Medical Internships at Berkeley

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Hi everyone. I'm having a REALLY hard time choosing between biochem/chem at UCSD and undeclared (but planning on doing chem L&S or nutrition) at Cal. I'm not doing pre-med for sure, but I'm pretty sure I'll be doing pre-health. Right now, my plan is to apply to optometry school, but this can all change. What I'm POSITIVE about is that I'm not doing pre-med, for the MCAT or M.D.</p>

<p>One of the things that's really pushing me towards SD even though I love Cal is the amount of resources SD seems to have. They are definitely a more medical and science university, as opposed to Cal, which is more engineering and business, and etc. I feel like at SD I'll have more chances/opportunities to find unpaid internships or jobs than at Cal.</p>

<p>------>//How are the resources and opportunities for pre-health students at cal? Would I have to go a long way just to find a job?//<-------</p>

<p>I'm a little concerned about safety off campus, because I come from a VERY VERY sheltered suburban area. (Very sheltered. Like, little crime, little % of people having sex, no bullying whatsoever, just very sheltered. Was a little uncomfortable with the safety and hobos around the campus, but I'm debating on whether I should look past that because, well, it IS berkeley).</p>

<p>Oh, and I'm also very afraid and intimidated by the competition. Let's just say Cal was my reach school, and now that I'm in, I'm super scared that I won't be able to make it through the years.</p>

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<p>Anyone? :/</p>

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<p>My roommate works at UCSF doing cancer research. He’s basically a shoo-in for the MD/PhD program at Harvard, UCSF, and Stanford.</p>

<p>If you’re interested in Bio, Cal has more than enough resources both at Berkeley (amazing program, #2 in the country?) and at UCSF (all the undergrad researchers there are Berk students.) That being said, the school is competitive. But it’ll be competitive at SD too. “Resources” should not be a concern at either school.</p>

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<p>You should go to SD if you are more comfortable in the area. Cal has a lot of opportunities available, but with such competition, it’s hard to find one within the area. A lot of available work can be found with Berkeley’s Optometry building, UCSF, Kaiser, Oakland Hosp., Alameda Hosp., and other gov. entities + research is big here, but I find that landing these and travelling to them a little taxing if you don’t have a car (SF traffic sucks). If you don’t get the nearby ones, there are some in Richmond, Fremont, San Jose, San Leandro, etc. For some, you can use a bus, but yeah, it’s up to you considering your background. I myself found an opportunity, but I worked really hard to get it, and it definitely didn’t come as easily. From what I hear, opportunities to shadow private practices in SD are numerous.</p>