<p>I love science and engineering. One of my most prominent interest stems from the study of diseases, and I love doing research on medical mysteries, such as prions, hemorrhagic fever, neurological disorders, etc. I current am in a biomedical program and excel. There is nothing that brings me more joy than being able to help people.</p>
<p>However, I also love doing work in fields of engineering and doing different projects that range from biomedical engineering to designing cars.</p>
<p>As much as I would love to pursue an electrical with computer science engineering degree, I also desire to obtain a degree in medicine to better allow me to do work with developing medical treatments, biomedical engineering, research and more importantly, it would allow me to directly work on patients (after residency).</p>
<p>However, as you know, the road to becoming a doctor is a long one, and I know that I do not plan on becoming only a physician for a private practice or hospital, but I would expect to swing back and forth between different sides of engineering and business, if my current pattern in life maintains. However, would I be still considered a doctor if I, for example, did a year of just pure computer engineering work?</p>
<p>I hope this query is concise enough, and I look forward to receiving your perspective.</p>
<p>You sound like you might be a candidate for MD/PhD programs. These programs are 7-8 years (+ a required residency) and you finished with both a MD and research doctorate in a specific area of interest.</p>
<p>Most, but not all, MD/PhD programs are fully funded for the duration of the program, including the med school portion.</p>
<p>Not all med schools offer the PhD portion in engineering or computer science, though there are a number that do. You’d need to research specific schools to develop a list of appropriate potential programs.</p>
<p>MD/PhDs do not go into private practice, but typically end up as research faculty at academic medical centers, at NIH research centers, in private industry or as medical consultants to industry or government.</p>
<p>The downside:</p>
<p>Admission to MD/PhD programs is even more competitive than for straight MDs. You need to be a top student AND have a significant research track record.</p>
<p>The incomes of MD/PhDs are significantly lower than those of practicing clinical physicians.</p>
<p>Like WOWMom said, look into MD/PhD programs, specifically MD/PhD programs in biomedical engineering and bioengineering.</p>
<p>Also, you said:
You can do all these things with an engineering degree–no MD required. Yes, even work with patients/human subjects, in an IRB-approved experiment, unless the experiment is invasive in some way and would require a medical professional to actually implement in some way.</p>
<p>It sounds like you want to be jack of all trades, or at least a jack of several, and I can relate; I’m the same way, and love learning a lot about many different things, and being able to understand all aspects of a problem. But you don’t need a degree in all areas of a problem to understand all the aspects of a problem, and most of the people who solve problems in the world of science and engineering are not generalists with some knowledge of many things who split their time between those things, rather they are specialists; they are experts in a particular aspect of a problem, and they combine their expertise with the expertise of other researchers who are experts in different aspects of that problem. This kind of collaboration is how progress is made.</p>
<p>I would not recommend an MD/PhD unless you have a very specific goal in mind, ie, you know exactly why you want it and what you’d like to do with it and why you couldn’t do the same thing without it. Same thing with just an MD or engineering degree. Simply wanting to do everything or have knowledge of everything is not a good enough reason.</p>
<p>Maybe there is time to see what path you want to take. I am not sure what you mean by a “biomedical program”. What year are you in? What classes have you already taken?</p>
<p>Please relate to us your work on mad cow, ebola and ALS as well as your work on autos and whatever computer games you’ve created. This will help us answer your question. The part about wanting to work on patients but not at a hospital or in private practice is also interesting. </p>