Biomedical School Advice

<p>Hello, </p>

<p>I am a current undergraduate freshman for Mechanical Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri (formally known as UMR). I am in the process of looking for a school with Biomedical Engineering. I have no specific location that I am looking for, up for any ideas. </p>

<p>My plan is to goto a Biomedical Engineering school with a focus on prosthetics. I want to go for my masters and PhD at a Medical school so that I can work one on one with patients. My end goal is to work with soldiers/veterans that have suffered the loss of one or more limbs and to reasearch prothetics to advance this field. I would like a school that has a strong biomedical engineering background, since this is a newer hybrid field of engineering, it is important to go to a school that has a solid background for this career. I would prefer to go to a school that also has a medical school or close to a medical school. I want a school that is highly accredited for its graduates and presents a multitude of opportunities once graduated. I have the grades and test scores to get into any school (with the possible exception of Ivy League, I'm not sure how my scores compare in those areas. I probably can't afford it either even with Financial aid) </p>

<p>I've searched high and low for options and I'm hoping somebody has some good advice!</p>

<p>Thank you,
Raychel</p>

<p>Georgia Tech is #2 in the nation for BME. Vanderbilt is decent too, which has a great med school. </p>

<p>Johns Hopkins is a top school for BME and located not far from where a lot of prosthetics work is being done, in Bethesda, MD at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. They have rec’d a sizable grant from DARPA to design prosthetics that are neurally controlled and capable of the fine motor skills of the upper body extremities.</p>

<p><a href=“Revolutionizing Prosthetics | Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory”>http://www.jhuapl.edu/prosthetics/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This might not be all that JHU is giving to prosthetics research. Check around. You might also look at other engineering schools nearby Walter Reed and other defense medical facilities where prosthetics work is being done. They would be the most likely candidates for the injection of defense department dollars into prosthetics. The University of Maryland in College Park, for instance, has a neural engineering lab. I don’t know anything about it, but you might check it out and how it is connected to BME </p>

<p><a href=“http://sph.umd.edu/KNES/faculty/jcontrerasvidal/index.html”>http://sph.umd.edu/KNES/faculty/jcontrerasvidal/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Thank you for your interest in serving veterans in this manner. There’s a great need for break-throughs in prosthetics and bioengineers will no doubt lead the way. Expect lots of money to pour into this research over the next quarter century at least as our veterans with prosthetics continue to return to the workforce and encounter new challenges.</p>

<p>why do you need to transfer? biomedE grad schools accept MechE grads. Being a mechE grad gives more options.<br>
what would be missing as a mechE grad? </p>

<p>what can you afford? transfers often get lousy aid.</p>

<p>well, mom2, the OP might want to know a little bit about, for instance, neural chemistry before graduating.</p>

<p>Hello @Raycheldawn, at one point my son was very interested in prosthetics also. He had the opportunity to speak with a close family friend who happens to be leading prosthetist. My son was quite surprised to hear the opinion of this prosthetist. He highly recommended Cal State Dominguez Hills. TBH CSDH would never have been on son’s radar if he hadn’t met this prosthetist. Maybe worth checking out? Best!
<a href=“Our apologies”>http://www4.csudh.edu/health-science/oandp/index&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><<<<
well, mom2, the OP might want to know a little bit about, for instance, neural chemistry before graduating.</p>

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<p>that may be so, but does the current school offer anything similar…it is a techie school. sometimes the courses have different names or are found in other depts (bio, chem, engg) some schools may not offer a particular major, but do offer some courses. and, if not, and it isnt feasible to transfer cost-wise, then sometimes when accepted to grad school, the grad school allows students to take those courses.<br>
since most schools do not offer biomedE, the grad schools readily accept mechE and chemE students into biomed engg grad programs. </p>

<p>the student could also look into taking such courses on another campus over the summer.</p>

<p>I dont want the student to think he/she has to transfer just because the current school doesnt have biomedE. If it is possible, then fine. it is just so hard for students who need aid to transfer these days.</p>

<p>I’m in complete sympathy with your point of view about money, but I’m not so sure an ME gets the same grounding in biology or physiology that a BME does. Sure, there might be an elective there an ME can take in neuro, but will the ME have had the background in biology or physiology to take the neuro course? I don’t know enough about ME to say.</p>