Thoughts about Biomedical Engineering w/ EE focus

[bolido2000]

Anyone here in that major? How is the job market for it?

 

[beer]

Undergraduate BME's don't have many career options. BME, as an undergraduate program, seems pretty worthless.

Why not go EE anyways?

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: bolido2000
Anyone here in that major? How is the job market for it?

Not in that major myself. However, I think it might be an interesting career possibility. I would focus on Micro ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS)
I think there is a future of integrating microdevices in medicine.

 

[SuperTool]

Personally, I would do EE with biomed minor.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: SuperTool
Personally, I would do EE with biomed minor.

Can you get a minor in an engineering field? I've never heard of that before...

I have a lot of respect yet also hatred of BMEs. They work very hard since most (at least at my undergrad) were trying to go to med school... so when they took EE courses they made us lazy EE bums look bad! 🙂

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: SuperTool
Personally, I would do EE with biomed minor.

Can you get a minor in an engineering field? I've never heard of that before...

I have a lot of respect yet also hatred of BMEs. They work very hard since most (at least at my undergrad) were trying to go to med school... so when they took EE courses they made us lazy EE bums look bad! 🙂

I am sorry to hear that. Noone made EE's look bad at my school 😉

 

[RabidMongoose]

Do a double major in EE/BME. There should be enough overlap to do it easily in four years.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: SuperTool

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: SuperTool
Personally, I would do EE with biomed minor.

Can you get a minor in an engineering field? I've never heard of that before...

I have a lot of respect yet also hatred of BMEs. They work very hard since most (at least at my undergrad) were trying to go to med school... so when they took EE courses they made us lazy EE bums look bad! 🙂

I am sorry to hear that. Noone made EE's look bad at my school 😉

I was just kidding 🙂 But they do work very hard (as well as EEs)... I think the competition there is pretty tough because of the med school factor. Several of the BMEs were also double majoring in EE and they would complain that the EE material was much more difficult 🙂

 

[jpeyton]

Biomed is a pretty useless option for elementary education majors.

 

[JeffSpicoli]

Originally posted by: Elemental007
Undergraduate BME's don't have many career options. BME, as an undergraduate program, seems pretty worthless.

Why not go EE anyways?

I graduated with a BME in 1986. At that time, there were so few accredited BME programs that finding a job was difficult without a masters. Even biomedical companies only trolled for EEs or MEs, so my BME was tossed out as not meeting their requirements even though I may have been more qualified for a position. It really comes down to not being able to market yourself effectively because HR people are usually too stupid and lazy to really understand the value of your education against the masses.

That said, my degree is far from worthless. Most importantly, it was fun stuff to learn. Applying physics to properties of the human body and writing programs that solve medical issues were way more interesting to me than bridges and circuits (although we had our share of those too). Beyond that, an engineering degree from a strong school will still open doors for you.

Hopefully, the degree is better recognized today than it was in 1986. However, my suggestion would be that if you really plan to have a career in BME, get the degree and then get a masters in it. Otherwise, you would be better off majoring in EE or ME and then minoring in Biology if possible.

 

[dmw16]

I wouldn't suggest a BME as your major. First off, a lot of schools aren't even accredited for that program (Columbia University for example is not...I have a friend there in their engineering program). He is actually in Chemical Engineering major w/ BioMed minor. So I would say take the estabilshed track as your major. So EE w/ BioMed minor or something.
-doug

 

[Apathetic]

Just so you know, you'll probably have to get a master's degree. Other than that, I think it'd be really cool.

Dave

 

[Demon-Xanth]

As an engineering tech in the medical industry, all I can say is this:

I hope you really like paperwork.

 

[bolido2000]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
As an engineering tech in the medical industry, all I can say is this:

I hope you really like paperwork.

Lots of lab reports?

Actually I have a BA in Computer Engineering. I've always had interest in biology and I've been reading how biotech industry is needing a lot of EE and CS majors, so this would be a Master in Biomedical Engineering with EE option.

 

[bolido2000]

^

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I'm more on the manufacturing side of it (cardiology equipment). And there seems to be an unwritten rule that says "if it's simple, it needs more documentation". A lot of simple, quick projects end up becoming major because someone gets worried about "someone might ask questions", regardless if the questions can be answered. And governing bodies include: TUV/ISO, FDA, MOHW (japan), CSA (canada), UL and local agencies. All of them can audit you, and all of them have thier own costs.

 

[Indolent]

I go to an engineering school. The graduationg bio's have had consistently higher starting wages than any other majors at the school. It's also the hardest one by far though. 🙂

others:
mechanical
computer
software
electrical
architectural
industrial

*edit* Link. Actually, biomed was second to Software in this one. In all reality, besides architectural, the engineering majors are all fairly close.

BTW, I'm talking about undergrads here.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Indolent
I go to an engineering school. The graduationg bio's have had consistently higher starting wages than any other majors at the school. It's also the hardest one by far though. 🙂

others:
mechanical
computer
software
electrical
architectural
industrial

*edit* Link. Actually, biomed was second to Software in this one. In all reality, besides architectural, the engineering majors are all fairly close.

BTW, I'm talking about undergrads here.

Yes picking a major based on starting salary is the sure path to avoiding mid life crisis.

 

[GoSharks]

i had a senior bme student tell me that she had a friend that came out of JHU ugrad BME and started with 70k/year.

im a frosh bme at jhu... and im not premed 😱

 

[Indolent]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis

Originally posted by: Indolent
I go to an engineering school. The graduationg bio's have had consistently higher starting wages than any other majors at the school. It's also the hardest one by far though. 🙂

others:
mechanical
computer
software
electrical
architectural
industrial

*edit* Link. Actually, biomed was second to Software in this one. In all reality, besides architectural, the engineering majors are all fairly close.

BTW, I'm talking about undergrads here.

Yes picking a major based on starting salary is the sure path to avoiding mid life crisis.

well, he already picked bio... I was just showing the stats because it seemed a lot of people were implying that the BE undergrad was "worthless".