Guest thestages Posted August 2, 2001 Report Share Posted August 2, 2001 Hi all, Thanks for the replies on my first post. I've got some more questions for you to crack your heads on. I've had some time to think about it and am also thinking about the possibility of a double major. Is it worth doing? Most importantly, is it manageable? Basically, I would like to pursue sciences and also do studies in graphic design. If I were to go the double major route, I would probably do Psychology and Visual Studies. Is it possible to finish a double major in 4 years? I haven't done any of the 1st year credits yet for Visual Studies. Something else I never really thought about was MCAT preparation through University courses. If I'm majoring in something like Psychology, where Biochem and Organic/Inorganic Chem aren't prerequisites, I will have to take these classes anyways if I want to have a fair chance on the August 2002 MCAT. Is that too much really? Doing psych, vis, and mcat prep courses all in 2nd year? Also, I was reading replies to snowpea's post where some of you said that an Honours degree generally isn't needed for med school. This sort of leaves me wondering if I should go for the Neurosci. Specialist program. But say I finish the double major and decide that I want to upgrade my science major to Neurosci. specialist. Is that possible? One more... Is it true that Med Schools don't count summer courses into your CGPA? Thanks, Blair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YongQ Posted August 2, 2001 Report Share Posted August 2, 2001 I'll only get to 1 of your q's since I have to go soon - UBC counts summer courses like normal courses. UT only counts summer for credit, not for GPA calculations. Each school's a little different regarding this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted August 3, 2001 Report Share Posted August 3, 2001 Hi thestages, Given your interests, another option (perhaps a little further down the road) is an M.Sc. in Biomedical Communications at UT. This is program, associated with the Dept. of Surgery (Fa. Medicine) trains artistically-inclined folk to be medically artistically-inclined. A pal of mine graduated from the program two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. She mentioned that some of her classes are with the med students (anatomy, for example) and that some students went on to pursue their MD afterwards. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thestages Posted August 5, 2001 Report Share Posted August 5, 2001 That is a really interesting program... wow Thanks Kirsteen! Does your friend have an e-mail where I could contact her? Anyone have any thoughts in regards to a dbl major? help.... -Blair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MEDCOMPSCI Posted August 6, 2001 Report Share Posted August 6, 2001 Well I did a double major as my undergrad in biochem & compsci and I thought, if anything, it acutally helped me out. During the interview it gave me a lot to talk about, outline to them that I had a clear backup plan, and also help to show that I dd have other skills that were marketable (ie- I was not only in it for the $$$). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted August 6, 2001 Report Share Posted August 6, 2001 Hi again thestages, Yep, the program is pretty great for those interested in both, fine art and medicine. I believe that you must have a substantial portfolio to display to the department on application, but once in, the program allows you to explore a variety of media including traditional materials as well as web-based and computerized animation. Also, probably more due to the specialization of the program, I think my pal only had about six to eight classmates, which, I believe, is about average for class-size. Have a look at their link and see if it's up your alley: www.surg.med.utoronto.ca/bmc Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thestages Posted August 7, 2001 Report Share Posted August 7, 2001 Kirsteen, this program is awesome... I'm definetely doing graduate school! I've always wondered if there was any way to combine arts with medicine. I was interested in biotechnology but that seemed more like computer science than graphic arts. This program really hits the jackpot. I was looking at some other websites and there are only 5 schools acros N. America that offer the program, each accepting between 8-12 students. That sounds really competitive... is that an average size for a graduate class? MEDCOMPSCI, how did you find the double major to be? Everyone has told me it's gonna be hard and this and that... but I want to hear it from someone who's done it. later, Blair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted August 7, 2001 Report Share Posted August 7, 2001 Hi again Blair, I think the class size has more to do with the demand rather than the supply. Relatively, there probably are not that many students like yourself who have a burning desire to combine a knowledge of human anatomy physiology with fine art. More often than not, someone will pick one of the two routes and explore that more in depth. As to the program itself, my squash mate who took it found it fabulous. The project choices were wide open: for one, they had to do a panel of illustrations depicting any human ailment (she chose asthma); for another, they had to launch their own web-based portfolio; for yet another, they forayed into a computerized animation of a condition. She noted that her classmates were great people and they had a lot of fun. There was also plenty of opportunity to display work, both in school and at various forums, and the job possibilities were numerous. Good luck with it, and hope to see your website on their homepage some time, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MEDCOMPSCI Posted August 7, 2001 Report Share Posted August 7, 2001 I found it to be doable. It is a little more work than doing a single major (in my case, I had to spend a lot of time doing computer science projects that otherwise would have been devoted to relaxing or studying for bio/chem courses) but I think that if you are able to manage your time you will not havea big problem. Although med schools say they do not care about your mahor, at all of my interviews the interviewers seemed to be impressed with my choice to attempt a double major. Above all, it showed them that I was hardworking, organized, diverse, and made me slightly differenet from most everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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