Question by vote4pedro: Is Biomedical Engineering a good field?
I am currently a sophomore at Rutgers and I am majoring in Biomedical Engineering. However, I don’t know whether I am going in the direction in which I would like. I have a few questions that I wanted to ask to current biomedical engineers (or people who have majored in it). You do not have to answer every question.
- After majoring in biomedical engineering, what options do you have available?
- What are the major companies that offer jobs to biomedical engineers?
- Do most BMEs get a Master’s Degree?
- What is the average starting salary for someone with a BME bachelor’s degree (or yours)?
- Will BME still be a good field in 3 to 4 years, especially with the recession?
- Do medical schools prefer BME students over general biology ones?
- Would a double major in economics and BME look better for businesses?
- It is worth it to get an MBA after obtaining a BME degree?
- My GPA is a 3.79 and I plan to be doing research next year, but how important is an internship?
- As a sophomore in my spring semester, what is my next step?
I also have a few questions concerning your personal experience:
- First off, which college(s) did you graduate from and with which degrees?
- How did you obtain your first job?
- What do/did you do on a daily basis?
- What would you say is the best thing you did in college that helped you in the future?
- Lastly, DO YOU LIKE WHAT YOU DO??
Fell free to add anything else you would like. Also, if you have heard of any summer internship or research opportunities available, please fell free to contact me at sharanparikh@yahoo.com. Thank You!
Best answer:
Answer by gyoza1216
I am not a biological engineer but I am majoring in biology. I am also tempted into going into this field. I’m still torn between wildlife biology, microbiology and genetic engineering. I live in Folsom and I’m using the G.I. Bill so I have a real chance to go to UC Davis if I want to. Anyway, I’m not sure if you can get any answers here but I used to live in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio is one of the only places in the country that has a biomedical research facility. I suggest you start there. I used to live literally a mile from this place and my neighbor worked there. Here’s a link to their site.
http://www.sfbr.org/
I suggest writing a letter to see what info you can squeeze from them.
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I think that it is one of the more interesting new fields in engineering. I do not know about job prospects at the moment. BME is a good major to prepare for medical school. Don’t spend time on economics beyond the first class. As long as you understand e^rt and compound interest, you know as much as anybody else. To do anything interesting, you should get a PhD from a major university. I am very impressed with the Biomechanical Engineering Department at Stanford because they create very useful things that can be taken up by start-up companies. The BME department at Johns Hopkins is very good. I was a post-doctoral fellow there. However, my engineering profession involved computer networks. Most of the graduate students and post-docs at Hopkins BME went into engineering fields with greater commercial application than the lab work at Hopkins. I think that tissue engineering might have a great future as well as prosthetic devices.
BME is a very broad field. I did biomaterials with drug delivery for my MS. My wife did electrical (functional electrical stimulation) emphasis for heart and nerve stimulation. Jobs are difficult to find as a BME unless you either have MechE or EE background. I had a ChemE undergrad and that did not translate well with BME companies as much.
I went to Case Western in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time I think it was rated #5.
I obtained employment by word of mouth my g/f worked with someone married to a person in HR at another company… I had to move to California for the position. g/f had already moved.
I eventually settled into biopharmaceuticals field in a more ChemE role.
There are many companies hiring BMEs although if you are looking for work there are definite hot and cold spots in the USA. Minneapolis is a hot spot for electrical BME. The coastal regions also have a good amount of BME industry. The central US generally has smaller companies but could be hard to find positions, especially starting out. Some BME somehow work for hospitals, the idea seems foreign to me except for artificial limbs.
Starting salaries vary widely, with region, company, how much the company likes you all factors. If you want higher pay, switch companies – generally switching from the 1st to 2nd pays 15 – 20% more although the next position could be less enjoyable. Medical device field pays well and is growing rapidly. I find they also desire previous device experience for employment…
BME will probably distinguish you from Biology folks for medical school, although this is mixed bag as well. Less effort generally required for biology undergrad than BME. BME again is very diversified so the quality of the education can suffer as a result.
Business and BME is an interesting mix… I find mixed results for people who do MBA. Those who are social and network well are more likely to gain from the degree. A past plant manager at the 1000+ personnel facility I work had BS BME/MBA.
BME can kinda be considered recession proof. As long as health insurance covers, then BME field will be in good shape. If everything collapses, then yes you better be a farmer real fast, lol. The company I work for is experiencing record profits. BME is safer this way than most other engineering fields. If you are concerned about it, can always stay BME and apply for business/medical school. Note that there are joint MBA/MD and BME PHD/MD programs if you really want to stay in school forever.
I don’t really care for what I do, but I am actually doing project management, not true research or much related to BME. It is the coworkers and work environment that are important. I have to say that the folks I know in device BME seem content, although sometimes frustrated with deadlines (common to all engineering disciplines).
The more specialized you become in school, the more likely you will do what you studied in the working world. So this is a double edged sword.
I think networking through technical organizations offers your best chances with opportunities. Add in some career counseling / mock interviews and you should be in good shape.
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