Engineering vs. Medical

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

So I’m a Freshman in high school, and in my school, we choose classes based on what career we want to do, and I am in between Mechatronics Engineering and Medical school (neurology or psychiatry).

Regarding medical school, when I was little (5) I swore that I would be anything but a doctor because my mother was a doctor (she’s retired) and she would always be so tired and I didn’t want such a tiring job. However, in the past 3-4 years, I have become so fascinated with how a brain functions and how it affects the body that it has become an option for me. The reason that I am thinking of neuro-surgeon or psychiatry is also that I have an EQ of 136, and it seems good enough to be a psychiatrist.

I could open a DVD on a computer before I could read. I configured a cable TV, on my own, when I was 10. I have had a talent for technology ever since I have known myself. My father and my older brother (works for Nokia) are both Electrical and Electronic Engineers. About a year ago, my Aunt and cousins came over and of course, the topic of what I would choose for a career came up, and I said (determined as I always had) that I wanted to be an engineer. Before I could go on about how much I was good at it, my brother cut me off and said that I only wanted to be an engineer because dad and he were, that I would always run to them when I needed help and that that it was the solitude reason that I had for wanting to be an engineer. Since then I have doubted my “decision”.

I know that it might seem like a simple answer, but whichever one I choose to do, I am going to doing to do it for 30+ years (switching is not an option for me because when I choose one I want to devote myself to it, it’s just my personality), which about half of a lifetime. Also, there is a saying “if you love two people at the same time, choose the second. Because if you really loved the first one, you wouldn’t have fallen for the second.” (Johnny Depp) and it sounds true to me.

The rigorous workload and the competitive field is not the issue for me(I took Pre-Calc this year and it’s been an A so far, people in the class thought I was a senior), the issue is I am not sure with the job is “right” for me. The passed two paragraphs might make it seem like I am an emotion ball, but I am good at thinking on my feet, whether it may be opening up a skull, or reprogramming a whole new program it would take long for me to analyze the situation and make a decision. I would appreciate any help.

2

Your school may make you tailor your classes towards a future field, but you DO NOT have to permanently choose your career now. Give it like two more years. You may run into something that’s not even on your radar now, or encounter a situation that makes you favor one of these choices over the other.

3

But there are classes like “Anatomy and Physiology”, Health Science (if take this for 2 years you get a certificate) and classes would make my Pre-Med years easier. On the other hand classes like Robotics engineering drawing and AP computer science, which would give me background knowledge on a LOT. Also, I have to take 7 classes every year no more, no less.

4

Sure, but not THAT much easier. High school versions of science, math, and engineering courses are usually nowhere close to the level of what you’ll be subjected to in college.

And you’re not locked into whatever you pick at 13-15 years old. You can pursue one in high school, decide it’s not for you, and switch. You’ll have learned how to study. That’s the important bit.

5

First, don’t feel that you have to choose a career now, and do that for the rest of your life. You never know what life will bring. Both my husband and I made major midlife career changes, and neither of us are now doing what we studied in undergrad. My older D said that was actually a good model for her, that if at some point you are unhappy with what you are doing, you can successfully do something else.

Second, you are in high school. What you should do now academically to prepare you for success in college, no matter what career you decide on is to take the most challenging classes you can. Since both of your possible fields of interest are in the sciences, take math through Calculus and maybe Statistics. Take Chemistry, Physics, Biology. If you can take these at the AP or IB level that will be the most challenging. I taught high school Biology for 14 years (including AP and IB), and the biggest mistake I saw students make who wanted to go into engineering or pre-med path was to take easier high school classes to preserve their GPA. They often struggled in college because they hadn’t developed the study skills and time management techniques in high school that are needed for college level work.

Taking health sciences classes in high school won’t make pre-med classes easier because pre-med classes are Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics. Taking academic classes in these subjects in high school will better prepare you. It may help you refine your career choice to take some health science or engineering classes in high school as electives.

6

OP

All the advices above are good advices, please do not take it personally and we are just strangers that give out free advices for some strangers like you. Our advice is just trying to be helpful.

From life experiences, high school classes is just a general survey of the subject, whether it is called “Anatomy” or “Electronics”, they do not have the depth and details a college course has, yet the college courses are less detailed than the courses in graduate school. Otherwise why people go to the Graduate School, if they can learn everything in HS.

For example, D got 5 in her HS AP Bios, that is good, right? Well in her college, they have a three quarter sequence called “AP 5 Biology”, it is open to only those got 5 in AP Biology. She told me that was the hardest class for all her 4 years college. I guess Biology has different levels.