Bio-Medical engineering

[Scott England]

Hey, I'm an ESM (Engineering Science and Mechanics) major at Virginia Tech, with a concentration in biomechanics. How on earth do you midwesterners pay for college? VT is about 8000 $ instate, probably around 15000 $ out of state. Anyways, Virginia Tech is in the process of building a new college of biomedical engineering as a joint Venture with Wake Forest University (we have a school of engineering, they don't, they have a med school, we don't) I'm not sure exactly if or when undergrad degrees will be offered from the newly formed college, but I know Graduate degrees will be offered. You can read all about it here
http://www.technews.vt.edu/Archives/2001/Oct/01405.html
we do have the biomechanics concentration for undergrads majoring in ESM, and many of us go to med school. Though to throw in my two cents. My sister went to emory med school in atlanta and really liked it there, and I know a few ramblin wrecks from Georgia Tech, nice town, great engineering school, good football team, very much like Virginia Tech, just in the heart of atlanta as opposed to the appalachian mountains. I've heard good things about UC San Diego also, one student from our VT robotics team went there and is having a good time, though I don't know how much he is paying. I hope this helps some.
~Scott

[Kelly322]

I know exactly where you are coming from. I also wanted to do med school, but had other interests as well. Having just a biology or chemisty degree felt like it would limit me if I graduated and then didn't want to go to med school- I would still have to continue my education to have a good career opportunity. As fate would have it, I got an academic scholarship for engineering to Virginia Tech, and chose to major in mechanical engineering and bulk up on biology and chemistry classes. (There really wasn't any other attractive way of doing engineering to prepare for med school at VT at the time.) That way, I had my undergrad education paid for and was academically prepared to attend med school. I did really well on my MCATs and was ready to start med school when I graduated. Then, a few months before graduation, I got a good job offer to work as an engineer. It was a great opportunity to make a little money and get some "real world" experience before I went back to school. I ended up getting married, settling down, and never going back, but it was all by choice. I've continued my career as an engineer, which isn't so bad. At least with the engineering degree, I had a career to "fall back" on. There are definitely days that I wish I had chosen otherwise, so my advise is to not stray if that is indeed what you want to do. I really think that the engineering/med school combo is a great one. Engineers tend to be logical thinkers with a constant desire to learn, and those are two qualities of great doctors. (I was personally interested in pathology or perhaps radiology, as I assumed that either of those would minimize my interaction with people and maximize my "science" time.) I, of course, think that my alma mater, Virginia Tech, would be a super place to attend, but I think out-of-state tuition is pretty scary. Perhaps Duke (my med school of choice), Johns Hopkins, or Vanderbilt (my 2nd choice med school) are places to also consider.

Just my personal experience with the whole decision making process.

Kelly =)

[Mark Pierce]

My daughter is a Freshman Biomedical Engineering student at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. So far she's been quite impressed with the school and the program. A lot of her classmates are pre-med and there seems to be quite a few research opportunities there, for undergrads and grads. In the end, you have to find a school you like and fit with...