<p>Hi,
this post will probably seem stupid to many people, but I'm for some reason sitting here contemplating life at 1 in the morning.
I'm going to Duke for a degree in biomedical engineering starting next year and was wondering what options I would have after completion of this. I would like to do medical research at some point, for a university or hospital but was told that firstly this requires a PHD and seconldy there isn't much money there. I'm not a greedy person, I live in a very very average house, but would like to make an alright amount of money, mainly because I need to pay off this Duke education at somepoint. Honestly though, what are my options after undergraduate school and what kind of money should I expect to make. Honestly, money is not all I think about I'm just curious how this is all going to work out - i'm kind of stressed out right now It seems like I'm going to be poor and in college until 35, which seems hard for me as an 18 year old who thought marriage and adult life would start at more of a 25 year old life, you know? I'm not quite suer how people go to 9 more years of school after high school and put off marriage and such. Well, any advice would be great so I can relax, ahah thanks</p>
<p>Well, you don't have to wait until you're done with grad school to get married... plenty of grad students are married.</p>
<p>alright, but beyond the marriage part of my post, what oppurtunities could i pursue postgraduate</p>
<p>Haha, sorry. That was somewhat pedantic of me.</p>
<p>Medical or academic research probably does require a PhD, but it's not like you'll be destitute if you pursue that track. Researchers in academia aren't rich (unless they're professors at prestigious schools, in which case I'm not sure if they're rich per se, but they do often drive flashy cars).</p>
<p>I'm not sure how much this helps, but a professor of mine once spent a whole lecture on "what you're getting into by majoring in biology" (<a href="http://web.mit.edu/mollieb/Public/degree.pdf)%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/mollieb/Public/degree.pdf)</a>. Hopefully it's at least somewhat applicable to BME.</p>
<p>thanks a lot for your help,
anybody else, particulary bme majors, with advice I would much appreciate it</p>
<p>i am majoring in bme this fall at Boston U. if you want to make decent money , you MUST pursue grad school. after grad school, if you go join a company with a starting salary of say 75k a year, in 6-7yrs time, you'll be making a lot of money. but that's the industry side. since you want to do research, which is btw myplan too, you should start working after MS,probably as an associate teacher at your grad school and at the same time pursue your phd. once you have your PHD, you'll be perfectly allright!</p>
<p>bruno, thanks for your input, what sort of jobs would you do in industry, and would you have time for phd/teaching? Both of your options make me feel much better haha so any more information would be lovely. Thanks</p>
<p>so bruno which focus within BME r u planning to do?
imaging, devices, etc...?</p>
<p>what kind of money woudl you make as an associate teacher and how much longer would it take to complete your phd. After receiving a PHD how much would you expect to make?</p>
<p>unggio, i am interested in cell and tissue engineering. but since BU does not require me to chose a concentration for the undergrad program, i haven't given it much thought.</p>
<p>benndaman, in industry, you can join phramacuetical companies and do research privately for the pharma company you're working for. and that's highly paying. research can include making drugs, health care solutions, so many things. as an associate teacher you can make 60k a year but you might have to reach associate prof level only after you serve as an assistant teacher first, whose salary would be something like 45-50k/yr. Phd can take 2-4 years. after your phd, you can expect to make more than 100k a year.</p>
<p>would it be extremely demanding to be an assistant teacher and pursue a phd?</p>
<p>i don't think so coz being a teacher you'll be immersed in academics such that it might aid your PHD.</p>
<p>The link to the Biology lecture at MIT is misspelled.
here is the correct link: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/mollieb/Public/degree.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/mollieb/Public/degree.pdf</a></p>
<p>Eep, it's my own pdf, you would think I could get the link right.</p>
<p>Sorry to anyone who got confused due to me sucking.</p>
<p>Mollie, are you sure full professors make 160,000 $ a year at top schools?</p>
<p>That seems like a little high for teaching and research. I would have thought they made around 100K.</p>
<p>Well, I've been told that some of the figures given in that lecture are a little variable, so definitely don't take them as gospel.</p>
<p>I think the professor giving the lecture was speaking from his own experience/the experience professors at MIT... I'm not sure if salaries are extremely variable between institutions and regions of the country, but it wouldn't surprise me.</p>