<p>So I am in my junior year of a BME degree. I have always loved medicine and people, and hated just about everything to do with engineering. I'm facing yet another semester of worthless classes that have nothing to do with medicine or biology, or bodies in general. Nothing.
I've waited all this time and suffered through the most worthless and monotonous classes to get this far, while my friends have done things that seem so interesting. I took a human Anatomy and physiology class that I aced and loved. I had to trick my advisor into opening up my enrollment without meeting with her and she won't let that happen again. </p>
<p>I can't stand the people in my classes, the work we do, or the teachers. Who knows; maybe they feel the same? I however don't care.</p>
<p>My priority is all about what do I do with this degree? I, at this point have no intention of working in engineering. I am BME and in school, we do nothing but EE, ME, and CE work... BME examples come up, but are majorly unpopular in the classroom; the others don't get human bodies nor want to. </p>
<p>I am facing cutting BME lose and going biology with no employment opportunities really and maybe forcing me into a med/dental field, which I am not opposed to at all but I am eager to be done with school and hoped I would not have too. Or, stick it out and figure out some way to make this degree work to my advantage without having to actually work in the field of engineering.</p>
<p>Any thoughts or advise? I have always felt like it was a practical choice, but never a choice I liked. I was always looking past BME, but most people I talk to say to me, "why would you give up such a great degree, or career?"</p>
Well, your options basically become (a) switch majors and stay longer, (b) finish your degree in BME but go to grad school for something else, or (c) find a job where the title on your degree is not especially relevant.</p>
<p>(a) Is what you already addressed, and it would seem like Biology or Nursing would both be viable options, depending on a few factors like course load and prerequisites and such. There might be other options, but it appears that the issue here is less about practicality than it is about preference, and only you know what kinds of jobs you would WANT to do.</p>
<p>(b) If you can tough out the last year, then there should be lots of options with some more education - all of the (a) options get better with an MS in those fields, and getting into those programs from BME should not be unreasonable. You also have options like patent law (as PeterW mentioned), or medical school, or getting your MBA and switching to the business side. Again, lots of options but almost anything is possible (with varying amounts of added work) and the deciding factor is your own preference!</p>
<p>(c) Is harder, simply because there are darn few careers that require a bachelors degree but don’t care what it says. The military is the only one I can immediately think of, although I am sure that there are lots of other such jobs (if not careers) if you look.</p>
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It is almost always foolish to walk a path when you do not like walking it and do not want to go where it leads. The exception is when you hate it less than walking the other paths available, in which case it helps to recognize that for you, happiness may not come through your career under ANY circumstances, in ANY career.</p>
A friend’s daughter has a BME degree, then spent time in the peace corps and is not in med school. BME degrees may not lead to as many great job options as other engineering degrees, but since you don’t want to go that route, that’s a non-issue. Have you done any summer internships in related fields? Have you met with your career placement office? If you can shift your thinking to seeing no the degree as just an obstacle to get past on the road to something else you prefer, it may not seem like such a drudgery. You never know how the skills you are learning now may help you in the future, even if it seems unpleasant now.
I’ve spent my entire career working in IT with a psychology degree, just started in a very entry level role and after that it’s the work experience that mattered and not what my degree was in.
There are many fields in the corporate world and want you to have a degree, but don’t care as much what it’s in and will like the fact that an engineering degree displays analytical thought and that you were willing and able to take on a challenge.
However when writing your resume for other roles that seem unrelated to your degree focus on any activities or leadership roles you had where you gained skills that might be related to the role you are seeking.
I am an nurse and if I was going to school now I would love to do this dual degree in nursing and BME. You can finish your BME degree and get an associate degree in nursing, which is a 2 year degree or if your game, see if you can transfer into this program.
