Could someone explain a little bit more about what exactly a biomedical engineer does? Is it heavy in research and lab work or is there ways to work in more of a clinical setting with improving patient care?
“Biomedical engineer” isn’t a job title (with occasional exceptions). “Biomedical engineering” is a broad term that refers to the use of engineering principles to address areas of biology/medicine. The vast majority of engineers who work in the field of biomedical engineering have degrees in traditional disciplines: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and chemical engineering. In industry, biomedical engineering generally takes the form of medical devices, which will involve a lot of mechanical engineering and electrical engineering and some chemical/materials engineering. As an engineer, with some exceptions, you’ll probably never really work in a clinical setting, but you may interact or liaise with medical professionals, depending on the job.
A friend of mine (who has a degree in mechanical engineering) works at a medical device company that develops invasive/implantable products, and he occasionally visits hospitals to talk to doctors, observe surgeries, work with cadavers, etc. I’m a mechanical engineer at a medical device company that develops non-invasive devices that improve mobility. I never interact with medical professionals or find myself in clinical settings. I’ve found myself going to trade shows and tech conferences. My job involves a lot of work with mechanical design, programming, and electromechanical systems. Another one of my friends has an MS in BME, but he works as a field engineer doing equipment installs and support at hospitals and clinics–he’s not involved in any research/development or anything directly related to patient care.
There are some niche, upcoming areas like robotic surgery that may involve a lot of work in clinical settings, but you’d need an advanced degree (or a lot of experience) in mechanical or electrical engineering for jobs like these.
You won’t be doing much straight up research or lab work unless you pursue a PhD, whether you choose to work in industry or academia.
I know a few mechanical engineers at a robot assisted surgical device company. They do occasionally observe surgeons using their machines in real surgeries and somewhat more often in test scenarios. That is a pretty small portion of their time however.