piece of paper. 🙂

 

[PlasticMan]

You got to be kidding. CS is "fake" engineering ?!?!?!? 😕 Take a look at Microsoft or Apple or even AMD and Intel (they mostly do semiconductor products), you'll understand the "real" Computer Science. I know that there are so many schools which offer CS (emphasize IT); it means they teach their students programming some web or database applications, this may cause people feel they're not "real" engineers. Moreover, knowing how to program some languages doesn't make one a software engineer. By the way, degree is just a piece of paper. 🙂

👍 Exactly, I don't classify engineer as to what type of degree you have but what profession you work in. I work at a small engineering company; one guy has a PhD in applied physics, some of us have CS degrees, others have EE or ChemE or even Math degrees, but we all work as engineers. It depends on the job; if you work at a place mostly doing basic web programming or something, I'm not really sure I'd classify that as an engineer; however if you're working a job where you work with hardware and software at the low levels, I definitely classify that as engineering.

 

[Beau Geste]

By the way, degree is just a piece of paper. 🙂

I hate it when people say that. It makes me feel like my hard work and time were a waste.

A degree obtained after a series of objectives in a focused area of study are met, where a student allows himself to be educated by experts in the field and puts in the time and effort to learn about the field of interest. Just knowing the anatomy and physiology of the body doesn't make you a doctor. Getting the degree means being taught and tested, and passing the test.

If a degree were just a piece of paper, we'd have no problem with sham doctors.

 

[NonTradMed]

You got to be kidding. CS is "fake" engineering ?!?!?!? 😕 Take a look at Microsoft or Apple or even AMD and Intel (they mostly do semiconductor products), you'll understand the "real" Computer Science. I know that there are so many schools which offer CS (emphasize IT); it means they teach their students programming some web or database applications, this may cause people feel they're not "real" engineers. Moreover, knowing how to program some languages doesn't make one a software engineer. By the way, degree is just a piece of paper. 🙂

Ok, I don't know why people are all up in arms about my 'fake' engineering comment. Especially considering that at some schools (like mine), CS, for a long time, was not considered part of the engineering school, but sprang from the math department.

I wrote, designed and tested software for two years for an IT firm, I think I have a pretty good understanding of what 'real' computer science is. But I also know friends who didn't go that route. I've met CS people who do not consider themselves 'engineers', they consider themselves 'computer scientists'----ergo, the joke about the 'fake' engineering degree of CS.

And plenty of CS people don't go into traditional 'engineering' profession, some are consultants and others go into research----they don't all call themselves 'engineers' because of their CS degree, but they definitely think of themselves as doing 'real computer science'.

 

[PlasticMan]

Ok, I don't know why people are all up in arms about my 'fake' engineering comment. Especially considering that at some schools (like mine), CS, for a long time, was not considered part of the engineering school, but sprang from the math department.

I wrote, designed and tested software for two years for an IT firm, I think I have a pretty good understanding of what 'real' computer science is. But I also know friends who didn't go that route. I've met CS people who do not consider themselves 'engineers', they consider themselves 'computer scientists'----ergo, the joke about the 'fake' engineering degree of CS.

And plenty of CS people don't go into traditional 'engineering' profession, some are consultants and others go into research----they don't all call themselves 'engineers' because of their CS degree, but they definitely think of themselves as doing 'real computer science'.

Agreed. Sorry I got up in arms; I thought you were saying anyone with a CS degree cannot be classified as a real "engineer" and is only a "fake" one. Like I said, I think there are many degrees that lead to being an engineer; you do not have to have a bachelors in engineering in order to work as an engineer profession. That's all I'm saying. We've got one guy here that started out going for CS so he started working here as an engineer part time. He later switched to a non-engineering school and actually has a degree in music composition! Yet he is working alongside the rest of us!

 

[Dave_D]

Agreed. Sorry I got up in arms; I thought you were saying anyone with a CS degree cannot be classified as a real "engineer" and is only a "fake" one. Like I said, I think there are many degrees that lead to being an engineer; you do not have to have a bachelors in engineering in order to work as an engineer profession. That's all I'm saying. We've got one guy here that started out going for CS so he started working here as an engineer part time. He later switched to a non-engineering school and actually has a degree in music composition! Yet he is working alongside the rest of us!

Sorry to chime in so late but my impression of why often the confusion comes up is because of all this confusion over what's the difference between a programmer and a software engineer.(I know, 5K a year 😀 ) Seriously though where I last worked we had definitions of which was what. If you were doing analysis of a problem, constructing solutions, evaluating costs of solutions, and documenting all of this you were engineering. Actually writing the code was considered programming. (You could pretty much tell who was a good engineer and who wasn't by which ones could do the first part without worrying about code. And like you've said we had some pretty good engineers without engineering degrees like one guy who went to Berkley School of music and had no degree.)
Of course there's the problem of the guy who combines all these processes (programming and engineering) into one big step which he thinks is faster yet seems to only create a mess.

 

[PlasticMan]

Sorry to chime in so late but my impression of why often the confusion comes up is because of all this confusion over what's the difference between a programmer and a software engineer.(I know, 5K a year 😀 ) Seriously though where I last worked we had definitions of which was what. If you were doing analysis of a problem, constructing solutions, evaluating costs of solutions, and documenting all of this you were engineering. Actually writing the code was considered programming. (You could pretty much tell who was a good engineer and who wasn't by which ones could do the first part without worrying about code. And like you've said we had some pretty good engineers without engineering degrees like one guy who went to Berkley School of music and had no degree.)
Of course there's the problem of the guy who combines all these processes (programming and engineering) into one big step which he thinks is faster yet seems to only create a mess.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

To the OP:

I also have a degree in Computer Science and also I loved "engineering" for awhile. Hell, I once designed and built a 6g balsa wood tower that held 85kg of weight. (AutoCAD for the win!) I've also written linux shells from scratch, built computers, reverse engineered stuff, and pretty much anything else you can think of that is fun to tinker with in the field. What truly classifies "engineering" is irrelevant to your true question.

Just know this. I am in medical school now and I could not see myself doing anything else.

You need to ask yourself what you really enjoy doing and then go for it.

I would like to add one other thing...job security! As all IT professionals know, there's no job security in the market anymore. There will always be people who become injured or sick. There will always be a need for medicine. 😉

That's my two cents, take it or leave it.

Much love,
Richie

 

[ac101ac]

In light of Jezzielin's situation and the fact that everyone in this forum would do pretty much anything to get into medical school, I am hesitant to ask everyone's opinion for my situation - - but here goes.


Just so you know 50k will not get you far in Austin. It is very expensive to live here and you really should try and ask for more $$.... friends of mine just coming out of eng.school are offered no less than 60k and that's at the bottom of the scale with only a bachelors. Seriously, this boss of yours is trying to take advantage of the fact that you have no idea just how expensive it is to live here. Even if your wife works and you can afford to buy a 200k house take a look at what it will buy you. Of course if you want to commute then I guess you can buy a better house outside of Austin. Well good luck to you and do some research. I would agree with the person who says if you really are not sure then defer for a year and try it out. Also I have an awesome broker that will help you find a great house in Austin so if you need his info let me know. He is awesome and I can guarantee that you will like him as well. He bargains with the owners so that you get what you want. Good luck to you.

 

[Bill_Brasky]

Don't go to medical school. If I had the intelligence for engineering I wouldn't be a doctor. (I'm already in med school, so it doesn't matter to me)

-Bill Brasky
"Fourth: Did I ever tell you about the time Bill Brasky showed up at my daughter's wedding? You know my daughter; she's a beautiful girl.

First: I tell you, I'd like to have sex with her!

Fourth: Well, Brasky shows up.. and you know he's a big fella.

Third: Goes about 7'8", 530.

Fourth: Well, he's standing right between me and my daughter at the ceremony. He's got no right to be there, but he's drunk and he's Brasky! Well, long story short: the priest accidentally marries Brasky and me! [ the guys laugh ] Off! Off! Off! We spend the weekend in the Pocono's - he loves me like I've never been loved before!

Second: Best damn salesman in the office! "

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I would like to add one other thing...job security! As all IT professionals know, there's no job security in the market anymore. There will always be people who become injured or sick. There will always be a need for medicine. 😉

That's my two cents, take it or leave it.

Much love,
Richie

So true! I know very few IT people and engineers who haven't been through at least one layoff.

 

[Dave_D]

So true! I know very few IT people and engineers who haven't been through at least one layoff.

Yeah, like me right now during the application process 😀 (Seriously, the first nibble I've gotten was for an "entry level application engineer". Basically glorified tech support. You'd think with a CS degree and 5 years of professional software engineering experience that they wouldn't waste my time with a non local job.)

 

[PlasticMan]

So true! I know very few IT people and engineers who haven't been through at least one layoff.

I'm actually one 🙂 There are advantages and disadvantages to working for a small company. One advantage is that they tend to have more loyalty towards their employees.

 

[Dave_D]

I'm actually one 🙂 There are advantages and disadvantages to working for a small company. One advantage is that they tend to have more loyalty towards their employees.

Of course there's the other side of that coin. You know, the company is small and has loyalty to a guy who is such a terrible engineer that his employment probably put the company out of business 😀 (Ok, maybe that's not quite true but I do wonder if that's the case with the last company I worked for since it's not that hard to believe.)