<p>I want to scream every time someone writes that engineering and medicine are a bad fit. The reality is that there are a large (and growing) number of MD’s with engineering backgrounds. There are even blogs written by engineers that became physicians. </p>
<p>The courses behind a biomedical engineering major will allow you to complete your med school prereqs, and give you the background to do well on the all important MCAT. I know my alma mater had an excellent medical school placement record for BME’s. And, don’t forget, there will be a lot more you’ll need to your medical school application than your GPA and MCAT. The one advantage is that if you decide you don’t want to do medicine (an understandable decision, given a number of factors), you still have your engineering degree to fall back on; try getting an engineering position as an art history or music major. </p>
<p>The biggest drawback to the biomedical engineering degree is that, as you noted, it’s not viewed all that positively by employers looking for engineers. Part of the problem is that a medical device firm will generally say they want an EE or MechE or ChemE, and the BME major is therefore unable to get past the HR screening. This is more of a problem at the bachelor’s degree level. Advanced technical positions in biomedical engineering often require a graduate degree. </p>
<p>One consideration is that it is possible to get into a BME graduate program with just about any engineering degree, especially if you use your precious electives to boost your bio/chem background. If you do go the BME route, you should at least consider a concentration in one of the other engineering disciplines (or computer science). Also, networking with your school’s career placement office and your professors can help you find a summer position or undergraduate research assistanceship, either of which will go a long way to boosting your resume in the mind of employers and graduate admissions committees. </p>
<p>Finally, the bottom line: if you want to be an engineer, or think you may want to be one, then major in engineering. If you don’t want to be an engineer no matter what, then don’t. </p>