Conflict of Interest

[Ehudz]

I've got the choice of either getting some work experience as an intern this summer (a program provided by my university) after the completion of 1st year engineering at an undetermined company OR volunteering/working in an office of a certain heart institute.

In my opinion, both are excellent choices in providing insight and experience in both the engineering and medical field...its just that I can't pick both of them =( I will also be studying a summer course during the above activities.

What do you guys think?

[Jochi1543]

What are the prospects for the summer after? Would either place be open to potentially hiring you for another summer and giving you more advanced responsibilities?

[Satsuma]

What exactly will you be doing in the office of the heart institute? Office work doesn`t sound terribly interesting or educational...and the fact that you put volunteering in there makes me wonder if you would even be getting paid!
So without much more description...that seems like you least favourable choice.

Probably the internship program is designed to actually teach you something relevant to your degree. Could be more useful.

[Ehudz]

I guess that's a good point. The following summer, I'll most likely participate in co-op, so the chances of going back to the same institute to volunteer/work is low. Hearing from a previous volunteer, I'd be doing research (writing and looking up stuff) that relates to engineering and the heart, such as researching pacemakers, robot-assisted surgeries, etc. Although its not paid.

The internship, I can potentially get into a hospital environment, though I do not know what type of work I'd be doing. I imagine it'll probably be research ...paid research.

[1234]

personally, I would do co-op. Finding a job as an engineer is hard enough, best to get those experiences while you can. Health research at your stage is unlikely to help you that much in the long run.

[med.student]

the voluneteering or working in a heart institute sounds great. its feels like a wonderful thought to me. i would have taken that if i had a choice. :eek:

[AdamP]

I'm in a sort of similar situation, being in eng...somewhat older though so maybe i can share a bit of insight,

my first summer I did an engineering type co-op for a utilility company but really anyone could have done + first year eng is basically first year science on overdrive (extra math and design) but really we don't have much of any eng knoledge....i digress, i really enjoyed it and it paid well, i actually had enough energy for the first while to work nights and weekends, by auguest i was only working evening but still 60+ hour work weeks

second summer i took an nserc placement and did reserach on water quality and restoration, not directly related to meds but gave me good perspective with reserach, i also studied for mcat and took extra courses (totally burnt out by the end and I don't reccomend taking on that much work) (although my tone may be somewhat different had a gotten the score i was looking for)


I guess the first thing you need to realize is industry and reserach are completely different environments, I don't know if your heart job is research based or clerical so this might not be important. Reserach is fun because you are basically given a problem and asked to solve it, you essentially become your on boss (there's tonnes of info on this forum about that), but using your brain on novel problems is really tough to do all day, and even though i was working less hours then my eng co-op i felt way more burnt out after

So this summer I'm in a similar situation

1) get a co-op, pros: good money cons: doesn't really help the app much
2) do nserc again with old prof, profs: confortable with the team have still lots of work that can be done cons: doesn't pay as well but not too bad, not terrible for my app, but its' no hardcore med reserach
3) apply for a med/eng related reserach posting, there is a couple opportunities around my town, the pay won't be as great but it may help round out my app, give me a taste for something new

That probably doesn't help much, i am no where near coming to a final decision at this point. Reading your second post the opportunity to do eng/med work sounds exciting, not getting paid would make it out of the question for me but i don't know your situation, that being said you should look more in to that these guys have pretty big grants and can usually spare a couple thousand at least over the summer if they need you (my friend did something similar)

if that's not the case and you don't get paid, your hours should be decreased so i would suggest taking a shot at the mcat or get some of the harder courses out of the way in the summer.

as for the co-op well if your competitive for meds, meaning good marks and some ecs and volunteering then your already more competitive than most of your class in the job market so i wouldn't be worried so much about that, especially in just first year, if my the end of 3rd year you deside meds isin't your thing then you can do a full 16-month internship and be completely set.

So there is a bunch of ramblings, i'm not gonna bother with the spelling i'm sure it's brutal, w/e i'm in eng :)

[CaffeinatedPonderer]

my first summer I did an engineering type co-op for a utilility company but really anyone could have done + first year eng is basically first year science on overdrive (extra math and design) but really we don't have much of any eng knoledge....i digress, i really enjoyed it and it paid well, i actually had enough energy for the first while to work nights and weekends, by auguest i was only working evening but still 60+ hour work weeks

Sounds like an OPG placement - they do pay well, especially for overtime :P

One point to consider is that many med schools want to see some type of volunteering/working in a hospital setting in a candidate's profile (it's a sort of flag). If the cardiac research provides this experience, and doesn't make you pull your hair out with frustration/boredom, it may be your best option.

Also, try NOT to base your decision on income right now if you can help it. Research positions will almost always pay less than engineering internships (even if you get NSERC), but they often offer some intellectual flexibility/independence that you will not find in a basic internship (which in first year may likely be paper-pushing).