<p>i was reading some posts a ways back about the health science major not being good for med schools. </p>
<p>I am going to be an incoming freshman as a HealthSci major with hopes to go to med school and was curious about if i take all the pre reqs, and some upper level science classes will my major be a strong one for med school? (Assuming that i get good grades and test scores)</p>
<p>My major was particularly being compared with bio and someone was saying about how bio is a stronger major for med schools, but wouldn't I get potentially better co-ops, because of being a health sci major, by this i mean more patient oriented ones because when i went to welcome day some of the health science students said they got to sit in and watch surgeries and things like that where as bio may be more research geared?</p>
<p>any thoughts would be appreciated</p>
<p>Probably saw one of my posts. I still stand by saying that health sci isn’t as good as bio for med school. Med schools want rigorous science courseloads, not classes like public health, health care systems, racial problems in health care, etc etc etc, plus other things I talked about in previous posts.</p>
<p>I guess you might get more patient-based co-ops, but I don’t think that’s going to make a substantial difference. All med school applicants need time shadowing and volunteering/working in a clinical setting, so bio majors find ways to get that too. Ultimately, you watching a surgery is one of the least important parts of a med application. They want to see that you’ve had exposure to medicine as a career, but it’s not like watching surgeries really furthers your understanding of the human body, of mechanisms of disease, or of the fundamentals of science. Shadowing/clinical experience is a box to check off on apps, not something that will set you apart from other applicants. It’s better to use co-ops to do something interesting and unique than to sit around watching doctors doing work.</p>
<p>I’m just super biased against health sciences as a major, so don’t base any decisions after me, I’m jaded and stubborn. But, might be a good idea to do some research on how health science majors (in general, not just NU students) fare in medical school admissions. The pre-med forums here are a good place to start, SDN will be a good resource too (but please don’t get sucked in, SDN is the most neurotic and absurd place on earth, and will cause you to freak out, burn out, and hate everything).</p>
<p>Did some digging and found these threads about health sciences.</p>
<p>Should also add that I’m a firm believer in majoring in something that interests you. Hey, maybe you’re super passionate about health care systems and pretty meh on the science that is the foundation of medicine. I’d say if that’s the case, you’re more likely to wind up in public health than becoming a doctor, but that’s beside the point. If history is your jam but you also really want to be a doctor to help people, then major in history and do your pre-med reqs. Maybe Sally is psyched to do math problems all day, so she majors in math, but then Sally’s mom dies of cancer and she decides to become a doctor so she goes back to school and does her pre-med reqs. Joe majored in international affairs because he wanted to change the world, and then graduated and realized that he could change lives directly by being a doctor, so he goes back to school, does the pre-med reqs, and goes to medical school.</p>
<p>There are a bajillion and one paths people take to medical school. It’s somewhat true that “adcoms don’t care what you majored in” because the above people proved that you can major in something random and still get accepted. </p>
<p>There are also a bajillion and one paths that a pre-med can take to realize that they should not be a doctor. I was a starry-eyed pre-med once too, until I realized that I actually didn’t want to poke people’s stomachs all day and that I don’t really want to diagnose diseases, and that my real passion is cell biology. So, point there is major in something you actually care about, because if medical school doesn’t pan out, you want a degree in something you don’t hate.</p>
<p>Anyway, I can ramble forever. Here are two of many posts about majors and getting into medical school:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/926236-exercise-physiology-another-major.html?highlight=health[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/926236-exercise-physiology-another-major.html?highlight=health</a>
[Good</a> Pre-Med Major | Pre-Medical Allopathic [ MD ] | Student Doctor Network](<a href=“Good Pre-Med Major | Student Doctor Network”>Good Pre-Med Major | Student Doctor Network)</p>
<p>thank you very much, your answers were extremely helpful. To be honest, if I could pick any thing to major in it would be health sciences i wouldn’t want to major in bio. my goal is still to become a doctor based on my personal experience involving medicine, but things could very well change and i feel like if med school didn’t work out, i would still have a somewhat useful degree, which would also open up doors for different health professions such as PA or PT </p>
<p>also thanks for the links</p>