Well, when arguing with a friend, that is studying Mechanical Engineering, he said that to study Medicine is easier.
Because in Medicine is theory and the capacity of memorization, meanwhile on Engineering is the solution of problems by guessing and the functions of several things.
Im going to study Engineering, but i dont agree with him that Medicine is easier, you need to study a lot more (3years? basic+anything you want to study) than on engineering.
I just want to know the opinions of several people in here, that may study one, or both, and from your experience you can tell which is harder.
Here im talkin of the basic of both, not the specific root some may take, like Mechanical, Electronics, etc.

A Neurosurgeon is definitely harder in the earning of a degree sense than an Engineer. It all depends on what you mean by harder and what type of doctor/engineer you were referring to.

most who study medicine that ive talked to agree that you could essentially teach a parrot to pass the tests they do... its all nothing but being able to memorize lots of facts
in engineering on the other hand you wont get anywhere unless you understand what the hell youre doing

medicine is definitely more work but for that it requires zero talent other than reciting facts and you get the doctor title for free (which is why the majority of doc meds are absolutely uselss)
engineering on the other hand requires almost no work (until you get to writing your thesis which is tons of work) but lots of talent

shouting at the monkeys in the next tree... thats what brains evolved to do... not mathematics and physics

Medicine for sure.

Quote from Dennisjr13 :

A Neurosurgeon is definitely harder in the earning of a degree sense than an Engineer. It all depends on what you mean by harder and what type of doctor/engineer you were referring to.

Basic of Both, i know that on engineering you need to choose, but basic engineering/math of it. I know about the degrees, but as said the basic thing.

Quote from Shotglass :

medicine is definitely more work but for that it requires zero talent other than reciting facts and you get the doctor title for free (which is why the majority of doc meds are absolutely uselss)
engineering on the other hand requires almost no work (until you get to writing your thesis which is tons of work) but lots of talent

That's it, good point there, that's like taken out of my head.

Medicine because (for me at least) it's much easier to learn something that has a logical sense then to memorize stuff.

Also I'm pretty sure they make future doctor's work like crazy to make sure they don't end up killing people in surgery for example by making stupid mistakes. Medicine can be a risky job specially if you want to be a surgeon. I'm pretty sure the doctor's work harder then engineer's at least when they are learning.

Medicine maybe easier academically but when applied in the real world you can't ignore the huge amount of responsibility attached to it, because you really can't get it wrong, at least in engineering you can usually use a bit of trial and error if all else fails

There is certainly more pressure to the medical profession. I don't think anyone is truly qualified to judge unless they've passed both.

Medicine. Saving lives and keeping people healthy is a BIG responsibility and requires a great deal of knowledge/schooling.

As an Engineer, I say Medicine is harder.

For starters, if you are operating, you only have one chance.
And you are looking after living things.

Engineering can have many solutions, and it doesn't generally matter if the first one or two itterations don't work.

Medicine, engineering is generally cut and dry, medicine isn't always that simple.

Medicine.
Engineers used fixed numbers and can go back to check on any parts they weren't sure about. A surgeon makes a mistake and somebody could die right in front of them.

But not GP work. That's piss easy and I could probably diagnose 90% of what they do.

Depends what kind of engineer you are. There's the huge responsibility of having people's lives on the line if you're a doctor, but if you make something like bridges, or aircraft, or rollercoasters you also have, indirectly millions of people's lives on the line.

I'm a mechanical engineer and didn't think getting the degree was all that hard. I've never studied medicine but I would think it would be harder. It kind of depends what subjects you're good at though. Engineers are generally well rounded and did good in all subjects growing up, possibly excelling in math and physics. I think medicine would lend itself to science and biology aces. If you aren't good with math then engineering would be very hard. So it really depends on the person to declare which one is hard or not. From my standpoint I'd have to say medicine though.

Quote from Shotglass :

most who study medicine that ive talked to agree that you could essentially teach a parrot to pass the tests they do... its all nothing but being able to memorize lots of facts
in engineering on the other hand you wont get anywhere unless you understand what the hell youre doing

medicine is definitely more work but for that it requires zero talent other than reciting facts and you get the doctor title for free (which is why the majority of doc meds are absolutely uselss)
engineering on the other hand requires almost no work (until you get to writing your thesis which is tons of work) but lots of talent

shouting at the monkeys in the next tree... thats what brains evolved to do... not mathematics and physics

As someone who has first hand knowledge about studying medicine I absolutely agree with your statement.
Nevertheless is talent a key factor to to climb up the greasy pole (thanks to www.dict.cc) .
surgeon = spatial awarness & dexterity
anaesthetist = physics & biochemistry
internist = writing letters & being a boring person

P.S.: Neither are you able to clutch a branch by your feet nor did your brain evolve to shout at other monkeys.

Quote from Crashgate3 :

Depends what kind of engineer you are. There's the huge responsibility of having people's lives on the line if you're a doctor, but if you make something like bridges, or aircraft, or rollercoasters you also have, indirectly millions of people's lives on the line.

It's very rare for less than 100 people to be involved in the design and construction of any of the above. Each one is capable of stopping everything and saying "this isn't right". That reduces the risk of cock-ups ending up in something (but doesn't remove that risk completely of course).

A doctor (as in one operating) tends to be assisted, but ultimately does the work himself. Whilst a nurse or doctor can shout "stop", it's not their motor function, so that's all they can do. There might not be a chance to 'go back and fix it' afterwards.

Of course, research or GP doctors don't have that issue, but I'd maintain that I couldn't get a medical degree, but do have an engineering degree.

Doctor, he handles with Humans.

Engineer with machines -> replaceable.

I dunno. I reckon there are probably more doctors that lack the maths talent for engineering than there are engineers that lack the capability to memorize lots of data.

There are some ridiculously easy engineering degrees out there though.

It just occurred to me there's a Team Fortress 2 joke in here somewhere.

Quote from J.B. :

I dunno. I reckon there are probably more doctors that lack the maths talent for engineering than there are engineers that lack the capability to memorize lots of data.

There are some ridiculously easy engineering degrees out there though.

Some form of higher maths is required for medical courses, in fact given competition for medical course places in the UK I would expect typical entry requirements are higher in maths than engineering.

Medical work is much harder what u guys seem to take out is the psycholgical standpoint

I mean seighn a pacient die isn't excactly motivating
so on that base its also alot harder

And docters actualy save your live when your nealry loosing it

Medicine for sure.

Medicine, certainly. I'm saying this as an engineer (mechanical). I won't say that getting my degrees was easy, but you have to go through more stuff in pre-med and medical school. Besides, I hate memorization.

Quote from Tweaker :

Medicine. Saving lives and keeping people healthy is a BIG responsibility and requires a great deal of knowledge/schooling.

except it doesnt work that way... theres a fairly well known doc med in germany who has an interesting story to tell on this... some day one of his colleagues told him "well with the number of patients you get you can afford to heal them"
pharma doesnt make billions by healing people

Quote from ajp71 :

Some form of higher maths is required for medical courses, in fact given competition for medical course places in the UK I would expect typical entry requirements are higher in maths than engineering.

very different in germany... all you have to do is get a good average on your abitur (which lets you avoid most anything with numbers and school math can be parroted for the most part as well) and even if you dont manage to get that theres ways around it... uni is just more of the same

My dad is better than yours.