Hello Everyone,
I graduated last June with a degree in bioengineering. I took a year off to think about what I wanted to do next but I am still trying to figure it out. Currently, I am looking for a job,studying for the GRE, and doing a clinical internship at a hospital. I have narrowed it down to three choices: 1.Pursuing a graduate degree in biology 2.Doing a post-bac to then go on to medical school or 3) working and then pursuing an MBA with a focus in healthcare administration. I would really like your input on which option you think is better. Also, If you could share with me how you made the decision to go to graduate school that would be amazing. Thank You so much for your help and reading my long message.
Sincerely,
CommonPlace333
If you still don’t know, you should continue to work until you figure it out!
I decided to go to graduate school because I got research experience in undergrad, and I really loved doing research and knew that I wanted to continue to do it as a career. I was in a program in which I was exposed to a lot of aspects of what a career as a researcher would be like, and I was intrigued.
So I think you should do the same thing - try to gather as much information as possible about the three paths. None of them is necessarily better than the other; I could tell you which one I would choose to do, but that information is worthless to you because my preferences and likes might not be the same as yours. If you haven’t already, shadow a doctor and volunteer at a hospital to get a feel for whether it’s something you’d like. Have informational interviews with healthcare administrators at hospitals (they’re usually pretty willing to sit down and talk to young professionals for 30 minutes if you have clear questions) and with biological researchers.
I also get the sense that at least in part, you are thinking about this forwards - I will go to X school, and then I will be an X. Rather, you need to think backwards - what kinds of things do I want to do at work every day? What kind of career do I want to have? What options do I want to have open to me? Then once you figure that out, that’s when you decide which graduate school (if any) you should go to.