<p>Hi everyone!
I've always been interested in science and I'm 100% sure that it's still what I'd like to peruse. I was planning on majoring in public health or biochemistry with the pre-med track, but I'm not sure if biomedical engineering would be a better idea. Here is a little about me:</p>
<p>Ideal job: Doing medical/scientific research on diseases in a lab. Also possibly aiding in world problems including epidemics or providing accessible and potable water.
$100,000/year</p>
<p>My interests: Biology, chemistry</p>
<p>Things I don't really enjoy: Physics, organic chemistry, math of all kinds (although I'm very good at it)</p>
<p>Things I hate: Engineering in general! For example solving for water flow, bridge design, things of that nature. </p>
<p>So basically, how much engineering is involved in biomedical engineering? Is it much more science-related than math-related? Does majoring in it provide for a better job than public health or biochemistry? </p>
<p>You do not have to like Engineering to be a scientist. In fact engineers are not really scientists. Like medical doctors they are professionals that have had some scientific training as part of their education. However, your dislike of Physics and Math does limit your options if you can not overcome your aversions to them. Math and Physics are fundamental to just about every science although it does play a bigger role in some than others. Right now Geology and Geophysics majors are finding jobs plentiful upon graduation but they require a lot of Math and Physics. Physics and Astronomy are good fields though it is probably easier to find employment in the former than the latter. However, you have got to do a lot of Math and Physics in these fields.</p>
<p>The Life Sciences require the least amount of Math and Physics but unless you can get into medical school, a real long shot for anyone, have the poorest career prospects and probably always will given the large number of people with degrees in Biology and Chemistry that could not get into medical school that hit the streets every year.</p>
<p>I am not sure if Computer Science is really a science or not, nor do I have a particularly good grasp on how much Math and Physics is needed to enter the field but it does seem to have very good job prospects.</p>
<p>The reality of an upper middle class research job has really taken a turn for the worse over the past 20-30 years to the point that it’s not really something you can hope for anymore.
You’ll really have to learn to get over your aversion to some of these things.
What is it that really irks you about OChem, Physics, Math, and Engineering? If it’s just a few bad experiences in the past, I think you should just learn to get over it. I’d like to hear your reasons though.
A few decent paths for you would include Pre Med/Pharma(which are, admittedly, a long shot), BioMedE (a major that is actually pretty useless if you don’t take something more specialized in undergrad and then get a BME graduate degree), and as a few less perfect fits, environmental engineering or a geo major.</p>
<p>Hmmm, you like the subjects that have the worst job and career prospects, and dislike the ones that have better job and career prospects.</p>
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<p>Better adjust your expectations downward. Yes, a few top researchers with PhDs get good well paying research jobs, but the competition is fierce at every level, due to the popularity of majoring in biology. The medical school route is also fiercely competitive.</p>
<p>(Note: providing accessible and potable water is often a civil engineering problem, but you said that you do not like solving such problems like water flow.)</p>
<p>Biomedical engineering is about designing things (like other engineering) in a biomedical context. But job and career prospects at the bachelor’s level do not appear to be as good as for other engineering, though better than biology.</p>
<p>I used to say “you have to get a PhD to work in research” but now I’m not even willing to say that. I know too many grad students who still work part time at the university or if they’re lucky, for $30,000 a year for a farm monitoring the chemicals, etc.</p>
<p>You will likely do more research DURING grad school than any time afterwards.</p>
<p>If you love chemistry and biology and want to make $100,000/yr, have you considered getting a Pharm.D? </p>
<p>Obviously, you’re not doing much “research” working in a hospital or walgreens, but there are very few careers in traditional biological/chemical sciences where you work 40 hours per week and make 6 figures. In fact, are there ANY others?</p>
<p>Biomedical engineering is closely related to electrical engineering in that a lot of the work they do doesn’t deal directly with the human body or theoretical science and has much more to do with engineering medical diagnostics and treatment devices, which is, at least to me, pure engineering.</p>
<p>Computer science is one of the few fields where there’s a large industry AND you can get a good job doing research in industry. Usually requires a PhD in comp sci or math.</p>
<p>As for whether it’s a “science”, well, that’s just semantics. For some schools it’s an engineering degree, for others it’s not. </p>
<p>That said, if you hate math, it’s not going to happen.</p>
<p>Biomedical Engineering looks to be a bit of a jack of all trades discipline that is tailored towards designing medical devices. In particular, I think there is quite a bit of electrical engineering involved. With that in mind, you will be dealing with the core ideal of engineering which is design of instruments to tackle a real world problem. Therefore, by hating engineering, you effectively have eliminated BiomedE. </p>
<p>By not liking math and physics, you are not really helping your cause very much either. If you did, you would open up maybe computer science or something of the like.</p>
<p>And what is extremely curious to me is that you say you don’t enjoy organic chemistry yet you want to major in biochemistry? Not exactly the place to go if you want to avoid organic chemistry. </p>
<p>Therefore, you have left yourself very little room, if any, to work with. NeoDymium made a solid point: You have obviously gained this aversion to these subjects by some bad experience whether it be due to the teaching or subject matter, and to be frankly honest, not everything you study in any subject is going to be exactly your favorite cup of tea so you might as well learn to accept that now before you drive yourself mad. </p>
<p>My major is physics. I had an awful experience with physics in high school. It wasn’t til a college physics course that I realized it was what I really enjoyed and was good at. You can’t let bad experiences get you down, or you will close a lot of doors.</p>