<p>I saw this on my son's school's website and thought it was interesting that they actually have a CS pre-med track. </p>
<p>They also had a pre-med track for Civil Engineering (which seemed odd to me). </p>
<p>I could understand having one for Chemical Engineering (or Chemical & Biological Engineering), but Civil Engineering? Odd. I can understand the rationale for a "pre-law track" for Civil E, CS, or Construction E.</p>
<p>MSTP fully supports MD/PhD programs in computer sciences so I’m not terribly surprised there is CS pre med track.</p>
<p>CS applications in medicine are big deal. We spent a whole lot of time in a couple of my information science classes talking about database applications for medicine. And as a medical librarian I see our doctors/ scientists using more and more tech–as communication facilitators (Sharepoint), as experiment (or patient) monitors, as data analysis tools, as test automators, records storage/databasing and as AI reference resources.</p>
<p>And we don’t even do robotic surgery or telepresence.</p>
<p>D1’s med school is considering requiring all applicants to have some basic computer skills beyond Office and web browsing. And will consider a programming language equivalent to foreign language fluency for future applicants.</p>
<p>medical scientists training programs…ahh…had to look that one up. :)</p>
<p>Your post makes sense… :)</p>
<p>I still can’t figure out the Civil Engineering pre-med track, though.</p>
<p>Hospital construction and design?</p>
<p>CS is extremely important in Psych-neuroscience. UCLA’s program is very CS-based, for example.</p>
<p>Wake Forest just announced a method of using computer memory to augment organic brain-based memory in mice. Fascinating stuff.</p>
<p>Ahhh…very interesting.</p>
<p>I want a computer memory enhancement so I can remember where I left my keys…</p>
<p>As an IT proffessional with 30 years of experience and a parent of D. who is starting med. school in 2 weeks, I do not see any connection. CS is basically writing software, I have done my share and continue to do so. Medical proffesionals writing software? Do they exists? It is a waste of medical proffessional by my assessment. I have worked in many industries, I did not need to know or have any background in these industries, I need to perform analysis to find out how to write my future program.</p>
<p>Tufts has a cognitive and brain sciences track, which is essentially neuroscience with a bit of non-typical focuses. [url=<a href=“http://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/undergradConcCognitive.htm]Here[/url”>Home | Department of Psychology]Here[/url</a>] is the link. The comp.sci. courses appear to be far more about the structures of computing rather than the mechanics of it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if an MD/PhD who did their dissertation in computing chose to do the same–structures of computing as applied to neuroscience.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Center</a> for the Neural Basis of Cognition](<a href=“http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu/]Center”>http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu/)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Miami–</p>
<p>You should realize that so many of the medical devices/tests/measurements we take for granted today would not be possible without computers, especially all of our modern imaging methods which are heavily computer dependent–CAT (COMPUTER Assisted Tomography), MRI, fMRI, PET. </p>
<p>Modern radiation therapy would not be possible without a heavy use of computers. (No human being could possibly compute how to intersect 17 different radiation beams and manually control them all at the millisecond level.) Computers are used to model drug molecules to predict their effects on mammalian systems. Computers are used to model human genomes and compare genetic differences to seek out the genetic basis for diseases.</p>
<p>Manually crunching thru billions of bits of data to determine the interactions of drugs/genetics/lifestyle to see meaningful patterns would require entire lifetimes by an army of statisticians.</p>
<p>I could go on.</p>
<p>And then there’s neuroscience…</p>
<p>D2 studies neuroscience. She studies cognition at her college which has a highly ranked cognitive science dept. Her particular project uses fMRI to observe changes in the brain when doing mathematics in hopes of understanding a number of critical problems–like how children learn mathematics and whether the brains of people who are highly skilled at mathematics are functionally different from the brains of people who just aren’t math people.</p>
<p>(If you want to get a sense of what she does, read The Number Sense by Stanislas Dehaene [Amazon.com:</a> The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics (9780195132403): Stanislas Dehaene: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Number-Sense-Mind-Creates-Mathematics/dp/0195132408]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Number-Sense-Mind-Creates-Mathematics/dp/0195132408) )</p>
<p>She’s also working this summer with a research group that is developing computer models of how gliomas grow in the brain in hope that if they understand how the cancer progresses they can find the best times/ways to intervene in the process.</p>
<p>WayOutWestMom,
I agree with you completely. However, all devices and computer software that runs them were not developed by MD’s, I hope not. Meidicine is not the only field that has been computerized. However, while hardware is develped by Engineers and Software is developed by CS professionals, with the input from USERS (in all kind of industries including including medicine where user might be an MD or Pharmasist), it is up to engineers and CS (IT) to ask correct questions to obtain this input (it is called analysis). I just hope that we are not wasting MD’s on developing hardware/software, unless it is their hobby. MD’s have much more valuable and rare skills - to cure sick people. I have worked in Hospitals and Medical Insurance Companies, I have developed software needed for the MD’s, they communicated to IT team what they were looking for.</p>
<p>Actually, there are MDs developing software in conjunction with physicists, engineers and computer scientists. Most development processes utilize team approaches. While the MD most likely isn’t writing code, they do do more than merely advise. Los Alamos Labs, for examples, employs several MDs or MD/PhDs to develop all sort of computer software protocols as part of their biological research program. (They also employ theoretical library scientists–something most people don’t know exists… LA does a lot of data analysis in the genomics of cancer and have a pretty decent database of cancer genes.) </p>
<p>I also personally know of at least MD who now does only or mostly software development at a hospital.</p>
<p>And I do know the difference between USERS and Developers. I wrote my first program in 1978. In FORTAN. Still have the keypunched cards to prove it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is only for some MD’s. Others go into research – such as brain or cancer research, or even outcomes research; some branches of neuroscience focus on regeneration of nerve tissues, for those that have been in permanently, physically injured (or war injuries); others go into public health, which is prevention, not ‘cure’. </p>
<p>I would guess that MDs who build robotics of artificial limbs and organs? requires a little knowledge about computers…</p>
<p>^Yes, research is very important, but writing software does not require MD’s skills. Some CS science professionals never went to college. “Cure sick people” includes medical research in a big way, there is no argument about it. However, Medical Research does not include developing hardware/software, it includes providing an input to those who do. I cannot imagine spending precious MD time on very time consuming hardware/software design and coding and maintaining.</p>
<p>^^Well, let’s just agree to disagree. There are lots of different aspects to medicine. My experience and exposure is probably different than yours since I work in 100% research oriented environment where there is very little clinical practice done.</p>
<p>Seems like the whole premise of this thread is that a pre-med’s undergraduate major has to have something to do with medical practice or research.</p>
<p>But is this necessarily the case? Couldn’t a pre-med student choose any undergraduate major because s/he is interested in that subject, and/or because it offers decent job and career prospects as a backup in case s/he does not go to medical school?</p>
<p>^Yes, yes, yes. I have personally met people In very selective Conservatory of Music doing pre-med, Latin major also varios combo(s) of major(s) - up to triple majors like Zoology/Spanish/Latin studies - last 2 are obviously related, but both completely unrelated to main major. People are doing Engineering, but this one is very tough. My own D. started with Zoology major/Music minor/Neuroscience minor. Had to drop the last one being short of 2 classes completing it, because one of her Med. Schools added couple classes to its requirements. However, she graduated with Music Minor and GPA=3.98 in 4 years without single summer class. She also had insane number of EC’s because of her wide range of interests. Everything is possible. You want to follow your heart, enjoy UG experience, then work hard, manage time but alsohave time to relax with your friends, go abroad, try something new and exciting, have fun summers.</p>