<p>I realize that you can major in whatever you want and just take the pre-med courses, but I was wondering about this combo....Comp Sci and pre-med?</p>
<p>As a doctor, in what way would having a Comp Sci background help you in your career? Would it in any way?</p>
<p>CompSci and premed? Definitely! I’m majoring in Music and I’m a PLME at Brown University. CompSci would help you quite a bit, especially if you were planning on going into research. You’d be able to model your data in more complex ways, etc.</p>
<p>You can major in whatever you want, as long as you fulfill the pre-med requirements. </p>
<p>Plus, the odder the better for admissions! They’ll be like “Ooh, interesting applicant!”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Don’t expect adcoms to be really impressed by your major, even if it is something that’s relatively uncommon like computer science. You’re in trouble if the most interesting thing about your application is your major.</p>
<p>I don’t see the point if you just want to practice medicine. Nothing you learn in class will be useful to a practicing doctor, and CS is one of the most difficult and time-consuming majors. Working on software projects takes a huge chunk of time. </p>
<p>There are some cool theory courses in the degree which are of general interest, but a lot of the degree is studying the details of implementations of computer systems, which I don’t see as being relevant or even that interesting to someone who doesn’t want to work with computers.</p>
<p>Comp. Science will take ton of hours in Computer lab. It is NOT comparable to Music.
While major is not important, time commitment needs to be evaluated. Keep in mind that you will need very high GPA and lots of Medically related EC’s to have competitive application to Med. School. Also, on top of that, you will be preparing for MCAT in your Junior year (several hours every day for several weeks / months depending on your preference) and you will be going to Med. Schoool interviews and second visits in your senior year (good luck with understanding profs., as some of them do not care that you have an interview, for them skipping classes is still skipping classes, so you will be doing lots of making up). </p>
<p>My opinion is based on my own experience having several degrees in IS (CC, 4 year, MBA - I am Computer Programmer) and my pre-med D’s experience who has Music Minor in addition to her vey challenging major. I also do not see how Comp. Science can help MD.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s input.</p>
<p>My nephew definitely wants to be pre-med, but also wants some kind of undergrad that could lead to a career if he decides that med school is not for him. </p>
<p>That’s why I was wondering about Comp Sci as a possibility. Right now, he’s planning on ChemEngineering. I though Comp Sci might be a bit easier, but I could be totally wrong.</p>
<p>^Comp. Sci is definitely easier than ANY engineering, which is the hardest of them all. Everything is possible, and there is no requirement to do in 4 years, some people take 7 years in UG, why not, if one can afford it?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If he’s going to a good school, computer science is a lot tougher than most engineering majors. It is more work, and there is a theoretical component to the degree not found in engineering majors that a lot of students have trouble with.</p>
<p>I just don’t understand studying engineering if you know that you want to be a doctor. It is a tremendous waste of everybody’s time if you know that you want to do something else after those four years, especially since studying engineering doesn’t improve your prospects one bit for medical school. It’s almost, but not quite, as absurd as someone collecting law and medicine degrees for the hell of it.</p>
<p>If you are unsure about what you want to do, studying engineering may be an okay choice, but you are effectively prioritizing engineering over everything else when you do that. It is not a backup plan.</p>
<p>Well. my first degree was in engineering and worked in a field for 11 years. I have always hated it, so I switched to IS. I have 3 degrees (associate, bacchelor and MBA) and have been working as Computer programmer for about 30 years (started after CC). I love my current job a lot.<br>
My opinion about engineering being the hardest is based on my education and job experience. But I agree, it could be different from school to school.</p>
<p>I think I’m going to jump into this thread – I don’t always remember who is and who isn’t an Med School affiliated or a graduate, but my take…</p>
<p>I graduated 25+ years ago and have been in Private Practice since Reagan was new. The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is what information I picked up from someone’s opinion of a ‘useless’ course becomes relevant. As far as CS and Engineering not being useful in Medicine I will wholeheartedly disagree and suspect both will become increasingly useful depending on what specialty you pursue (moreso if you are looking toward research and academic medicine). So many doctors I know I absolutely beyond worthless with anything computer/technology based – throw a simple EMR program at them and the deer in headlights effect ensues. Even at my age in a fairly large practice, I get to be the onsite computer guy just because I’m even marginally competant (and I think it’s fun), but I’m just dealing with superficial stuff and the real CS/EMR stuff is being built by the Computer Consultants – and from what I can see from the early results it’s not pretty b/c they don’t understand my end. </p>
<p>Radiology, Neurology, Orthopedics/Bionics, Biological uses for both computer based systems and technology is going to continue to grow. Many if not most MD’;s have already given up the Business aspects and if they now give up the IT/Technology end of it then a lot is going to be lost (or at least it’s going to make it a lot harder to integrate).</p>
<p>As always – if the kid if really interested in CS (or Chem E or Music or Sociology or Philosophy) and has the chops to do the Med School I can guarantee the education will become relevant in the end in so many ways to the Medical life and just life in general. You will get all the Biol Science stuff for the rest of your life IF in the end you end up pursuing it. I can probably count on 2 hands the number of people who never attained MS primarily because they chose the wrong UG specialty.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You don’t need a degree in CS to be able to use a computer. Studying CS to be able to administer your practice’s network is not only overkill, but it isn’t even that helpful. CS degrees aren’t really about learning all of the details about how to administer computer systems.</p>
<p>I do agree that if you want to be a researcher, knowing computer science would be helpful, but most people who go to medical school want to practice medicine.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The tools these guys use are designed by engineers. Do doctors need to be intimately familiar with how they are designed or very knowledgeable about the science behind them in order to do a good job of diagnosing and treating diseases with them? I am not a doctor, so I don’t know, but I suspect that you don’t.</p>
<p>* As far as CS and Engineering not being useful in Medicine I will wholeheartedly disagree and suspect **both will become increasingly **useful depending on what specialty you pursue (moreso if you are looking toward research and academic medicine). So many doctors I know I absolutely beyond worthless with anything computer/technology based – throw a simple EMR program at them and the deer in headlights effect ensues. Even at my age in a fairly large practice, I get to be the onsite computer guy just because I’m even marginally competant (and I think it’s fun), but I’m just dealing with superficial stuff and the real CS/EMR stuff is being built by the Computer Consultants – and from what I can see from the early results it’s not pretty b/c they don’t understand my end. </p>
<p>Radiology, Neurology, Orthopedics/Bionics, Biological uses for both computer based systems and technology is going to continue to grow. Many if not most MD’;s have already given up the Business aspects and if they now give up the IT/Technology end of it then a lot is going to be lost (or at least it’s going to make it a lot harder to integrate).</p>
<p>As always – if the kid if really interested in CS (or Chem E or Music or Sociology or Philosophy) and has the chops to do the Med School I can guarantee the education will become relevant in the end in so many ways to the Medical life and just life in general.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>That’s what my gut tells me. And, I don’t get the negative comments towards those who major in engineering or comp sci. The same people who are dissing these choices would not be dissing someone who’s majoring in - say - History or business - and doing pre-med. </p>
<p>I totally agree that majoring in engineering (or whatever) is a bad idea IF doing so drags down a student’s GPA. But, if the student can do this AND keep a high GPA, then why not?</p>
<p>I’m with Duncan and m2ck. Yes, CS and Engineering majors are difficult and time-consuming, but if a student is truly interested in the subject matter, why shouldn’t they pursue that interest? </p>
<p>All of the people “dissing” such majors for pre-meds seem to automatically assume that the student will not be able to maintain a high GPA and/or have time for other activities – which is absolutely not true. There are indeed CS and engineering majors who can make Dean’s List every semester – and still have a social life. Both my husband and I did! :D</p>
<p>
You won’t find me dissing engineering majors who are pre-med…but I will caution them on GPA issues and the need to get a broad based education. I don’t think that’s dissing. </p>
<p>And if they can pull off a well-rounded UG education while maintaining a social life, and get their volunteering, clinical experiences, and leadership EC bases covered, they are in good shape. If they can’t, something needs to give and I’d suggest for the comitted pre-med, it would be the engineering major. I understand that some folks would disagree. I can live with that. </p>
<p>But I will diss Business majors for a pre-med. Not a good choice IMO. I don’t like Nursing as a major for pre-meds either.</p>
<p>Some folks think that engineering students get a boost in med school admissions. I just haven’t seen it.</p>
<p>curmudgeon, we’re on the same page. Pre-meds who want to major in engineering do need to understand going in that they are taking on quite a load and should carefully consider whether or not they can handle it. But if they are truly interested in engineering and have an aptitude for it, I certainly would tell them not to be dissuaded just because others say it is too hard. </p>
<p>I haven’t heard anything about a “boost” in med school admissions for engineering majors and I wouldn’t count on one either.</p>
<p>And I also agree with you that business is not a good choice for a pre-med major.</p>
<p>*But I will diss Business majors for a pre-med. Not a good choice IMO. I don’t like Nursing as a major for pre-meds either.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I agree that majoring in Nursing isn’t probably a good idea, but I don’t see a huge problem with a business major.</p>
<p>Some colleges have the ability to self-design a major by mixing 2 or more majors together.
It would be interesting to self-design a major that could incorporate all the “premed” req’ts plus courses from various majors that would create an undergrad that would be well-prepared for “real life” and the business end of medicine.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s just me doing the dissing. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It isn’t a terrible thing, but it is just bizarre to me that someone would collect a vocational degree in a vocation in which they have no desire of entering and in which the skills you learned don’t matter much in your chosen profession. He’s just unneccesarily making his life hard.</p>
<p>*but it is just bizarre to me that someone would collect a vocational degree in a vocation in which they have no desire of entering *</p>
<p>I think you’ve made a wrong assumption…no one is saying that the student is collecting a degree in vocation in which “they have no desire of entering.” </p>
<p>I think those who major in engineering as pre-med students are thinking that they like this possible vocation IF they decide that med school isn’t for them. </p>
<p>This isn’t a perfect analogy, but imagine that you want to be pro football player and you get recruited to play college ball. Well, in case you don’t make it to the pros, it’s a good idea to major in something that will lead to another career that you would also like to do.</p>