<p>Should one major in Biophysics or Biomed. Engr. for undergrad (to get into Biomed. research - particularly things like tissue engineering / drug delivery) ? I do plan on going to grad school. Would Biophysics BS then Biomed. Engr. MS be possible/best? However...I believe I have both the time and funds to be able to pull off majoring in both Biophysics + Biomed. Engr. because I have all general eds. out of the way. Would that be an idea worth looking into?</p>
<p>Biophys and BME are next to nothing alike in their goals. You should explore a broader context before you delve into either as they are more specialized fields that make it more difficult for you to go into a broader field in grad school if you do pursue either.</p>
<p>I would agree that biophysics and BME are two wayyy different fields. Both BME and biophysics are very interdisciplinary, so you can enter into grad programs from a more traditional field.</p>
<p>For biophysics, the more traditional route is to get a BS in physics or biochemistry and then move on to biophysics in graduate school. I also hear of people from math, CS, and bioengineering (someone I know personally) backgrounds entering biophysics grad programs. If you’ll look around at different biophysics grad programs, you’ll see that they are very lenient when it comes to undergraduate preparation. Often, biophysics programs are found in the biochemistry or even biology departments but probably more often in physics. Biophysics programs found in the physics departments tend to be much more strict as far as undergrad preparation and basically require a BS in physics.</p>
<p>BME is similar in that it is very interdisciplinary and people will enter BME grad programs from all different fields of engineering. With this being said, you will basically need a BS engineering of some sort to make it into a BME program. You will sometimes see math, physics, or even biology (usually double in math) enter a BME program but it is MUCH more rare.</p>
<p>As far as tissue engineering goes, this is much more common in BME than biophysics. Although some subfields may overlap between the two, at the end of the day the focus is completely different. BME focuses on using math, biology, physics, and engineering principles to come up with novel techniques/products for use in the medical field. They are engineers who are doing research in order to come up with products/techniques/instrumentation that will improve people’s way of life. Instrumentation is very important in all BME research. The EE side of things maybe focused on BioMEMS, bioelectricity, photonics/imaging, brain-computer interfacing, etc. The more ME focused subfields include prosthesis/biomechanics, mechatronics, cardiovascular research. The ChemE research focuses more on biotransport, biomaterials interfacing, TISSUE ENGINEERING, cell/molecular engineering.</p>
<p>Biophysics on the other hand is a scientific endeavor. Learning for the sake of scientific discovery and not necessarily looking for a direct application to anything. Biophysics research can be more theoretical or applied, but basically they are looking to find physical/mathematical relationships in biological systems. This includes finding mathematical models of how proteins fold themselves or how cells naturally aggregate. Another distinction from BME is that biophysics is NOT necessarily medically focused. Some subfields of biophysics include single molecular biophysics, structural biophysics, and computational biophysics. Each of these has it’s own nuances but Biophysics research tends to be centered at a smaller scale than BME in general. An example would be optical tweezers… Biophysicists are now able to control and “grab” individual molecules using light. Biophysicists discover new things about biological systems and Bioengineers/BME use this knowledge to make something useful.</p>
<p>Perhaps I worded badly…I don’t know.</p>
<p>I’ve already considered all points posted…but thanks anyway.</p>
<p>Biophysics is an undergrad major at my school. Maybe not exactly ‘biophysics’ but it is Physics with biophysics as concentration.</p>
<p>I am interested in cellular processes. As well as things like drug delivery / tissue engineering. I have noticed that Chem. Eng. does drug delivery / tissue eng. too but I’m hesitant in taking that. I don’t care for a few classes in the curriculum. They deal with reactor design / petrochemical stuff (you know, the fuel stuff, like fuel processes). I don’t care for working for an oil company. I guess alternative energy wouldn’t bother me but I still like biological stuff more (please don’t bring in algae fuels or whatever, that’s not what I mean 
)</p>
<p>I also don’t understand ‘traditional’ engineering. I don’t see any of them as ‘traditional.’ Really they are all just offsets of Physics. So if something were to be traditional engineering…it’s Physics. After all, all ancient ‘engineers’ were…Physicists.</p>
<p>Plus, I already said I will go to Grad School. So I don’t see how majoring in BME will hinder anything. </p>
<p>I’m asking…what would be the best route on undergrad for later doing research in medicine / drug deliver / cells / tissues? BME or Physics (Biophysics)? There’s also Electronic and Optics concentrations in Physics at my school.
Do Physics undergrad then BME grad? I’ve seen this done by more than one person.
Or attempt to dual major in both Physics and BME? I think I did mention I already have a lot of credits and will have some time and the funds to potentially accomplish both. It’s just a matter of scheduling correctly, and then studying appropriately xD.</p>
<p>Also…I like science and math more than any other subject, as well as finding things out.</p>
<p>AND…this is a matter of what topics I like. I’ve looked at Electrical Eng. for example and skimmed some popular textbooks. It didn’t excite. It appears I favor biological concepts the most. The only major I’d probably consider out of BME or Physics is Chem Eng. and that’s only if I can avoid petrochemical type classes. I know I’d be bored to bits and not learn a thing (because I don’t care 
).</p>
<p>Sometimes, you simply have to take a choice that might not be ideal, but is good enough because you get all but a few things you want.
There’s nothing stopping you from taking ChemE classes and never making use of the stuff you weren’t fond of, if that’s your only problem. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to you for other reasons, but if that’s your only problem, you should really just accept it as a very good compromise.</p>
<p>Are you saying Chem E. is the most beneficial choice even though I’d truly dislike a few classes?</p>
<p>It might be. Most schools allow you to go towards a bio-oriented path with ChemE, and ChemE naturally has a lot to do with physics. You certainly do have to study reactors/processing, but if it’s only 2-4 classes or so, it might just be best to take those classes, do your best, and never go into a field where you have to use them.
If the biochemical side is your favorite, then ChemE is a choice you should seriously consider. It’s an established enough field to give you a strong engineering foundation for BME/Biophys in grad school.</p>
<p>The more ‘traditional’ engineering programs are mechanical/aerospace, electrical, civil, materials, and chemical. Biomedical Engineering is relatively new and some consider it a bit ‘lighter’ in mathematics than the others. If you look at Biomedical Engineering faculty, they often come form other backgrounds, such as Physics, Chemical Engineering and Electrical Engineering so if you plan to go to a graduate program in BME, then any of those majors should be OK.</p>
<p>The question of choosing between Physics and Engineering is really a question of what you like best. Since you are not planning on getting a job as an Engineer after your B.S. then choose the program that is most interesting to you and the one which permits you to take the courses you want as electives.</p>
<p>I think you’re making up your mind way too early about what you want to do research in for grad school. You should maybe do some research in these labs that work in tissue engineering/drug delivery. You’ll learn a lot of it isn’t what you expect and MOST of it actually is just for novel academic purposes rather than any true application. </p>
<p>Honestly speaking two things you should consider is going from a pure science major into an engineering graduate school an easier transition than vice versa as engineernig majors IN HALF are designed to prepare you for industry and the real world rather than academia (grad school). </p>
<p>Secondly, tissue engineering as a field has become relatively stagnant and the only real person that does that is Bob Langer at MIT. Drug delivery as a whole is just a huge novelty field that has not produced any real results nor has any real high impact science been done in quite some time. Science (especially research in engineering) is like that, hot trends move in waves and right now in undergrad all the “cool” research topics you see will be about some kind of bioengineering or drug delivery what not. However, I do not think you are qualified to make such conclusions. MOST people I have talked to with a BME background in undergrad say they end up going to grad school as jacks of all trade but masters of none, and then in their specific field they know nothing in-depth.</p>
<p>I highly suggest you either join some of these labs to find out more about what they’re bragging about doing and if it’s actually doable, or learn more subjects in general because from what you’re saying it seems to me as you like bio-related fields more just because it seems to be a “new”-er kind of engineering. </p>
<p>If you like physics or math, just major in physics and math, that will never hurt you. On the other hand majoring in any engineering will orient you more towards applicable science which does not translate to the same kind of engineering you will learn in graduate school.</p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<p>I was not suggesting doing a more “traditional” type of engineering for undergrad, I was only telling you that many that go into BME tend to come from other backgrounds. I too am more interested in biological processes/phenomenon and so I decided to major in Biological engineering. Although I’m still working on my degree, I don’t regret it at all because all of the classes are very interesting to me. If you are going to graduate school anyway, then I would say that it doesn’t matter too much whether you choose BME or physics for undergrad. With BME, you will be taking classes that are more geared towards what you will want to do in grad school than physics. In physics, you will be taking classes like E&M, quantum mechanics, and classical mechanics which may or may not be helpful to you in grad school based on your interests in tissue engineering. If you are dead set on tissue engineering then I would suggest BME.</p>