My son likes computer science and is also interested in medical fields. He is taking a lot of high level STEM classes and doing EMT B certificate this summer. He doesn’t seem wanting to become a doctor. He wants to do things that allow him to design/program in a CS field as well as helping advance medical treatment. Any suggestions to professions, degrees and/or majors that will fit this profile? He prefers small to medium sized schools ( his high school has 80 students per class). Any suggestions for schools that he should look into as well?
Biomedical engineering? Not sure of your son’s stats but CMU seems to integrate a good amount of CS into all their engineering disciplines. Johns Hopkins also comes to mind since most of their engineering disciplines seem to have a bio spin.
At one point, my one kiddo was interested in engineering related to medicine. She was looking into possible research and development of medical devices…in particular prosthetics.
As a high school student my nephew liked CS. He ended up majoring in biology and bioengineering. He took the MCATs and did very well, but ended up deciding to do straight research. For him bioengineering seems to mean doing genetic engineering - he just got his PhD and is apparently planning to do some post-doctoral work and then get involved in a start-up.
Bioinformatics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioinformatics
Computational biology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_biology#Computational_biomodeling
Thank for all!!! DS will take AP Bio and a computer programming class coming school year (he already know basic programming using Python and C++). He will finish his HS math series at data science, so some of the suggestions seem natural progression. Will have him look into these suggestions.
Mine is majoring in Bioinformatics/Computational Biology and CS (double major). Changed her mind briefly during last year (because she really likes the biology classes in particular) but seems now settled back on the path she started out on.
Can you recommend a list of schools that are good in this space and are small to medium in size?
Epidemiology
Biostatistics
(both are generally grad majors but undergrads major in CS, Stats, sometimes Bio). Small schools/class sizes usually but not always mean a LAC - which ones have good CS or Stat departments is a very long list without further info.
@OHMomof2 Thanks for the suggestions!
Wish list:
Majors: Best if offer combined program for CS and Medical field. If not, strong CS major is first priority + either a second major or a minor in a medical field
Preference for the location: east coast, then west coast, and then the rest. Suburban and/or college town are preferred
Finance: We are full pay. Fit would be first, merit would be nice for fit schools
Academic: DS’s high school is very rigorous in STEM fields. The student body is very gifted. He is looking for colleges that are intellectually stimulate and, at the same time, offer good social life ( doesn’t mean party school here ).
DS is a rising junior. His class rigor is good. Grades are good (high honor roll. The HS neither rank nor weight). Standard tests are good.
So far, I really wish for CMU, but we know how hard it is to get into it’s CS program. And we need to look into what medical related major it offers. His safety is our state flagship ( not ideal because it is a big public, but if he stays course it is most likely free). We have a year to figure out what other schools to add to the list.
Biomedical engineering, Healthcare analytics, healthcare informatics.
Johns Hopkins
Rice
A friend of the family is in this program at Santa Clara:
https://www.scu.edu/engineering/academic-programs/department-of-bioengineering/
Her family members are all in engineering-related or medical professions - she’s the first to combine them.
My kid is at WPI— they are big on biomedical engineering… and other medical- related kinds of programs… my D loves CS and math but is also very interested in bio and genetics research, hence the Bioinformatics/Computational Biology major. It’s a terrific school, lots of project-based curriculum and a really friendly vibe. Definitely have a look!
WPI and RPI.
+1 on WPI, I really liked it when we visited. My brother hires their graduates a lot and thinks well of the school.
I think if the undergrad major is to be CS, then choosing the best fit LAC (or U if can be made smaller with honors program or whatever as small classes are preferred) is the priority. During college he can explore medical applications of CS/Stat/Math, take up that sort of internship in summers, consider grad school or straight into postgrad career.
Engineering - biomedical or otherwise - is a whole different ball of wax in terms of college list as that decision would need to be made before applying to college, in most cases, though such an engineer could likely segue into Stat/CS/math, the reverse is far more difficult.
His stats would help determine the college app list but so will his choice of major, if engineering is a possibility. Maybe some research into these careers is in order.
…and kids do change their minds, all the time. I happen to have one whose career interest has only slightly changed since about 11th grade, but her means to that end has changed a bit over the course of 3 years of college.
Check out Rowan in NJ. Bioinformatics, Bioengineering, and 2 medical schools (both MD and DO). Very nice honors college and community.