To BME or not to BME

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hello CC community.

I know that there are many threads on this topic, but most of them are outdated, and do not have enough details.

I am majoring in BME, and I am almost halfway through my curriculum. Recently, I started hearing that BME graduates are struggling to find a job. Could anyone who graduated as a biomedical engineer, or know someone who did, tell me how your life was life after graduation. Also, please tell me if your program was accredited or not, and whether you went for Masters after the BS/BE.

Your answers will help me and all the other BME’s that will stumble across this thread in the future.

Thank you

2

You should know better as you are in the program already. It is known that the job market for BME is not very often a Master degree is needed to help finding a job. It is nothing new as I have heard about it more than 2 years ago. Of course, this may change in the future.

3

Also check with your campus placement career center. They will have the most relevant info.

4

To BME, or not to BME–that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of the typical CC Engineering Forum poster
Or to take arms against a sea of old engineers,
who insist I should major in ME or EE and then
only then, earn my masters in BME
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep–
No more–and by a sleep I mean to say sleep,
cause I’ve been cramming for that Orgo Chemistry test since Tuesday
…

5

Sorry for the late reply.

I have done some research, and I have found many companies that hire BME. The problem is that I have been told that these companies prefer someone with EE or ME background over BMEs. That is why I am concerned

6

Can you share some detail of your research? Thanks.

7

I spoke with someone at the University of Maryland Engineering department and she told me that they generally recommend that a Bioengineering student get a computer science minor as a backup, implying that getting a job with a Bioengineering BS is challenging.

8

Most BME students choose the major simply because they want to go to a healthcare professions school (e.g., medical school, dental school). They don’t really have the intention of working as engineers.

If your intention is to work as an engineer, ME, EE, or ChemE are your best bets. Just take some BME courses as technical electives.