What are some interesting majors in science? I plan to major in biology for my B.S. ; so will this major help me in medical school?
If you already plan to major in biology, why are you looking for other interesting majors? Or are you looking for an alternative to biology?
Check out the pre-med forum for suggestions of what will prepare you for medical school: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/
Essentially, you can major in anything as long as you meet the pre-med requirements, but it will likely be easier if you pick some sort of STEM major.
“What are some interesting majors in science?”
Interesting majors are in the eye of the beholder. What’s interesting to you? Why? (I don’t need an answer) Med schools don’t care what you’re interested in. if say you’re interested in Spanish Lit, that’s a perfectly fine major for med school because if you’re interested in subject matter you’re more likely to do well GPA wise which is what med schools in part care a great deal about. Most premeds are bio majors, maybe out of interest, but also because earning a bio degree kills two birds with one stone (satisfies premed and major reqs) whereas if you’re a Spanish Lit major you’re going to have to find a way to fit in premed reqs into your schedule and also do well in both major and premed reqs.
A major in bio wont prepare you for med school/MCAT as premed course reqs like bio, chem, etc aren’t titled bio, chem for premed students, their just run of the mill bio, chem courses. Premed courses offer med schools a way to make an apples to apples way of determining/comparing if applicants can handle the same set of moderately difficult science courses.
Most pre-meds choose a biology (either general biology or one of the subspecialty options, such as neuroscience, physiology, or molecular biology) or a chemistry major, and probably a significant number choose psychology. Probably a significant number also choose a minor in “global health” where such a minor is available, but for the most part, that’s really just an undergrad minor in public health.
So, OP, if you’re asking about some alternative majors or less common majors to consider for pre-med, here are some to consider:
-Biomedical Engineering: Probably, there are significant numbers of pre-meds with this major, but it’s still less common than the usual biology or chemistry.
-Anthropology (especially medical anthropology, biological anthropology) or a combination of Anthropology + Biology
-Nutritional Science: Physicians have inadequate training in nutrition so this could be a good option, especially if you have any interest in alternative medicine.
-Microbiology: This major is probably less commonly chosen than other biology subspecialties, such as molecular biology or neuroscience.
-Human Development: This might be a good alternative to the usual psychology major as it’s interdisciplinary and cover psychological, social, cross-cultural, and biological aspects.
-Statistics: Much medical research is simply junk science, and it is likely that most practicing physicians don’t even understand the data analysis in journal articles. This is also useful for certain subfields of public health.
-Medical Humanities: Some schools offer this major, which might include coursework in biomedical ethics, history of medicine, health policy, sociology of healthcare, health economics, etc. Some schools offer a minor or certificate in biomedical ethics.
-History of Science & Medicine
-Spanish/Latin American Studies: This might be useful, especially if you anticipate working with a Latino patient population.
-Chinese or Korean/Asian Studies: This might be useful, especially if you anticipate working with a Asian immigrant patient population.
-Medical Physics: Some schools offer this as an option within their physics major. It might be useful for those with an interest in radiology, nuclear medicine, oncology, etc.
As others pointed out, however, you can choose any major as long as you complete the pre-med requirements, so choose what most interests you.