Though I’m an incoming freshman, I have enough credits to be considered a sophomore. I’m also not 100% sure medical school is right for me, hence the cs minor (I’ve considered a double major as well. If medical school doesn’t work out, I can always change the cs minor to a major and complete a minor in bioe instead.)
My eventual goal is to study something in either neuroscience or AI.
What is a purpose of combining engineering with CS? I understand that some wants to pursue some personal interests, but you will not be using one of these 2 as your “hobby activity” or you are planning to have fun writing software? If you take something like 6 years in UG, that might be doable, but keep in mind that engineering is the hardest major at college and CS, while not as hard, is very time consuming for the novice, you will be debugging your own very simple programs forever and ever, they will not look simple to you.
“My eventual goal is to study something in either neuroscience or AI.” - where? You will not study AI at Medical School.
Is BIOE biomedical/biologic engineering? Or biology?
I’m asking because I’m trying to determine how much overlap the 2 fields have?
If you’re a engineering major, you’ll probably be required to take one or more programming classes as well as a substantial number of math classes as part of your major requirements–both of which will be needed for the CS minor. This might be feasible depending on what credits you’re coming in with and you time management skills.
If your goal is neuroscience or AI, then being a pre-med doesn’t make much sense. Physicians are, for the most part, clinicians not researchers.
I’d suggest leaving your options open. Take your first year classes in bio, chem, math–since those will serve you no matter what goal you eventually decide to pursue. Maybe take a entry level programming class if you have math credits and don’t need to take Calc1/2 to see if you like writing code.
Also try to get some clinical volunteering or physician shadowing done this year. Physician shadowing so you can see what the day-to-day life of a working doctor is like. Clinical volunteering at a nursing home, group home for the physically or mentally disabled, public health clinic that serves the low income, medically underserved, or a rehab hospital–this will tell you if you can stand to be around the chronically ill, the demented, the injured, the sick, mentally ill and their families because these are who your future patients will be.
Look up the difference between neurology (the clinical specialty) and neuroscience (the biologic discipline). If neuroscience and AI are your interests then you want a PhD, not an MD.
AI does not require PhD at all and it has nothing to do with neuroscience. You can pursue both and you can go to Grad. School, but it is not like MD who must graduate from Med. School and residency to practice medicine. PhD and neuroscience is NOT required for AI.
True, but my point was just as MD is the highest, most advanced medical degree, PhDs are the highest, most advanced basic science degrees.