Can't decide on what to do in college...Medicine vs Biomed Engineering

LegacyUser

I'm currently in leaving cert, things are going grand except I can't seem to decide on what to put down on my CAO form. Everybody else seems to have a single course in mind I can't seem to figure out what to put as no. 1

I'm trying to view the courses not so much on their own but rather view them in terms of what careers/lifestyles they will lead to. For example, even though I love Music and Performing Arts, I can't see myself doing a degree in such fields when I look at the job prospects (though I'll always keep them as hobbies). I'm trying to find something that will give me a nice balance between "fun" and "having fairly good job prospects and security" as well as leaving a bit of free time for other things in my life.

I have things more or less narrowed down to Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, but I'm having a hard time deciding between the two of them, and was hoping a few of ye here could lend your opinions on the two. I like science and I'm fairly strong at Maths (not a genius by any manner or means, but I'm doing pretty good) and I have a strong interest in both fields, I just don't know which one to favour over the other.

Some of the pros I can see from Biomed Engineering are it being more accommodative towards family, friends and relationships because of its working hours (from what I hear, generally 9 to 5, Monday to Friday), it has good job security, only takes 5 years to fully qualify with a Masters, and the fact that if I screw up, it's not like somebody will lose their life because of it.

Some negatives with it is the fact that it doesn't involve much contact with people, which I think I'd miss, and the fact that it could have the potential to be monotonous or tedious work.

Some of the massive pros I'm seeing with Medicine is the fact I'd be working with people, and learning useful and practical skills, and the fact that there's a lot of work available. However, the long, unsociable hours, and all the moving about on contracts, and the fact that you're pretty much an "eternal student" that takes 10 or more years to fully qualify, and the fact that you have to make life or death decisions make me think twice (I'm a pretty indecisive person), yet the idea of being a doctor keeps popping into my head.

I'm not being pressured into either career, or any career. My parents have been very supportive and keep reminding me that it's "my decision at the end of the day" and to "do what you like". I've also considered general science degrees and podiatry but they don't seem to appeal to me as much.

I've had a few people say to me "Work to Live, don't Live to Work". I want to be able to live reasonably comfortably, and be happy in my work, and also have time to balance my music and family/relationship matters.

I know that once I set my sights on one or the other, I'll work my hardest. I'm not the kind of person that toils over "What if?" once I finalise a decision. I just want to be able to knock either one or the other on the head so I can have a clear goal in mind for next year.

Anybody that could provide some lesser-known harsh realities about either career: I'd love to hear about it. I love watching House MD, but I know that that's not what medicine is...I also think it would be amazing to build the likes of Iron Man, but I know that I have to be realistic when thinking about engineering.

Any and all help appreciated

TL;DR Doing the Leaving. Can't decide what to put on the CAO. Between Medicine and Biomed Engineering. Can't seem to rule out one or the other.

LLMMLL

Unfortunately I can't give advice on which course is better for you or which career.

The one thing I will say is that whichever course you do, there's a decent chance you'll end up in an entirely different field. So I wouldn't particularly worry about which course you do.

for example say you did biomed and decided in 3rd year oh I actually do want to be a doctor. You don't have to quit and start again. There's graduate entry medicine.

Most people's path to their eventual career is messy. So you're allowed make mistakes along the way.

athtrasna

If you want to continue to have fun, avoid medicine. The reading /learning requirement every day is huge, bye bye social life for a very long time. I've a friend who did medicine and he had to give up his favourite hobby for four years to keep up with life as a med student.

LegacyUser

I did Civil Engineering, then a Masters in Bioengineering. I am not currently working in either field.I did my degree ten years ago and my Masters about 4 years ago.

First things first. Where do you live? Do you have any preferences as to where you would LIKE to live? (I'm just thinking Ireland here now.) Because there are not many jobs in bioengineering-related fields in Dublin. It's mainly Galway and Cork. I know you are still only 18 and you have a whole life ahead of you, which is fine. But just in case - that's something to know.

As for the decisiveness, I wouldn't worry about that. Both degrees will teach you that. And to be honest, a lot of that comes with time, experience and maturity.

I'm not a maths genius either, but the course is heavy maths. Any engineering is heavy maths. If you're an honours maths student doing ok, you'll manage. It's work, but so is any degree.The Bioengineering masters I did was hugely interesting. Personally, though, it just made me more interested in medicine as a career, but that was just me.

You are always a student in both careers. In fact you are that in all careers. The thing about something like biomedical engineering is that is a field that is (relatively speaking) quite new. There are huge changes happening out there constantly, and you will be an eternal student to keep up with them. New materials, new advances in technique, new need for different technology - it's so tied into medicine, that it's constantly changing and evolving, as medicine is.So that's going to happen in either career.The thing about Biomedical engineering is that you will probably end up in a niche area. You could start out very broadly and very quickly end up getting into (for example) hip replacement joints. And then...ceramic hip replacement joints (sorry, just picking stuff out of thin air here). Are you ok with that?

You aren't going to be building Iron Man (sorry!) unless you get into some sort of research in a major university (anywhere in the world). Biomedical engineering is a fantastic career, but it does rely heavily on the medical field obviously and I think that in this field engineers are kind of the second class citizens, so to speak.

Initially yes, engineering probably will get you a better work-life balance. To be honest, anything can happen further down the line. I'm ten years out of college - thought I knew what I was doing the first few years, then the recession happened, and to be honest - it's gone arseways for everyone I know. They've all ended up in totally different careers. So don't bank on anything being forever, but chose something that will give you a good base to start from.

I had major concerns about doing engineering - that I wouldn't be able for it, or it wouldn't be for me, or whatever. But when I was doing the CAO form I thought about it like this - if I chose something OTHER than engineering, will I be walking past that engineering building every day, looking at people going in and out and thinking "that should be me. I should be there with them". I concluded that I would always regret it if I didn't at least give it a shot. So how do you feel about them if you think about it that way? In life you tend to regret more what you DON'T do, rather than what you do do.

sullivlo

I work in a facility that has both bioengineering AND medical students and I can tell you who has more fun

I'm guessing you're freaking out about the CAO. Remember though - you have plenty of time to decide and there is always the change of mind form.

The option to do medicine never goes away if you go down the bioengineering route - graduate entry is a very viable option.

Have you any friends that are doing medicine or biomedical engineering?

Oh and just because you do a degree in something doesn't mean you're stuck in it for life. Sure Jamie Heaslip did biomedical engineering!

And just because you do medicine doesn't mean you have to be a patient facing doctor - I have a friend who is a doctor and she lectures. Two friends actually.

The long and the short of it - just because you do a particular degree that doesn't mean you will end up in that job, and nothing is inaccessible because of a decision you make now.

pookie82

sullivlo wrote: »

The option to do medicine never goes away if you go down the bioengineering route - graduate entry is a very viable option.

I'm all about advising people that you're not "tied into" what you initially choose for life. But in this case one of your choices isn't something you can take on "part time" or "half assed" ... being a doctor (in particular, the training) is more like a vocation than a career choice. Be prepared to put most of the rest of your life on hold for a very long time. I think if you're going to make it in that field, it needs 100% surety that it's all you want, not someone who's on the fence.

Please also keep in mind that choosing to switch to medicine down the line by means of graduate entry will mean massive expense ... whereas if you go straight into it now, as your first choice, it'll be no more expensive than any other course (I'm open to correction on this but that's my understanding of it, having various mates who have gone the grad entry route after doing an unrelated undergrad).

From what I can gather, joining medicine later than post-LC could leave you paying back a second-mortgage type loan for years.

Emme

There's a certain amount of overlap between the two courses. If you start off in medicine you could in theory switch to biomedical engineering if you thought it would suit you better. Medicine to 3rd or 4th year would be a good foundation for biomedical engineering. If you qualified in medicine you might be able to go straight on to a masters in biomedical engineering.

You will have to study hard for both courses. You might qualify sooner in biomedical engineering but you will have to be prepared to do a masters and if you want real career choices, a PhD.

Contact the medical school of a well known university and see if you can talk to somebody who might understand both fields. There are people who lecture medical students and biomedical engineering students because of the overlap in certain subjects.

LegacyUser

pookie82 wrote: »

I'm all about advising people that you're not "tied into" what you initially choose for life. But in this case one of your choices isn't something you can take on "part time" or "half assed" ... being a doctor (in particular, the training) is more like a vocation than a career choice. Be prepared to put most of the rest of your life on hold for a very long time. I think if you're going to make it in that field, it needs 100% surety that it's all you want, not someone who's on the fence.

Please also keep in mind that choosing to switch to medicine down the line by means of graduate entry will mean massive expense ... whereas if you go straight into it now, as your first choice, it'll be no more expensive than any other course (I'm open to correction on this but that's my understanding of it, having various mates who have gone the grad entry route after doing an unrelated undergrad).

From what I can gather, joining medicine later than post-LC could leave you paying back a second-mortgage type loan for years.

This is why I want to make a decision. If I'm doing medicine I'm doing it first time round because I wouldn't be able to afford grad medicine at all (I've heard it's up on 25k a year or something)

My parents were kind of saying, however, that regardless of what course I go into, there's going to have to be sacrifices if I want to succeed. My mother is an accountant herself, and knows all about the years of study and exams all too well.

I'm just wondering how would medicine affect my ability to maintain friendships, family ties, and relationships. The travel times around the country have shortened big time compared to 20 years ago, so distance isn't an issue, but time might be. I know I'll have to make sacrifices, but I don't want to be cutting ties with home altogether in pursuit of a career. Or is it a case that both lines of work are equally time-consuming?

Emme

grassland wrote: »

This is why I want to make a decision. If I'm doing medicine I'm doing it first time round because I wouldn't be able to afford grad medicine at all (I've heard it's up on 25k a year or something)

My parents were kind of saying, however, that regardless of what course I go into, there's going to have to be sacrifices if I want to succeed. My mother is an accountant herself, and knows all about the years of study and exams all too well.

I'm just wondering how would medicine affect my ability to maintain friendships, family ties, and relationships. The travel times around the country have shortened big time compared to 20 years ago, so distance isn't an issue, but time might be. I know I'll have to make sacrifices, but I don't want to be cutting ties with home altogether in pursuit of a career. Or is it a case that both lines of work are equally time-consuming?

Do you really want to do medicine? If you really want to study nothing will stop you. People make all kinds of sacrifices to study. I did a degree by night while working full time and I sacrificed time with friends and family to do so. It took over my life completely outside of work. It wasn't easy but I really wanted to do the course so I was happy to make the sacrifices. All study involves some kind of sacrifice.

If you do medicine you will have friendships but they will probably with other medical students. The same goes for other courses. You will leave old friends behind and make new ones. If you do biomedical engineering you will also have to work very hard.

If you enter medicine but don't really want to do it you might not last the course. However the same goes for biomedical engineering or any other course.

When you graduate and enter the world of work you will also have to make sacrifices. People today are expected to work long hours and it's harder to keep up friendships and relationships than it was 20 years ago. That's the reality of life today. Decide what course you want to do and enjoy it because life gets even tougher after you leave college. Most professional courses require that you continue to study after you have left college. Accountancy is one field where you have to continue studying (like your mother said), also medicine, law and any science based field. The knowledge keeps evolving and progressing and you have to evolve and progress along with it if you don't want to get left behind.