Deciding to Become a Biomedical Engineer
Deciding to Become a Biomedical Engineer
(OP)
Hello, I am a high school senior, and I'm trying to decide if I want to become a biomedical engineer. I was thinking about creating devices that help disabled people live normal, (functional) lives. It seems to me that work like that would be really rewarding.
I have a few basic questions:
1) Why types of hours do biomedical engineers have? Can I work part-time? Can I have time to have a family, husband, etc?
2) Is making devices for disabled people a real type of job that I could have or is that type of position not open? (In terms of job-searching)
3) Salary? =)
I have a few basic questions:
1) Why types of hours do biomedical engineers have? Can I work part-time? Can I have time to have a family, husband, etc?
2) Is making devices for disabled people a real type of job that I could have or is that type of position not open? (In terms of job-searching)
3) Salary? =)





RE: Deciding to Become a Biomedical Engineer
For my two cents, though, #1 and #3 are pretty directly related. If you want to be making good money you have to put the time in. I'm sure there are a few opportunities for contract design work but that doesn't seem to be the norm...
For #2, there are certainly companies that just make prosthetics. I think you may be looking for 'Biomechanical' rather than Biomedical, which will at least get you away from the chemistry related things. Honestly you may be better off with a pure Mechanical Engineering degree, you can always take some Bio classes but if you want prosthetics it's mostly mechanisms.
Good luck!
RE: Deciding to Become a Biomedical Engineer
I also get the impression that most of the jobs advertised for biomed graduates involve either repairing broken laboratory instruments or doing technician work for PhDs. Both are honest work, but maybe not what you want. In particular, the PhDs (and MDs) who tell you they're a doctor before telling you their name don't distinguish between technicians and serfs, and think that all engineers are technicians.
If you want to design stuff, you pretty much have to be part of a team. Which is good news, because you don't have to be the entire team, and you can get time off, and the team can include people who insulate you from the worst of the PhDs and MDs.
You have more choices with a less specialized degree.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Deciding to Become a Biomedical Engineer