which engineering major is best for medicine?

[Vblazer17]

Hello everyone,

I know questions like this have been answered many times, however I was struggling to find the right answer for me. Please help!

I am a rising High School Senior, I do have a deep passion for medicine, however I had come to the conclusion that I needed a back-up in case I realize in college medicine isn't for me. So i thought a related engineering major would be the most suitable option. I have narrowed down my choices to two majors

Electrical Engineering
Chemical Engineering

I orginally picked Biomedical Engineering. but many people I talked to said they were struggling to find a job, internships and a decent salary. I don't know if this is true or not? is it?

I just want an idea of how these engineering majors could be used towards medical school, and what types of opportunities are there for me as far as reasearch, internships, jobs, etc.

Hope you guys can help me out, i would really appreciate it!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[stefspets]

Your friends said they had trouble finding jobs, so yes, it must be true. In engineering, like most other fields, it might be hard to find a job right now because the job market isn't all that great. There are still jobs but you have to look harder.

Any engineering is fine for medical school. Any major is fine for medical school. I am answering this even though if you search I am sure you could find one of the other many threads on the subject.

Pick a major that you like. Do you want to do engineering? Do you have an interest in it?

My opinion on biomedical engineering is that the field is the most narrow so job opportunities might be more limited. I think opportunities are good as both electrical and chemical, though I was able to find a job as an electrical engineer in the middle of a bad economy and a friend who graduated in chemical in May is still unemployed. Maybe we live in an area where there are few jobs in chemical engineering and other areas are better.

In college there were lots of opportunities for internships in engineering but you had to look for them. There are plenty of graduate programs in engineering so there is research, but you have to look for it to get involved with it. Good grades and perseverance help. Also going to a large research institution helps (I went to a state school, not known as a top school by any stretch but they had lots of research $$).

 

[BlitzSleep]

Pick the one that you'd be happiest doing just in case you decide medical school is not for you

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Indeed pick the one you believe will be the most interesting for you. But I will add being an pre-med engineer is going to be a bad decision as you will have an unusually heavy course load compared to other pre-meds.

 

[xnfs93hy]

Chemical and Biomedical Engineering are two majors that would help you out (not tremendously, but they'll help).

 

[DOwnage]

Indeed pick the one you believe will be the most interesting for you. But I will add being an pre-med engineer is going to be a bad decision as you will have an unusually heavy course load compared to other pre-meds.

+1

I gotta emphasize this because I am friends with MANY Engineering students who just graduated (man, I feel old) and all their GPA's wouldn't make the initial cut if Medical Schools do in fact filter based on GPA. Granted, they weren't competing for medical school, so their typical slogan was "C's get degrees". However, I will be the first to tell you that those guys had the most stress I've ever seen any college student have out of any major. If you really dig engineering, go for it. If you are just trying to find a "back up job", do some soul searching and find out what you really enjoy.

 

[indya]

Why would you pick a vocational major if it isn't your first choice of job. You shouldn't risk your first choice so you have a good backup. Most (99%) engineering concepts have no applications in clinical medicine. In fact, I doubt most doctors know how to cross-multiply. You WILL get a lower GPA than if you majored in History or something.

 

[Cypher321]

While I would agree that, in general, an engineering degree will result in a lower gpa, I also think that the school that you attend (practical vs. theoretical) can make a large impact on how well you do. Personally, I've attended two very different universities with one being an applied engineering school and the other a theoretical. Of the two, I found that I did MUCH better at the applied engineering school than the theoretical.Now then, if you truly have an interest in the engineering field, I'd do some research, tour schools, etc so that you can find one that fits well for you so that you can keep that gpa up . Lastly, EE and ChemE are pretty intense...MechE (my major) provides the most well rounded engineering in my opinion as we take classes from most of the major engineering depts. .

 

[Vblazer17]

Yeah good points, I inderstand that GPA is the main problem and that it would be too intense of a path to take towards Medicine. I know it seems silly to take but I was asking some professors about chemE and pre-med, most of them said it was a great path and gave me a lot of pros, but none of them stressed the cons so that was really helpful thanks!

Still if the courseload is so heavy then why do many people take ChemE with pre-med? Most of the people I asked usually said that they were able to maintain an internship or job in college, and that the acceptance rate to medical school for engineers is relatively higher compared to that of other majors. Isn't that true?

- I don't mind if it's just a lot of studying, but is the courseload so heavy that it ruins a college experience?

- The only reason I didn't want to major in History or simply do pre-med or something else, is that I felt I wouldn't be in a good position in-case I don't get into medical school my first year. (which is the case most of the time right?) I just thought I would have atleast some job so that I can be fully supported in case I have trouble getting into medical school. Is that a good idea?

 

[futile]

I was an electrical engineering major, and the only way I got through engineering was by loving the crap out of it. So if you LOVE chemical engineering or if you LOVE electrical engineering, then do it. Otherwise, get an easier degree.

That being said, I think Chem engineering would have more crossover in terms of classes, but in electrical engineering (at least in my program), I could take a lot more biomedical engineering classes, which suited me just fine.

 

[futile]

- I don't mind if it's just a lot of studying, but is the courseload so heavy that it ruins a college experience?

- The only reason I didn't want to major in History or simply do pre-med or something else, is that I felt I wouldn't be in a good position in-case I don't get into medical school my first year. (which is the case most of the time right?) I just thought I would have atleast some job so that I can be fully supported in case I have trouble getting into medical school. Is that a good idea?

If you like seeing your friends a lot(outside of engineering), you will have a difficult time as an engineering major. I wouldn't say it "ruins a college experience", because what is *your* quintessential college experience? Mine was learning a lot, facing challenges, learning to do absurd physics problems no one else understands etc, but I know I sacrificed a lot of thirsty Thursdays (and Fridays, and Saturdays) along the way.

I don't know exactly how hard it is to find a job with a bio major post-college, but most of the med students I have met definitely found jobs right out of college, whether it was at a pharmacy, or Americorps, as a research assistant or something like that. I do know that it is harder to get a job at biotech companies without an advanced degree in chemistry or biology. I know a lot of electrical engineering majors out of college who had NO job offers whatsoever. You'll have to bust your butt (and your networking skills) to find a job either way.

 

[cpufreak3]

Electrical engineering... but I'm biased

I took some really interesting bioelectrical engineering courses (yes, BEE) like medical imaging systems and mathematical physiology.

Although you're focusing on engineering in courses like those, you learn about a lot about the "why" behind biology.

Either way, I think engineering is great for problem solving skills, prepares you for med school by having full course loads every semester, and challenging you.

You have to make sure that you're good at math and solving problems, otherwise you'll have a hard time keeping your grades up.

Plus, I was making triple what all my pre-med friends were making during my summer internships 😛

And yes, I did do EE as my backup for med also. It can work if you want it to

 

[huskerdye]

Biomedical Engineering, however (as you said) there's little job opportunities out there if you don't in fact get into med school..

Otherwise, probably chemical.. I would just major in biology and not worry about it, but there's always the problems of "possibly not getting in"

 

[ninefivethree]

I wonder where everyone is going to school. I'm a biomedical engineering and I think I have a pretty decent GPA (3.7). I have plenty of free time to do things with my friends and visit my long distance boyfriend. I get all my work done. And my school is ranked #9 for undergraduate engineering. All of my friends who have applied or are applying for a job haven't had any problems.

 

[indya]

you're cool

 

[MilkmanAl]

Anything with "engineering" in the title is not going to be terribly useful for med school, I'm sorry to say. Then again, not much you'll do in college is. Do what you enjoy, and be done with it.

 

[MM88]

I wouldn't recommend engineering, period, if you were going to go med. Chem eng has some overlapping courses with pre-med reqs, depending on the stream you're interested in. Elec, I would not even entertain, it is commonly accepted as the hardest engineering out there (in Canada anyway).

I'm going into my senior year of Chemical Engineering and have 27 hours worth of class a week both semesters. Unless you don't want to have a life, or are incredibly brilliant, you might want to reconsider your choices.

 

[TarHeelEMT]

Hello everyone,

I know questions like this have been answered many times, however I was struggling to find the right answer for me. Please help!

I am a rising High School Senior, I do have a deep passion for medicine, however I had come to the conclusion that I needed a back-up in case I realize in college medicine isn't for me. So i thought a related engineering major would be the most suitable option. I have narrowed down my choices to two majors

Electrical Engineering
Chemical Engineering

I orginally picked Biomedical Engineering. but many people I talked to said they were struggling to find a job, internships and a decent salary. I don't know if this is true or not? is it?

I just want an idea of how these engineering majors could be used towards medical school, and what types of opportunities are there for me as far as reasearch, internships, jobs, etc.

Hope you guys can help me out, i would really appreciate it!

The best one for getting into medical school is the one that you like the best and will be passionate about. All other concerns are secondary.

 

[engineeredout]

Do ChemE because if you decide not to do medicine at least you will get a job with a degree that provides for the highest paying starting salary for bachelors (~70K).

Gotta admit though that most of the classes are useless for med school. Some of the conceptual stuff like fluid dynamics in cardio I already know backwards and fowards while other people have trouble, and while most people's sphincters tense up whenever an equation goes on the board, math is most definitely not the problem for me. Still you'll have some overlap with any science major; the biochem majors were a lot happier than me iin biochem.

Do what you want to do in college. I didn't decided on wanting to go to med school until the end of junior year. IF you want med school it'll be there, just do the best in something that interests you.

And with the exception of general bio, I took all the med school prereqs as part of a ChemE major.

 

[MegaProjectile]

While most engineering courses may not be helpful for med school in general, they can come in handy when taking the MCAT since (like the MCAT) they do require some strong analytical/critical thinking skills.

If your ultimate goal is medical school, then you're better off choosing an easy engineering major(if there is one) and maintaining a high GPA.