Masters/Phd???
Masters/Phd???
(OP)
I recently graduated in Mechanical Engineering and I am currently employed for 1 year in research of intra-operative forces during spine surgery. I want to get into the bioengineering area and am considering returning to school to do either a Masters or a Phd. However I am unsure as to which is more beneficial. I would like to get into research in the biomedical industry but have no information as to what level of qualification is required. I have heard from some sources that I would need at least a masters to do this, but the opportunity has arisen for me whereby I can do either a Masters or Phd. Any ideas would be grateful.
Thanks in advance
MF
Thanks in advance
MF





RE: Masters/Phd???
RE: Masters/Phd???
RE: Masters/Phd???
As an engineer who occasionally gets to interview applicants I very rarely find a PhD who would not have been better off financially, and, frankly, career-wise, working rather than staying at uni. There are exceptions.
I can see the point in doing a Masters if you are moving into an area that your original degree missed, if you are not confident of being able to pick it up on the fly. (as a mechie with more electrical and electronic stuff in production than mechanical bits I for one would be tempted to wing it).
Cheers
Greg Locock
RE: Masters/Phd???
Yours,
Disgruntled Masters
RE: Masters/Phd???
Biomed would have been my choice many years ago if I weren't so impatient to get on with my career.
RE: Masters/Phd???
Try to decide whether the areas of work that you are interested in will actually receive enough funding to make it worth your while. I completed the Bioengineering MSc at the University of Strathclyde in the UK (1991) but didn't follow through to work in the field because work in the bioengineering field was more limited than I had thought.
I certainly think that you have gone the right way about it (ie engineering before the bio side) Doctors who took the same course I did struggled with the maths/structures and fluid flow requirements. Courses that you look at should include material on biocompatability / biomaterials since this is the main thing you will not have picked up in your mech eng course. The flow/structures/biomechanics problems should be reasonably accessible to you.
Regarding whether to study a PhD or MSc...probably won't make a lot of difference to salary but then the people that I know who have finished their doctorates were generally altruistic about money etc.
No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary - William of Occam
RE: Masters/Phd???
What would I suggest? Work on the PhD but if it is possible to obtain a masters along the way do so. Apply for jobs and see what happens. The economy should be improving soon I would hope.
RE: Masters/Phd???
In the end the M.S. is definitely worth obtaining because it will make you stand out from the rest of the hiring pool, and it will provide you with a substantial increase in salary over someone with just a B.S. degree. Unless you are certain that you want to pursue a career in pure research or want to teach at the college level, the Ph.D. is probably not worth earning. I have a Ph.D., and the comment that I hear more than 90% of the time from potential employers is, "You're overqualified for the job". The Ph.D. will close many more doors than it will open, so you will have far fewer job opportunities than you will have with a Masters. It will also not increase your earning power very much over a Masters Degree, and unless you have some contacts that can get you in the door with your Ph.D., you'll end up like a starving artist wondering where you went wrong.
Fortunately, I hope to teach at the college level on a full time basis at some point in my career. But finding that job is difficult too because of Affirmative Action policies. And if you plan on getting a research position in an academic setting, you will likely run into that problem as well. Good luck.
maui
RE: Masters/Phd???
RE: Masters/Phd???
RE: Masters/Phd???
I m currently applying the part time MSc now as I am currently working. I will decide to study the PhD or not later after I obtain a MSc first. Good luck to you.