I will be attending the University of Maryland at College Park in the fall of 2015, pursuing an undergraduate degree in bioengineering. However, I have read numerous threads and watched videos that all seem to give the same impression: bioengineering is a poor major because it dabbles a little bit in every engineering field rather than emphasize a specific one; it creates generalists. Many posts have advised to enroll in a more traditional engineering major (mechanical, electrical, etc.) and then earn a master’s degree in bioengineering to become more of an expert in a particular engineering field and thus become more attractive to employers. However, after looking at the University of Maryland’s bioengineering department website, I see that not only is the program ABET accredited, but it also has specific “tracks” including biological engineering, pre-health professions, and biomedical instrumentation, which appeals to me the most. Would majoring in bioengineering with a specialty in one of these specific fields give me enough “engineering expertise” to be more appealing to employers in the future, or should I go with a traditional undergraduate engineering degree? If anybody with experience with the University of Maryland’s bioengineering department could offer advise that would be greatly appreciated.
The trouble with a biomedical engineering degree is that career paths which involve actual biomedical engineering very often require advanced degrees. If you are passionate about BME and desire/plan to go pursue an advanced degree, biomedical engineering is a fantastic major. If you want to work right out of undergrad as an engineer, you’d probably be better off with another degree and then steering your career towards the medical industry.
Like you’ve gathered, these degrees do make you somewhat of a generalist. Take biomedical instruments for example – out of undergrad, sure, BMEs are probably the only engineer that has taken a course about them. However, is a BME actually qualified to design and create a biomedical instrument? Probably certainly not. Mechanical and electrical engineers, on the other hand, have some of the skills required. Pretty much every engineering discipline leaves undergrad with practical knowledge about how to engineer things in the real world – the same usually cannot be said for biomedical engineers.
By no means is it impossible to get an engineering job out of BME undergrad, but it may be a challenge. Most of my BME friends (who didn’t go to grad school) ended up in analyst or consulting type roles within healthcare. Hopefully someone who has a BME degree will chime in. Ultimately, if BME is what you’re passionate about, just go for it.