<p>I'm currently in my 3rd year of a BE undergrad program and figuring out my grad school plans. Right now, I'm interested in computational bio / bioinformatics. While that may change, I know that I want to work in industry as opposed to academic research. Here's what I can't decide: is it better to go for a PhD or MS in BME? I'm really only concerned with which will provide more job opportunities and freedom to decide where to work. Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>One important factor is that a PhD takes years and years. During that time, of course, you’re not working (real job) or earning money (real money). I’d recommend you work for a few years right out of college. That will help you decide.</p>
<p>I wholly agree with that and working right away is certainly an option I’ve been considering. I’m pretty certain I do want to work in industry based on my experiences of research at school and a summer internship. I guess my concern is whether or not a PhD is worth the time if industry is the goal or if an MS is sufficient to get most positions.</p>
<p>Any other input on the different possible career paths between a phd or ms in bioengineering?</p>
<p>I recently finished my MS in BME, and strongly considered sticking around for a PhD too, but chose to get a job instead. I knew I wanted to work in industry, but (ok maybe this isn’t the most logical thinking) I figured if I could do the PhD, why not? </p>
<p>I found that the MS both helped and (somewhat) hurt me when applying for jobs, and this is worse with the PhD. Obviously you gain much more knowledge about your field from doing graduate work, but you spend much of your time working on research/thesis, and specializing. When I started my job search after my grad school, I was applying for “experienced” positions, but only really had experience in one area, whereas after your BS you can pretty much start anywhere, and you learn on the job. I’m not saying to skip grad school - I think the experience of a MS is very valuable and helpful in applying for jobs, but that the PhD may not be necessary.
With a PhD, you become an expert… but in a very narrow field. There are definitely positions out there leading R&D teams, etc, where having a PhD is necessary, and it can be in an unrelated area. But from my labmates’ experiences, these seem difficult to find.</p>
<p>My suggestion is go for the MS first, and if you’re still interested in the PhD later, you can stick around for that too.</p>
<p>Thank very much for that laurezer. Insight like that is exactly what I’m looking for. Which field did you focus on during your MS and then what types of jobs were you apply for?</p>
<p>I have consistently heard that (especially for engineering) getting a phd makes you very specialized in one field, which can then make finding a job difficult, exactly like you said. But, on the other hand, I keep reading that for BME, the undergrad work isn’t specialized enough, which I can definitely understand after my 3 years in the program. Your story has helped a lot in sorting this out. Thank you.</p>
<p>diss0lve - I entered grad school mostly interested in biomechanics and cardiovascular engineering, but I ended up doing my thesis work in a respiratory physiology and dynamics lab. My job search was actually pretty short, but I mostly looked at BME positions in medical device companies - which is what I do now, in a company that has products in the respiratory field. </p>
<p>I think I definitely had just the right amount of experience - although most of the projects I work on aren’t very similar to my thesis research, the background knowledge I gained about the field made me well qualified for my current position. It also seemed that my classmates were able to find positions in other unrelated fields, but that used special experimental/ lab techniques that they mastered during their research.</p>
<p>I think you’re definitely right about undergrad work not being specialized enough, I felt the same way at graduation, and even more so now. I hope you enjoy grad school!</p>
<p>Quick question. How long should one work before going for a PhD? I’m thinking of working before taking up a physics PhD program so this is an important thing for me…</p>
<p>Thanks again laurezer! Although it seems to change every month, right now I’m interested in biocybernetics / bioinformatics. Unfortunately, there seems to be few MS programs in that area, at least that I can find. So, while still undecided, your input has really helped. If anyone else has any suggestions, I’d love to hear it.</p>