BioE As a Road to Medical School

For me, medical school was always the plan; the question was how to design my undergraduate experience so that I could get there as soon as possible. On the interview trail, people like to ask the question “if you don’t get into medical school, what could you see yourself doing instead?” My answer was simple, “I cannot see myself doing anything else, I would wait a year and apply again next cycle.” I strongly believe that if you want to go to medical school bad enough, you can make it happen – whether it is right after graduation, after a few gap years, or even far into your 30s or 40s. You can also use just about any undergraduate major to get you there, but there are definitely some that better prepare you than others (hint, hint BioE!!!).

If you are reading this you are probably already a BioE or are considering BioE as a major. Either way, I am sure you have heard how much of a family our department is. We cry together, we laugh together, we spend far too much time in Benedum together, and we work our butts off day in and day out TOGETHER! This sense of community is what will get you through undergrad and will leave you searching for something even remotely close in your future medical school. Through the bioengineering program I learned what it meant to work as a team, to help each other out, and to be there for your classmates outside of the random methods lab you were assigned or the thermo homework you had no idea how to solve. My BioE friends are some of my best friends from college and I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today without them. They helped me find research, made study abroad experiences something I could rave about during interviews, they were there to help with assignments when I was overwhelmed by MCAT prep, they are just some of the most wonderful human beings I know.

In case you didn’t know, BioE is really hard; it’s a test of resilience and determination. If you can survive BioE you will thrive in med school. Of course I see overlap in my coursework like how the kidney works and how an action potential travels down a nerve, but the rigor of the curriculum helped me far more than any of those small memorization things. BioE taught me how to study, organize my time, and balance extracurriculars with classes and real life. If you choose bioengineering, there is no doubt in my mind that you will be ready for medical school and your new classmates will love you for your endless knowledge of all things physics as well ☺. If you have any questions about medical school, bioengineering, or anything else, please do not hesitate to reach out to me!