So I will be majoring in BME in UCI because it contains both of the stuff that I love to explore/do. I don’t plan on going to med school after college. I was just wondering what I can really do only with a BS in BME? I know other websites say like I could work in a research facility/factory/hospital, but with the BS can I go to other country and work there? Im just worried that it might worth it in the end and I might end up regretting not having a MS or majoring in something else like econ or poly sci. Thanks!
My BME advisor told me that if I didn’t want to go to grad school, I should switch to a more traditional major (chemical, mechanical, electrical) for job opportunities. BME undergrad is a little bit of everything but depth in nothing.
At least near UCI there are a lot of jobs for BME. One of my kid knows someone at USC who’s moving to Irvine for BME job. Lots of medical equipment companies.
In my opinion, BME is not a great undergraduate engineering major if you don’t have plans to pursue higher education. It’s kind of a “jack of all trades” major where you don’t come out with the practical engineering skills that every other engineering major includes. If you think about building medical devices, for example, like @DrGoogle referenced, it’s actually electrical and mechanical engineers that have the necessary skills to design and build these devices, under the guidance of someone with a PhD in life sciences.
At my alma mater, nearly half of the BMEs go on to graduate school, while it’s less than 20% for all other engineering majors. The BMEs who go to work right tend to do consulting/analyst type roles, often in a healthcare-related field, which is a great option if that what you’re interested in, but its a little detached from engineering.
Edward Life Sciences even hires just Biology degree. My brother has a friend who is higher up at this company with a biology degree.
^^Yes, the thing is a biology major has taken much more coursework in life sciences than a BME, whose coursework will include a few courses in physics, general engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, advanced calculus, etc. Jack-of-all-trades, which makes the major very useful for a consultant or analyst type role but not so much for a true engineering/scientist role.
Every program is different though, and you may find one that provides enough depth in a particular area to get a foothold in a more scientific career. Internship experience will do this as well, regardless of the major.
Questions about this major are posted a lot here. Somewhere is a long post from a person who majored in BME and we wrote about his take on doing it as an undergrad.
What I remember clearly from his post is that the problem with majoring in BME and thinking that there are so many companies doing medical applications is that “BME has a God, called the FDA.” So companies have to get approval for all their inventions which can take years. This means that medical companies are going to higher the most experience BMEs to help get their inventions thru the process, which is why you need to plan on getting an advanced degree.