Bio-engineering undergrad to Med ???

[IndecisiveBoi404]

Hi,

I'm a senior in high school and I was wondering whether bioengineering to med is possible or whether any engineering major to med is possible (I got in for chem eng at ucsd). I know that I can get research opportunities and internships as an engineering major, but will I not have enough time to do clinical volunteering?? Is this practical or should I change my undergrad major to biochem or neurobio?

Thanks for the help!!!

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[KirinMD]

Yes, it is possible to get into med school as an engineering major, or any major in the world, as long as you take all the prerequisites.

That being said, if your goal is to ultimately get into med school, majoring in engineering is going to make it unnecessarily difficult for you. There’s no use in taking difficult engineering classes and risk having a low science GPA just because of a major you don’t need to stick with.

 

[brotherbanjo]

This is what I did actually. I chose it because I decided on the premed route in sophomore year and was already on the biomed undergrad plan, and our program had a premed track within that. So I could transition to premed and still graduate in time. It also gave me a back up if I changed my mind.

It worked well for premed. I took the old mcat so I can’t totally speak to the new one, but I had almost seen every topic before in my classes.

Downside is that I maybe would have had a higher GPA with an easier major and maybe had more time for other things like volunteering. I took two years off after undergrad to volunteer and work (which I recommend regardless btw) because I needed more clinical experiences.

Overall I’m glad I did it. My classes were way more interesting to me personally than other majors I was considering and I’m glad I have an engineering background to analyze problems with that way of thinking.

Let me know if you have any other questions


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[IndecisiveBoi404]

This is what I did actually. I chose it because I decided on the premed route in sophomore year and was already on the biomed undergrad plan, and our program had a premed track within that. So I could transition to premed and still graduate in time. It also gave me a back up if I changed my mind.

It worked well for premed. I took the old mcat so I can’t totally speak to the new one, but I had almost seen every topic before in my classes.

Downside is that I maybe would have had a higher GPA with an easier major and maybe had more time for other things like volunteering. I took two years off after undergrad to volunteer and work (which I recommend regardless btw) because I needed more clinical experiences.

Overall I’m glad I did it. My classes were way more interesting to me personally than other majors I was considering and I’m glad I have an engineering background to analyze problems with that way of thinking.

Let me know if you have any other questions


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What about like undergrad research in bioengineering, does that count as a research EC for med school? And did you work in the field of bioengineering in the 2 gap years that you took?

 

[brotherbanjo]

I was able to do research in the biomedical department, and that was one of the better parts o my application. It probably depends on what school you go to and what opportunities present them self too though. You can always ask an undergrad program about research opportunities for students before you go to get an idea of what you could do.

I continued volunteering in the research lab and also working as a nursing assistant after graduating. I wanted more time with patients because I hadn’t gotten a lot during school, so that’s why I chose to do the CNA job.

I could have worked at a biomed company, but I didn’t think it was very applicable to med school personally. Most of the work at biomed companies deals with production lines, regulatory, and maintenance, rather than first line bio research and development, and most of the jobs for undergrads aren’t in the research and development teams. Those are more for masters and PHD biomedical grads. Partly because of that, I thought it was more applicable to work at a hospital as a CNA and do volunteer bench research after graduating them getting a biomed job. Others may have different opinions though, and it’s probably also largely dependent on what opportunities present themselves

You can always talk to biomed programs and ask if they have a premed track and ask how students have done with placement in the past


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[IndecisiveBoi404]

I was able to do research in the biomedical department, and that was one of the better parts o my application. It probably depends on what school you go to and what opportunities present them self too though. You can always ask an undergrad program about research opportunities for students before you go to get an idea of what you could do.

I continued volunteering in the research lab and also working as a nursing assistant after graduating. I wanted more time with patients because I hadn’t gotten a lot during school, so that’s why I chose to do the CNA job.

I could have worked at a biomed company, but I didn’t think it was very applicable to med school personally. Most of the work at biomed companies deals with production lines, regulatory, and maintenance, rather than first line bio research and development, and most of the jobs for undergrads aren’t in the research and development teams. Those are more for masters and PHD biomedical grads. Partly because of that, I thought it was more applicable to work at a hospital as a CNA and do volunteer bench research after graduating them getting a biomed job. Others may have different opinions though, and it’s probably also largely dependent on what opportunities present themselves

You can always talk to biomed programs and ask if they have a premed track and ask how students have done with placement in the past


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Thanks for your help!!! Also, If you took 2 gap years, when did you take the MCAT? and As a BME major, how busy were your summers? Will I have time during the summer for physician shadow?

 

[brotherbanjo]

Sorry just saw your reply!

I took my MCAT the summer after graduating undergrad. I didn't apply that year because I knew I was taking a gap year and wanted to focus on studying for the MCAT. I applied the next year it was nice not have to think about the MCAT then. (Side note, I definitely recommend a gap year or two before med school simply just to have work experience. Some med student's first real 9-5 of their career is during rotations and they have more to learn than those who have worked before. I thought it was nice to have a break from school for a bit too.)

You would have time to shadow during school and the summers. I volunteered at a hospital 1x a week through all throughout the last year or two or undergrad and still had time for classes, so I think volunteering is definitely doable. In general, I think I had a heavier course load than I would have had in other pre-med majors (e.g. bio, humanities), so that is something to consider too though.

Also, some BME students are industry focused and some are pre-med, so the industry focused students often do internships during the summer before senior year to help prep for finding jobs. I thought other things were more pre-med applicable so I did volunteering/lab work instead through that summer.