<p>what is the difference between takign the BME program at JHU and just taking the basic pre-med track classes?</p>
<p>BME IS NOT SOME GLORIFIED PRE MED PROGRAM. SORRY.
BME IS NOT SOME GLORIFIED PRE MED PROGRAM. SORRY.
REPEAT 3 times.</p>
<p>Biomedical Engineering is a program for those who want to use the principles of biology, medicine, medical research and traditional engineering to develop techniques, tools, etc for health fields. It can certainly be an undergraduate major that will lead you to med school but it's not a good idea.</p>
<p>With that said the BME program doesn't include:
A second semester of orgo.
A year of english.
Orgo Lab.</p>
<p>why is giong into BME not a good idea? so if i wanted to do pre-med it'd be better to just take track classes as opposed to signing up for BME?</p>
<p>If you're interested in BME and still want to go to med school, then doing BME is fine. I think what scorp means is it's a bad idea to use BME as a route to medical school. BME is a full engineering major and it involves a lot more than the pre-med requirements. If you don't like engineering, then BME is not the route for you - you're going to end up hating it. You can major in absolutely anything and still be pre-med as long as you take certain required classes.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, yes. Consider that BME stands for Bio-Medical Engineering. It's a very rigorous program whose purpose is not necessarily to prepare you for a career as a doctor. In fact, BME is still a relatively fledgling field and the skills it teaches would possibly be put to poor use if you just become a doctor instead of undertaking further study in the field or going into a career in BME.</p>
<p>Check out the Wikipedia</a> entry for more about what BME actually is.</p>
<p>so just to clarify if i'm looking to be a doctor as my eventual profession i should just apply a seperate major (i.e international relations) and just do the pre-med track while at JHU correct?</p>
<p>It depends on what you're interested in. You can study anything you want, so if you're interested in IR, then you can major in that; if you want to do Film & Media Studies, History, Neuroscience or Math, those are all options. If you want to learn about engineering and how it relates to the body (and maybe apply the engineering skills you learn when you're a doctor), then you can consider one of the different bio-engineering</a> options including the BME department. I think about a third of BME graduates go on to med school so it's not like that's not possible - it's just going to be a pretty challenging route.</p>
<p>Let me explain my response a little better.
I don't like people thinking that Biomedical Engineering is some sort of glorified pre-med major that will in someway help you get into medical school. I don't like people majoring in BME just so that they can look good to medical schools and don't have any ligitimate interests in BME -- they just make it more boring for the rest of us. The entire reason medical schools don't require you to major in something specific is so that this wouldn't happen (majors full of disinterested people who are just trying to get to med school.)</p>
<p>Well stated tanman, scorp, and redcrosseknight. </p>
<p>I must say that many applicants apply to the BME program who have absolutely no interest in Engineering. For that reason, limiting the program and having a separate admission to the major has been a good policy for us -- we admit students to BME who understand it is not a glorified pre-med program and who want an engineering degree.</p>