I'm not sure if you're referring to specialization as the biomedical part, or the biochem part
So are your options between biochem and biochem+biomed? Or biochem+biomed and life sci?
For all of the career options you mentioned, you can be successful from pretty much any program, if you plan things right.
What other options do you have for specializations? And if you're not too keen on research, you can do core biochem instead of the biomed specialization starting in third year. Unless it's changed recently, there's no difference between the two in second year, so you could just stay in biomed and then decide at the end of second year.
Biochem + biomed might make a candidate stand out a bit, but I can't really see it being a key factor. Plenty of people have biochem/biomed degrees. There's not really anything special about it...even compared to, say, someone who double-majors in chem and physics - very few people would do that
If you don't like research, then why would you want to commit to it throughout undergrad? Find something that you enjoy that makes you stand out. Also, the more general the program is, the harder it might be to find an opportunity to do research. It's not impossible, but definitely harder. In more specialized programs you gain skills that less people have (so less competition) and also smaller class sizes so you get to know profs more.
I'll also add that even if you want to go into a health care career, research as an undergrad - even if totally unrelated to the field you want to go in to - can be invaluable. It has certainly done wonders for me, and I never would have had the opportunities that I have now if I hadn't done research at Mac. It gives you something to talk about in job interviews, and your project is probably quite unique so it helps you to stand out. Being able to carry a project also shows a lot about dedication, work ethic, initiative, etc, and your supervisor is a great reference (assuming you don't screw up
). But, you can show the same skills even from doing theatre, or volunteering, or anything like that. It depends on your interests and talents.