Going to college to pursue a career in dive medicine research-any advice?

[kaylee_ann]

Sounds excellent!

However, whatever you decide, I strongly recommend leaving yourself options. Many students change direction while pursuing their formal education. IMHO, a successful undergraduate education will introduce students to career possibilities that they never even imagined. Stay surprised at the possibilities.

rx7diver

absolutely! thanks for the help

 

[Kensei]

As you've been doing, talk to various people who hold positions that are similar to what you aspire. One person would be Doug Ebersole at:

Douglas Ebersole - TEKDiveUSA

Douglas Ebersole, MD is an interventional cardiologist at Watson Clinic in Lakeland, Florida as well as the Director of the Structural Heart program at Lakeland Regional Health medical center. He is an avid technical and cave diver as well as a CCR trimix instructor and cardiology consultant to...

tekdiveusa.com

 

[Johnoly]

Many students change direction while pursuing their formal education.

Yep !! 80% of students change their college major.
Apply at several schools and go do an onsite visit. All the sudden you'll say "This is the school !! "

 

[Akimbo]

You never know what you can learn by visiting HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment) centers. Many hospitals have them. A chance comment in my last year of high school changed my life. Attending an Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society conference would be a chance to meet a lot of people in the field.

You haven't mentioned what part of the world you are in but Duke University and/or NEDU (US Navy Experimental Diving Unit) are world-class hyperbaric facilities if you are in the southeast US. Definitely ask @Duke Dive Medicine for insights.

 

[RyanT]

Hmmm. I don't think there is a "standard" pathway. One of my brothers had a joint major in Pre-Med and Zoology. And my other brother who ended up a heart surgeon majored in Aeronautical Engineering.

However, whatever you decide, I strongly recommend leaving yourself options. Many students change direction while pursuing their formal education. IMHO, a successful undergraduate education will introduce students to career possibilities that they never even imagined. Stay surprised at the possibilities.

I strongly agree with @rx7diver. I am a professor and research scientist. Most semesters I teach human Anatomy & Physiology, so I talk with lots of aspiring MDs. First, you don't have to major in biology/ biochem. It is the logical pathway because it is the closest major you can get after completing the pre-reqs (e.g. basic bio, chem). If you major in something other than bio/biochem, you'll need to complete additional hours for your degree, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

A couple of things to keep in mind with a bio/biochem degree. First, It's one of the most difficult majors in college. I see lots of bio students get burned out from the studying. Don't underestimate how difficult it can be to watch friends (in other majors) spending time socializing while you have to study. The amount of time you have to devote to studying to maintain a high gpa in a science major requires some serious dedication. You have to really love science!

Second, keep in mind that med schools see a huge number of applicants who are bio/biochem majors, and have a 3.8+ gpa. These applicants outnumber the available seats. What will set your application apart? One of these things can be research. And by research, I mean involvement with a serious research project that results in publication(s) in a peer-reviewed journal. This is not a one-semester kind of thing. In my lab, we study evolutionary biology. Students who get excited about what we do spend most of their undergrad career working in our lab. They spend 3 months doing bioacoustics and behavioral studies in Panama. Some students will do this for multiple summers, become collaborators and publish papers. This makes your application interesting!

To @rx7diver's last point, I see tons of med school hopefuls each year. The majority decide to do something else...either they end up not having the grades, or they find something that seems more interesting.

 

[RobPNW]

Wow sounds interesting.

 

[kaylee_ann]

You never know what you can learn by visiting HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment) centers. Many hospitals have them. A chance comment in my last year of high school changed my life. Attending an Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society conference would be a chance to meet a lot of people in the field.

You haven't mentioned what part of the world you are in but Duke University and/or NEDU (US Navy Experimental Diving Unit) are world-class hyperbaric facilities if you are in the southeast US. Definitely ask @Duke Dive Medicine for insights.

thanks for the resources! yeah I'm in the northeast US but could very easily travel to visit really anywhere. I looked at the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society page, they have a couple virtual conferences and next June is their annual scientific meeting in San Diego. but I'm not really sure they'd let me into that one because I'm not a professional.
I'd actually sent Duke Dive Medicine a PM, but he's probably busy- he'll probably respond eventually.

 

[kaylee_ann]

I strongly agree with @rx7diver. I am a professor and research scientist. Most semesters I teach human Anatomy & Physiology, so I talk with lots of aspiring MDs. First, you don't have to major in biology/ biochem. It is the logical pathway because it is the closest major you can get after completing the pre-reqs (e.g. basic bio, chem). If you major in something other than bio/biochem, you'll need to complete additional hours for your degree, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

A couple of things to keep in mind with a bio/biochem degree. First, It's one of the most difficult majors in college. I see lots of bio students get burned out from the studying. Don't underestimate how difficult it can be to watch friends (in other majors) spending time socializing while you have to study. The amount of time you have to devote to studying to maintain a high gpa in a science major requires some serious dedication. You have to really love science!

Second, keep in mind that med schools see a huge number of applicants who are bio/biochem majors, and have a 3.8+ gpa. These applicants outnumber the available seats. What will set your application apart? One of these things can be research. And by research, I mean involvement with a serious research project that results in publication(s) in a peer-reviewed journal. This is not a one-semester kind of thing. In my lab, we study evolutionary biology. Students who get excited about what we do spend most of their undergrad career working in our lab. They spend 3 months doing bioacoustics and behavioral studies in Panama. Some students will do this for multiple summers, become collaborators and publish papers. This makes your application interesting!

To @rx7diver's last point, I see tons of med school hopefuls each year. The majority decide to do something else...either they end up not having the grades, or they find something that seems more interesting.

hi- thanks for all the insight! so, I was looking at biochemistry because it's really interesting and seems to cover topics I would need for research. in high school, bio and chem were my favorite classes actually so it's up my alley. I've looked at the classes you take and they'd be really interesting, like neurobiology, genetics etc. and of course chemistry is also my thing.

I wasn't thinking of going to med school- do I have to? when reading about the education path for researchers, some people go to med school and some don't.

oh, yeah, I want to do the DAN internship but the programs I've found also do internships and research projects throughout the 4 years. for one, students actually do research presentations at national conferences. kind of scary, but....exciting at the same time.

 

[tursiops]

More and more, research involves using Big Data and advanced statistics, like Baysian. If you had a double major in (say) bio and math, with lots of computer courses, your resume for med school and grad school and good jobs would stand out. For dive medicine and decompression research, physiology is essential but also being able to work with Big Data and non-trivial statistics is probably even better.

 

[cerich]

With or without any interest in the navy, the educational path they outline is solid for what you wish to do.

A

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