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What is the best major to major in college ? If aiming for a future job as a surgeon.

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Rohan’s Answer

The best major is the one you're more interested and motivated to do well in! Luckily for your future job aspirations, you'll be able to major in whatever you want, as long as you complete the premedical requirements (https://blog.prepscholar.com/what-is-pre-med-requirements-majors).

Usually, many people major in something like Biology since there is a ton of overlap with the Pre-med requirements. But I've had friends that majored in engineering, psychology, and even East Asian Studies while pursuing a pre-med track. Other important things to do while you're in college is trying to find opportunities that give you experience in a medical setting or a research setting, since these experiences will be crucial towards your applications.


The path to becoming a surgeon is a long one, that requires strong undergrad, medical school, residency, and maybe even fellowship (~12-14 years), so it's worth understanding what you'd sign up for. You'll want to speak to as many professors, pre-med students, and medical students as possible to continue to update your understanding of the field and what it requires to be part of it! Be open to changing your preferences too. Personally, I started out pursuing Biomedical Engineering and transitioned to Computer Science over a period of 2 years and have never looked back.

Rohan recommends the following next steps:

Find the list of majors available in your school and corresponding classes
Find the premed requirements
Make your best attempt at finding the major that's at the intersection of your interests, the overlap of premed / major requirements, and the workload you think you can handle. It's okay if you change this later!
Be open to learning more about the field and yourself, since your preferences might change and that's totally fine :)
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Andrew’s Answer

As someone who initially started in the STEM/pre-engineering/pre-med track, I just want to reiterate and re-emphasize the points Rohan made about your major. Your major does NOT have to be Biology, Biochemistry, Engineering, or any major in the STEM field. Will it help to be a STEM major? Absolutely; mainly because these majors presume that students could pursue pre-med and the courses/research/internships align with concepts you would generally get exposed to in medical school. However, in my opinion, it doesn't guarantee or "give advantage" to those in non-STEM fields. In fact, I know people who are majoring in Accounting, Music, and majors more in the liberal arts/humanities who are pursuing the pre-med track. As long as you complete the specific "pre-med requirements and courses," you are eligible to apply for med school. It would be of best interest to have some experience that relates to medicine and your aspirations of becoming a surgeon, but don't commit to a major like Biology or Chemistry if you know you'll dread it.

Steps:

1) Pursue the major that interests you and the mandatory pre-med requirements.

2) Research early. Med school is not cheap and it is an arduous process of applying, enduring, and becoming a doctor — especially surgeons. Yes, it's rewarding and the idea of helping others is intriguing to everyone and anyone. But, it does require a lot of time, energy, and mental capacity on your part. It is good to mentally prepare for this at an early stage rather than the second you start med school.

3) Keep asking questions. Like Rohan said, ask your professors, fellow medical students, colleagues about the process. The best way to get the "big picture" is gaining perspective from someone who's been through it or going through it now. It may sound painful asking so much in the short-term, but in the long run, it may put you at an advantage with how much you understand the process.

4) I really relate to Rohan's last step: "Be open to learning more about the field and yourself." Throughout your college journey, you will discover things you once never imagined, what you're capable of, and what genuinely makes you happy. It is totally normal and okay if you realize by senior year that you don't want to pursue med school or maybe a different "area" of medicine. This is the very reason why asking questions and researching early is critical — to mitigate the stress that comes along with finding alternatives and changing paths.

I know this was a while back, but I hope this helps you and anyone else who is in the same boat. Good luck to you all!
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