<p>Okay so my parents are Pakistani and they say I have to go into medicine and become an MD surgeon or else they will basically disown me and not pay for my college education (Im gonna be a college sophomore). When I asked them why, my dad said only some boys make it and bring honor to their family. Seriously this is a cracked old-world notion of honor. Well anyways, I want to go into engineering (Ive always been fascinated by robotics), but my parents said that it wont bring me any respect (I still think its a good job), and Ive decided that after I go to medical school for 4 years and waste my time getting my MD degree I will not do residency and apply straight for an engineering job. In fact, I will never even tell anyone that I wasted my time and parents money at medical school. I want nothing to do with medicine. My major is currently Biomedical engineering. Do you guys think this will work? Why or why not?</p>
<p>Do what you love. If medicine isn’t for you then don’t do it. Worst comes to worst I would just pay my college tuition off myself (of course it would take a while, but I’d much rather be saddled with debt than be stuck in a career path I hate)</p>
<p>What a waste of money. However, will your family really disown you if you do what you love?..</p>
<p>You could go as a MD/pHD with a focus on biomedical engineering. They do focus on biomechanics, which involved tons of robotics.</p>
<p>Get some student loans, and transfer to a less expensive college if you need to. Do what you want; you’re an adult. There’s no honor in not standing up for yourself. Sometimes, being a man means making hard decisions: are you prepared to take on debt, work part-time, tetchy a more affordable school, etc. to do the right thing? There are lots of options.</p>
<p>If you’re not ready to stand up for yourself, you’re still a child, and should do what your parents tell you to. There’s nothing wrong with that; everybody’s a child at first, and IMHO, most undergraduates are children. Whether you are and continue to be is a question that only you can decide.</p>
<p>Just my two cents.</p>
<p>If you father is open to reason, try to explain that getting an MD is not the fantastic career that it was 20 or 30 years ago. Just go ask a bunch of MDs about managed care, Medicare, malpractice, etc. and you’ll get an ear full about the difficulties of being a doc these days. Unless you really WANT to be a doc, don’t go there for the money or prestige. Engineering is a good first career and a stepping stone as well to many other lucrative opportunities.</p>
<p>If you MUST go the MD route, go to a state school to keep your debt load down.</p>
<p>Why not get a PhD in BME? Although its not necessarily a MD, you can still call yourself a “doctor”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Are you comfortable with finishing on your own? If family ties are holding you back that will be a decision you have to weigh yourself. If it is a monetary issue, you could do a coop every other semester to supplement your income.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is a hell of a hoop to jump through. If you choose to go this route, as a previous poster mentioned, maybe look into biomedical avenues that you could merge your engineering love with the MD field. This may open some really interesting doors that you may not have thought of. </p>
<p>Also, once you are in medical school there is not sure chance that you will become a surgeon anyway, and you don’t find out if you match until the last year or so, so I don’t think your father could control that outcome. You could easily go into biomedical research or something of the sort. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Again, if this is truly the case. Four years of medical school is a LOT of waste just to please an irrational want.</p>
<p>How is this possible? South Asian parents love having their kids study engineering. It’s usually they let you go into three things: engineering, medicine, or IT. </p>
<p>Tell your family that becoming an engineer is very, very respectable and financially lucrative. They will get their family honor. It’s not like your majoring in psychology…</p>