Our Interview With Arindam RoyChoudhury, Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine

Arindam RoyChoudhury is an Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine.

M.S. in Biostatistics & Data Science (BDS)

What makes the Biostatistics & Data Science program valuable for aspiring pre-medical students?

The use of data for understanding diseases and evaluating patient outcomes is of fundamental interest to modern medicine. Our Biostatistics & Data Science program provides training in biostatistics, data science, programming, and artificial intelligence. These areas are increasingly relevant to physicians as information from complex data sources is used in clinical decision making. Our program complements traditional pre-medical training by teaching students how medical evidence is generated, analyzed, and interpreted.

How does the program benefit students preparing for medical school and improve their competitiveness as applicants?

Medical schools look to admit students with excellent quantitative, scientific, and communication skills. Our program provides students with training in the application of statistical and data science methods to biomedical problems. Our capstone or portfolio project provides students with further experience in research, collaboration, data analysis, and presentation of scientific results. Our students learn scientific reasoning and communication skills and gain experience in applying these skills to problems relevant to medicine.

How does this program prepare students for the realities of medical school and the medical field?

Modern medicine increasingly requires physicians to evaluate large amounts of information and determine whether scientific evidence is reliable and applicable to individual patients. Training in biostatistics and data science provides students with the tools needed to critically evaluate such evidence. The program also provides experience in working with complex biomedical data and communicating results within a collaborative environment. Our students are prepared for a medical field in which clinical knowledge, quantitative reasoning, and technology will increasingly be used together.

What advice would you give to students currently applying to medical school given the technological changes and competitiveness they face today?

Students should learn how to use new technologies, including artificial intelligence, while developing the scientific knowledge needed to critically evaluate their output. They should also develop complementary skills in quantitative reasoning, data interpretation, and scientific communication, while continuing to gain meaningful clinical and service experience. Students should develop an area of interest within medical science and pursue it in sufficient depth to demonstrate genuine expertise and commitment. In this way, they can prepare themselves not only to be competitive medical school applicants, but also to become physicians who can adapt to continuing changes in medicine.