<p>I love science, I really do. I like learning about all subjects in science. Some I favor more than others, but nonetheless I do like them all. But the thing about science is that I would like to apply these theories and principles in the "real world" instead of just inside a lab, so that rules out being a scientist (Also scientists have to become extremely specialized and I would hate this.) Two immediate things came into my mind: engineering and medicine.</p>
<p>I've always been drawn to medicine. I think the downside would be actually getting into medical school. I have plenty of family members that are doctors and while they work a lot, I think I would like doing this. I like solving problems and this field would also allow me to deal with people, a lot, and I like being with people. But if I knew I would want to go into medicine, I have to worry about the perfect GPA and I have the hardest time getting perfect grades, even when I completely understand the material. Also, I don't get attached to people and that is about the most important thing in medicine, besides knowing what you're doing.</p>
<p>I don't know about engineering very much, but it catches my interest. This would be less schooling (yay) and I get to solve problems too. Engineers also have better hours, less stress most likely, don't deal with insurance like doctors do, and probably some other things I don't know about. I know three engineers, but they are in fields I don't think I would want to be in (automotive, computer, and aerospace). Math isn't my strong suit but I know how to do it better than most Americans and I also don't mind doing it. Maybe not all day, but you catch my drift. I'm not sure if dealing with machinery is all that appealing. As far as branches of engineering I might like doing, it would probably be biomedical and chemical. If anyone here knows any information on those engineering fields, please let me know. I don't know them very well. What do biomedical engineers typically do? Do they work in labs, plants, offices,hospitals, where? What can they work on?</p>
<p>I ask because within this semester, which starts very soon, I have to decide if I want to do engineering or not (without falling behind on schedule, by at least an extra year. I'd like to save another 20k or so.) I think it's obvious engineering is one of the "harder" majors so my GPA would probably not be good enough for medical school. So it is either or, really.</p>
<p>If you wanna be a Bio medical engineer, then you’re gonna have to go to graduate school. On the other hand, chemical engineers have great job opportunities right out of undergrad and many of them work for pharmaceutical companies.</p>
<p>“Biomedical engineers work in manufacturing, universities, hospitals, research facilities of companies and educational and medical institutions, teaching, and government regulatory agencies”.</p>
<p>“Biomedical engineers combine the work of science and engineering to build new replacement parts for the human body”.
<p>So I read the bls.gov site and it said that they mainly work on instruments like replacement limbs or x-ray machines of the like. Could you expect a BME to work outside of that? Maybe something relevant to drugs instead of machinery? Or would that be wrong?</p>
<p>I left in chemical engineering because that one is broad and can go anywhere, and it <em>seems</em> to be less machine work. Chemicals and what not. Correct me if I’m wrong. But are most engineering fields in a manufacturing position? Because that seems really unappealing. That’s not making me very excited.</p>
<p>Yes, engineering jobs tend to be in industry unless you end up getting a Ph.D. and following a research career. That can also be said of chemists and biologists, who often get very “practical” jobs in industry. You can’t really escape the fact that if you want a practical career, industry is the likeliest place to go.</p>
<p>You mentioned “working on drugs”, that is primarily the province of a biologist or chemist for discovery of new drugs and chemical engineers for scale up and production. As one of the previous posters said, there are not a lot of biomedical engineering jobs for those with B.S. degrees right now. A lot of biomedical engineers apply to medical school too.</p>
<p>Ah, that makes sense. I’m willing to do the schooling, if necessary, but of course less schooling is always a little more appealing. It seems that almost everything interesting to me requires graduate school, so I’m starting to bet on it at this point.</p>
<p>It doesn’t surprise me that biomedical engineers do apply to medical school, I’m just worried about the GPA of pursuing engineering. Medical school is pretty tough to get into… Perfect grades in engineering? Probably equally as hard.</p>
<p>The DDS/MSD that we used for our kids makes a lot of her own orthodontics stuff and her skills and knowledge with micro-welding, materials, and the like puts many of my mech. engineering friends to shame :D. Admittedly there’s a lot more to it than that but I think you have to have some engineering in you to become a dentist…</p>
<p>Orthodontics, I would agree to that. Not sure about pure dentistry. Dentistry engineering knowledge would easily compare to say a surgeon: Know how to use the equipment given via engineers, and then apply it correctly to the patient. For about 90% of what dentists do, probably very little engineering involved. But of course, there is that one patient who needs more extreme measures…</p>