Help with choosing a science major?

College Majors
1

Hi everyone,

I am a high school student, but since I am in the middle of the infamous college search, I think it is time for me to become decisive with the programs and majors that I would like to be a part of. I want to be able to attend a school that is good for the programs I will take specifically, and as of right now, I discovered my interests, but I still do not know much about specific majors and am too indecisive with all of the options!

Of the three general sciences (Bio, Chem, Physics), I prefer Biology out of the 3, but also like Chemistry. I do not really care for Physics, but I am willing to take a few classes to fulfill requirements.

I guess I can say I am “good” at math; taking AP Calc sophomore year. Not the best ever, but decent. I am always interested in bettering myself and pursing new challenges.

Specifically, I am debating between an engineering degree, a pharmacy track, and a medical track.

I know these are very general, but I really do need assistance with this. I have been looking up engineering majors and at first, Biomedical/Biological Engineering seemed really interesting. Turns out though, from many career surveys, personal anecdotes etc. that the field is very bleak. Apparently, mechanical and electrical engineering is a lot better. I don’t like Physics though, and I do not want to be in charge of building anything. I am more into innovation on a smaller scale, i.e. gene therapy/genetic modification, creating pharmaceuticals, polymers, other chemicals etc. (like on a cellular or molecular level, not large scale buildings or anything)

Are there ways to obtain a traditional engineering degree, yet still pursue engineering of genomes, cells, molecules…that stuff? Is chemical engineering really like that? My mom has her masters and bachelors in chemical engineering, but said she did a lot of chemical plant floor plan design and actually building chemical plants. I do not want to do that.

Another option, would be pharmacy and pharmacology.

As stated, I am interested in the formulation of pharmaceuticals, but am not sure if all pharmacists do is work at the drugstore and dealing with upset patients.

And the medical path. Med school seems impossible to get into. If I did pursue this, I would like to go into oncology or dermatology. Both on small scale, no surgery, no building. Not large amounts of patient interaction or emergency situations. I am very interested in oncology since I have a close relative with cancer and have been interested in chemotherapy and genes.

Overall, sorry for the length, but which major would best have genetics/pharmaceuticals involved, but still be easy to find a job and have a “backup plan” if I do not get into med school or the next level? (genetic engineering?)

Thank you so much for reading this! Please let me know if there is anything that needs clarification.

2

Depending on the particular school, you can d a biomedical engineering degree with an emphasis on biomolecular engineering/regenerative medicine/cell & tissue engineering. Again, depending on the particular school, you also could consider programs in nanotechnology or biotechnology. To do much in any of those areas, you would need a doctoral degree. Since these are interdisciplinary areas, there are many possible pathways to a doctoral degree, and you do not necessarily have to do a major specifically in those areas as an undergrad as long as you have the coursework preparation in core and supporting sciences. Depending on specific areas of interest, options for undergraduate work could include bioengineering, cell & developmental biology, genetics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, molecular biology, biochemistry, etc.

If you pursued a medical pathway, you would first need to obtain a medical degree and then pursue a residency in your stated areas of specialty interest (oncology, dermatology). You also could do an MD/PhD program, e.g., in Human Genetics. In both dermatology or oncology, I don’t see how you would do those areas without patient interaction.

If you are interested in pharmaceuticals, you could pursue a graduate degree in pharmacology or its several subspecialties. You could do this in a pharmacology department in a medical or pharmacy school. There are several undergrad pathways that might lead to this, chemistry or one of the bioscience specialties being the most obvious ones.

3

Well, this means you want to be a chemist or molecular biologist. Also, that you should aim for a PhD, as it is nearly impossible to modify genes or create chemicals otherwise. You can school yourself in four years to be an engineer, but I can tell you won’t be happy as one.

People are saying that jobs are difficult to get in chemistry. It does appear currently harder to get a job as a chemist than as an engineer, but it is still quite doable. In my career as a bachelor’s degree chemist, I never found it difficult to get a job, although I did find it difficult to get into research. Majors tend to have popularity episodes like breeds of dogs. Chemistry is out of fashion now, which means the supply of chemistry graduates will be low in the next few years.

Furthermore, when a person is really meant for a field, even if it’s a little weak, but still strongly existent, the person should still get into it.

While the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects low growth of jobs for “chemists,” it says (at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm), “Employment of biochemists and biophysicists is projected to grow 19 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations. More biochemists and biophysicists will be needed to use the knowledge they have gained from basic research to develop biological products and processes that improve our lives.”

There’s a thread I recommend looking at, “Chemical Engineering → synthetic biology - please educate me,” in the Engineering Majors forum of this website, that’s also having a discussion now on biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, and what degree a gene “hacking” aspirant should have in case he/she doesn’t make it to the next level.

There’s some echo there of the advice I’m giving:

4

Yes; many biomedical engineers have degrees in more “traditional” engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, chemical) and also have undergraduate or graduate training in the biology and chemistry needed to do biomedical engineering.

However, that doesn’t sound like it’s what you want. I understand the impetus to have a Plan B and some security; however, there’s risk inherent in everything that we do. Computer science and engineering are the new hot security fields, but remember that finance and law were those fields 10-15 years ago. For all we know, the technology business could implode in the next 5-10 years. But based on trends, we do know that biomedical engineering is a growth field - as technology advances more start-ups are moving into health tech, and as the population ages more attention is turning to maintaining the health of the old. Medical device manufacturing will go up as scores of baby boomers will need new hips and knees. And genetic research is up nationally, with even cut-and-slash Republicans like Newt Gingrich calling for deeper investment into NIH funding.

So I think that you should do what you love. Like others have already said, what you want to do actually sounds more like research that you would need a PhD for in some biomedical science field - pharmacology, perhaps, or a materials sciences program that’s focused on biological systems, or biochemistry/chemical biology. In BME you might be able to do some of that research with an MS, and/or in some fields you might be able to be a research associate with an MS.

The “back-up” is more about the preparation you do, not the major. You can do internships at corporations in stable business like consulting or marketing in addition to exploring pharmaceutical discovery. And someone with experience in drug/medical device research can always go into pharma/medical marketing or consulting or administration.

As a last note, you don’t sound like you want to be a doctor. I think if you’re already thinking of ways to minimize patient contact, especially given that your interests really are in drug and biomedical materials development…medicine is like the poor man’s substitution for it. Don’t do medicine as a “easy” route. On the other hand, if you did get an MD, lots of MDs do go into biomedical research careers with the right training/background. A biology, chemistry, or engineering background plus an MD plus a few years as a postdoctoral fellow could lead to a career in medical research, although they’re more likely to do clinical research than materials engineering. (Also, I can’t see that oncologists and dermatologists don’t have large amounts of patient interaction…both of them have living, awake patients who they see on fairly regular bases. Anesthesiologists and surgeons have little interaction with their patients, but not those two specialties.)

5

Thank you so much for all of your responses. To clarify, “minimal patient interaction” meant not having to do surgery on the patients and always be touching and probing them, but doing tests and talking to them in that form of interaction is perfectly fine.

I guess BME is a really controversial field, but I agree that every field has its risks. I guess I really need to read up on the suggested majors that you gave; biomedical engineering, by definition, seems to be a lot of building medical devices, but not the actual pharmaceuticals or working with small scale biological organisms.

Even my parents, a chemical engineer and a chemist, can’t seem to help me decide, but just advise away from chemical engineering and traditional engineering if that is not what I actually like.

Would a general biology/biochemistry/chemistry degree or biomed/bio engineering be more advantageous to obtain a pharmacology/material science PhD or higher degree?

6

I looked at a couple of biomed engineering bachelor’s degree programs and the expected preparation for pharmaceutical chemistry graduate programs (MS and PhD at the same university). (I haven’t checked out a bio engineering bachelor’s program requirements or a material science grad program’s expectations.)

I found the University of Southern California biomed engineering bachelor’s program requirements to meet the undergraduate requirements for the MS pharmaceutical chemistry graduate program at the University of California, Davis (UCD) (http://chemistry.ucdavis.edu/graduate/how_to_apply_ms.html), but the UCD biomed engineering bachelor’s program requirements to be a little deficient. In the latter case, it will work if you take electives to meet the pharmaceutical chemistry graduate program’s expectations. With biology/biochemistry/chemistry degree programs, also, you will have to be conscious of the graduate program’s requirements to be sure to have their chemistry, physics and biology expectations met with electives if they’re not with required courses. For instance, a chemistry program doesn’t usually require any biology. (Note, however, that graduate programs commonly let their students who are deficient in preparatory courses take them after admission.)

The pharmaceutical chemistry PhD program at UCD, on the other hand, requires “a B.S. or B.A. in Chemistry, Physics (for the Chemical Physics emphasis), or related undergraduate major.”

So, it’s worthwhile to get to know the details of specific programs.

If you do biomed engineering, it’s worth it to look at the biomed engineering course offerings of different universities as no doubt some offer more diversity in elective choices than others. UCD has a few cell and bio molecule level courses, but I wouldn’t assume they all do.