Which is harder Medicine or Engineering

[GrindtooFilthy]

I've got an engineering degree and medical is significantly harder.

People are only thinking of undergrad. Nothing in the engineering undergrad is going to come close to what a med student or medical resident has to learn and master.

This is a silly question, really.

You know you can get a doctorates in engineering right?

 

[yyy]

Crazy that this is even a debate. Medicine is WAY harder than engineering. 4 years of undergrad - including volunteering, club leadership, maintaining high grades and shadowing; doing well on the MCAT; getting into Medical School; doing well on step 1; getting through rotations; getting into the residency of your choice; surviving residency. Look up the hours residents work. The only way you will succeed in medicine is if you truly feel called to do it. Maybe, if you compare undergrad classes of the premedical curriculum to the engineering curriculum you have an argument, but that's just the beginning.

Medical resident work hours - Wikipedia

Medical resident work hours refers to the (often lengthy) shifts worked by medical interns and residents during their medical residency.
In many locations, trainee doctors commonly work 80 to 100 hours a week,[1] with residents occasionally logging 136 (out of 168) hours in a week.[2] Some studies show that about 40% of this work is not direct patient care, but ancillary care, such as paperwork.[1] Trainee doctors are often not paid on an hourly basis, but on a fixed salary; in some locations, they are paid for booked overtime.

 

[BaldingSoHard]

You know you can get a doctorates in engineering right?

This is completely new information to me.

Spoiler

 

[GrindtooFilthy]

This is completely new information to me.

Spoiler

lmao damn son. I'm just saying if we made engineering at the same rate of med school no is graduating

Yes I know it's apples to Oranges

 

[BaldingSoHard]

lmao damn son. I'm just saying if we made engineering at the same rate of med school no is graduating

Yes I know it's apples to Oranges

I feel that. U right.

 

[Paradise50]

Engineering >>>

Most pre-med students would flunk out of an engineering major.

The flashcard-driven, memorization approach to succeeding as a pre-med major doesn't work in engineering.

If you have a solid system to commit shyt to memory, you can get through pre-med and med school.

Engineering requires more fundamental understanding of concepts and then the ability to apply those concepts. It's not about how hard you work or how much you commit to memory. You can know every equation in the book. But, if you lack fundamental understanding, you will still fail!

!

yea you're really underestimating doctors


Their pathophysiology/microbiology knowledge on top of understanding of disease processes + meds + procedures + etc

they're really bright.....there's a reason why they have to do 4 years of med school on top of 4 years of residency.

 

[Paradise50]

Medicine takes longer but engineering is harder imo. like the breh above said, you can't get by just memorizing formulas. The design problems will eat you alive

medicine ISN'T just memorization


how dense are y'all!?


your average engineer is much smarter than your avg nurse though. There's many that struggle with some basic ass concepts that have me

I'd say a critical care nurse r/t an engineer more than any other area of nursing.

 

[Maude]

Engineering >>>

Most pre-med students would flunk out of an engineering major.

The flashcard-driven, memorization approach to succeeding as a pre-med major doesn't work in engineering.

If you have a solid system to commit shyt to memory, you can get through pre-med and med school.

Engineering requires more fundamental understanding of concepts and then the ability to apply those concepts. It's not about how hard you work or how much you commit to memory. You can know every equation in the book. But, if you lack fundamental understanding, you will still fail!

I'm pretty sure many engineering brehs on the board can tell stories of instances where they studied for weeks for a test, only for the professor to hit them with some shyt on the exam to test for understanding! All after the professor assured you that, if you study the notes and homework problems, it should be a piece of cake.

Study for two weeks to only get that 45/100 on an exam with the 45 being the high score in the class!

Professor handing back the graded exams like

Imagine going through that shyt for multiple courses per semester over the course of 4-5 years!

And that's just undergraduate engineering. Go for graduate engineering and the textbooks become even less helpful and the professors even less concerned about teaching and with thicker accents!

getting test back asking "professer are you grading that 45 on a curve?"

professor like

after giving up your personal life during the semester and you passed that shyt

when you see classmates in class next semester happy cause we passed

new professor hands out first assignment

 

[KingBeez]

As someone who did mechanical engineering classes for 2 years and some change, I hated engineering with a passion and it's really difficult. You can't bullshyt your way to a degree.

But on the other hand, I've heard that medical school ain't no joke, and pre-med students basically live off of adderall, plus you gotta be in school longer .....




Ima go with medical....for now

 

[Inferno]

Engineering is more difficult, but Medicine seems more grueling overall. I chose Computer Science (in the college of engineering) over trynna be a doctor because I wasn't with 4 years undergrad + 4 years med school + 2-3 years residency before getting a job. My older bro just graduated in 4 years with CS and is making damn near 150k total compensation already.

 

[AB Ziggy]

As someone with an older brother whose currently a dermatology resident, I can throw my two cents in.

Medicine is not just a ton of memorization, it's about applying all that knowledge to new scenarios of diseases that can come up through different means. You get tested for your ability to use your knowledge in different situations as early as the MCAT. That's why people spend thousands of dollars on study prep courses and books for it.

Second, most pre meds would likely fail out of engineering because no class required to become a doctor involves advanced physics, thermodynamics, etc. There is far less math to know outside of basic calculus and physics. Pre-meds need to worry about Biology, Biochemistry, General Physics, and Microbiology.

Third, you never stop learning in medicine even after you finish medical school and residency. Every 10 years a doctor is required to take an exam to update themselves on the latest trends going on in medicine to keep their licenses.

 

[Paradise50]

As someone with an older brother whose currently a dermatology resident, I can throw my two cents in.

Medicine is not just a ton of memorization, it's about applying all that knowledge to new scenarios of diseases that can come up through different means. You get tested for your ability to use your knowledge in different situations as early as the MCAT. That's why people spend thousands of dollars on study prep courses and books for it.

Second, most pre meds would likely fail out of engineering because no class required to become a doctor involves advanced physics, thermodynamics, etc. There is far less math to know outside of basic calculus and physics. Pre-meds need to worry about Biology, Biochemistry, General Physics, and Microbiology.

Third, you never stop learning in medicine even after you finish medical school and residency. Every 10 years a doctor is required to take an exam to update themselves on the latest trends going on in medicine to keep their licenses.

Thank You!

All I'll say is I know more people that made it through engineering school than med school. 2 totally different ways of applying knowledge

 

[Khadafi1982]

If we're talking about classes we hate, my electrical and computer engineering brehs will empathize in saying fukk signals and systems.

I hate abstract math classes with a lot of theory. I'm horrible at that shyt. That is why I would never major in math. Calculus and differential equations where you solve stuff and get an answer ? I'm good. But when you want me to write proofs or think about mathematics any more creatively and in other stuff besides numbers I'm out.

I did EE and the class "SIgnal Systems" was one of the hardest. It is very abstract, but is the base to learn about signal carrier, modulation, Laplace Transform, Fast Fourrier Transform and the infamous Dirac.

 

[Khadafi1982]

Also to add above, I'll say say what I always say when this topic comes up.

Engineering isn't hard because of anything related to smarts. It's hard because most engineering programs test your ability to persist and work hard. You can be reasonably smart but have a strong work ethic and do better than the mathatlete who spends more time playing video games. I've seen folks who came in with full rides, did all AP courses, were in all these extra curriculars flame out because they don't have the work ethic or don't know how to manage their time properly. Cramming and shyt doesn't work. You have to put your nose to the grindstone to succeed. Constantly. Everyday. I had one bad semester where I slacked off and it's like a runaway train if you fall behind and don't keep up. I didn't catch up the whole semester.

I don't know if medicine is the same way.

I agree partially with this. I graduated in EE and computer science. You must have a good work ethic, be persistent to succeed in Engineering. However there are tough classes in Engineering. For me the hardes were Signal & Systems, Electromagnetics, Chemistry, Electronic design, Differential Equations, Electronics.

Were I did well: Waves physics, Static & Synamics physics, Thermodynamics, all my software classes, etc.

Engineering >>>

Most pre-med students would flunk out of an engineering major.

The flashcard-driven, memorization approach to succeeding as a pre-med major doesn't work in engineering.

If you have a solid system to commit shyt to memory, you can get through pre-med and med school.

Engineering requires more fundamental understanding of concepts and then the ability to apply those concepts. It's not about how hard you work or how much you commit to memory. You can know every equation in the book. But, if you lack fundamental understanding, you will still fail!

I'm pretty sure many engineering brehs on the board can tell stories of instances where they studied for weeks for a test, only for the professor to hit them with some shyt on the exam to test for understanding! All after the professor assured you that, if you study the notes and homework problems, it should be a piece of cake.

Study for two weeks to only get that 45/100 on an exam with the 45 being the high score in the class!

Professor handing back the graded exams like

Imagine going through that shyt for multiple courses per semester over the course of 4-5 years!

And that's just undergraduate engineering. Go for graduate engineering and the textbooks become even less helpful and the professors even less concerned about teaching and with thicker accents!

I did EE, yes I remember those averages is some of my classes. I clearly remember in Software Algo and Electronics. 45 % class average after studying hours. It was insane.

 

[Khadafi1982]

Computer Science is tough. They have to take as much math as engineers.

But, computer science doesn't have to touch shyt like thermodynamics (which most mech engs have to touch) or electromagnetics (which most electrical engs have to touch).

Imagine taking all that physics and math you learn in earlier courses and putting that shyt on steroids!

Computer science is not has hard as EE and Mechanical Engineering. I did three years of computer science and 4 years EE so I have a good perspective. The big difference is that in EE almost all classes have mathematics in them.
Even a tough CS course like Algos doesn't have as much mathematics like Signal & Systems or Communcation Modulation were you use differntial equations, complex numbers, Fast Fourrier transforms.