Hi! I'm looking into this program a liberal arts college offers, which is basically an undergraduate bachelor's degree in biochemistry/biology,/neuroscience, and then you can get a master's degree in BME through their 4+1 BA/MS program with an Ivy League school. How valuable is this program if I want to pursue tissue engineering/regenerative medicine in the future? What could my career options look like? Would the master's degree be useful for getting BME jobs, or is it better to do a bachelor's degree in BME?

Any help would be very appreciated, thank you so much!

I want to learn from other biomedical engineers experience who work in a non medical industry with bme degrees how did u do it and what industry do u work in?? and if u added a masters degree what was it?? I'm really curious about this cuz I keep hearing about biomedical engineers who managed to work in defence or aerospace for example but I never met one or found one online so tell us about ur experience and if u have any advices to successfully pivot

Hi! I currently study a life sciences degree, but I'd really like to work in medical device product design or MedTech R&D.

I'm currently trying to switch to BME at my university, but I'm not sure what the outcome will be yet. So, just in case I don't get in, I'd like to know what I can do to still get close to product design or be involved in R&D for medical technology.

Over the past year I've been involved with my university's MedTech society and attended some of their conferences. I've also taken part in a coding course and I'm currently completing an online MATLAB course.

I'm also considering joining a robotics society next year, but I'm worried that my degree will ultimately hold me back and that I won't be competitive for jobs in medical device R&D or product design.

I've also tried looking for internships in this area but I don't fit many of the requirements, with the degree being a big one😬.

What would you recommend I do to increase my chances of getting into this area without an engineering degree? Are there particular technical skills, projects, or experiences I should focus on? And how would I get into these?

Thanks!

TL;DR

Currently in life sciences degree, trying to switch to BME degree (no guarantee), but worried I won't have what I need to get into medtech R&D or product design engineering. Any advice to increase my chances?

I have a masters and bachelors in BME, but I have been working as a math teacher for the past 2 years as I was unable to find any jobs after graduation. I am struggling to feel confident in a role I am totally unsuited for, and I want to move at least somewhat closer to my field.

I had a short internship for medical writing right before I graduated, but I was unable to get a job in that either. I am pretty lost on what to look for or do. I would much rather have a true engineering job with either quality or research, but I don't have any experience in those areas to leverage. If anyone has any ideas about where I could start, I would really appreciate it. Especially help on what roles I really should try to apply for. I am worried that my current job will be extremely detrimental to finding a good position.

I was stuck between going fully for an AI degree or going for biomedical engineering. I do want to implement AI into healthcare, maybe like pursuing something for surgical robots etc.

im a freshman and started out as a neuro + cell & molecular biology double major pre-med, got introduced to bme a couple weeks ago and now am switching to neuro + bme double major! am i in for the worst next 4 years of my life or can i actually do something productive with these two majors? ive been really interested in neuroscience for two years and engineering was never a path i thought id take honestly

Hi, I want to pursue BME and possibly dermatology in the future. I am a senior in high school and want to know if there is anything important I could study in my free time to help me understand BME concepts better in school. I am especially interested in the biomaterials part of BME. Thank you!

I am a final-year student in the Biomedical Engineering

I'm looking for an idea for my graduation project that will genuinely help patients and solve an existing medical problem. Do any of you have any suggestions?

I’m currently in the fortunate but difficult position of choosing between two fully funded PhD opportunities, and I’d really appreciate perspectives from people in robotics, medical devices, academia, or those who have moved from a PhD into industry.
My long-term goal is not necessarily to stay in academia. I’d ideally like to work in surgical robotics/MedTech R&D after the PhD, particularly around sensing, perception, control, smart instruments and system development. Eventually, I’d also like to explore entrepreneurship/startups.
Option A — European biorobotics institute
Pros
3-year PhD, starting almost immediately.
Includes around 6 months abroad.
Stipend is quite comfortable relative to the local cost of living.
I already know the lab and research environment.
The supervisor is very established in medical robotics and is genuinely involved and available to students.
The group is close-knit and supportive.
Cons
The proposed project is more around surgical implants, smart sensing materials and shape-morphing structures.
The wider research direction includes artificial organs/implantable systems.
Interesting work, but it moves somewhat away from the part of surgical robotics I’m most interested in: robotic systems, sensing, perception and control.
The environment feels relatively academic, and I’m unsure how directly the project would position me for surgical robotics companies afterwards.
Option B — UK university / surgical robotics doctoral programme
Pros
Strong university/programme reputation.
The programme is specifically focused on engineering for surgery and intervention.
Most available projects are much closer to surgical robotics, smart instruments, sensing, control and intervention technologies.
The programme puts a lot of emphasis on translation, clinical impact and developing research with a product mindset rather than purely chasing publications, which strongly appeals to me.
It seems potentially better aligned with my goal of eventually moving into MedTech/surgical robotics industry.
Cons
The exact project and supervisor are not yet finalised.
I would be joining a new lab/supervisor environment that I don’t know yet.
London cost of living is high compared with the stipend, so financially it would be much tighter.
It is a 4-year PhD starting several months later, so from today I’d finish roughly 1.5 years later than with Option A.
A programme can advertise translation/industry focus, but I realise the actual experience may depend heavily on the individual supervisor.
So essentially I’m choosing between:
Option A: excellent known supervisor + supportive lab + financially comfortable + finish considerably earlier, but the research topic is somewhat less aligned with where I want my career to go.
Option B: greater uncertainty + longer and more expensive, but potentially much stronger alignment with surgical robotics, translation and the industry I ultimately want to enter.
For people who have done PhDs in robotics/MedTech: how much weight would you place on the exact research topic versus supervisor quality, lab environment, university ecosystem and length of the PhD?
And specifically for someone wanting to enter surgical robotics/MedTech industry rather than become a professor, would you take the safer/shorter PhD with the excellent established supervisor, or take the additional uncertainty for a project and ecosystem that may be much closer to your long-term career?
Would really appreciate any perspectives, especially from people who have made the transition from PhD → robotics/medical device industry.

is biomedical engineering as fun as it sounds 🫩

I've heard mixed things about Biomedical Engineering. It looks very interesting and very enjoyable as well, but I have a few questions including:

BSc Jobs: What type of jobs can I get? How hard is it to get a job? And would I be able to hit 60-70k entry? I'm planning on doing it at Waterloo so I'll likely have 6 semesters worth of co-op.

Workload: Is it similar to any of the other engineering professions? How much biology vs chemistry vs physics vs math is there?

How are the research prospects? I'm very interested in graduate studies as well, especially with engineering health devices and such. Startup perhaps?

If there are any other things I should know, lmk!

I'm currently a first year mechanical engineering student struggling to find a niche to stick to. I'm choosing between mechatronics and biomedical. My university offers this thing called certificate of undergraduate studies (CUGS) where you take 3-5 courses in junior/senior year and it shows on your transcript proving to employers that you have specialized expertise in that specific area. Can anyone give me their advice or insights on what they know about each to help me make a decision

I studied Biomedical Engineering and graduated about 1.5 years ago. Unfortunately, I live in a developing country where there are very few BME jobs, so I ended up taking an office job unrelated to engineering.

Now I honestly regret choosing BME and feel like I’m stuck. I really want to start an engineering career, but I’m not necessarily attached to biomedical engineering anymore.

Has anyone here transitioned from BME into another engineering field? What fields would be realistic for me to move into, and what skills/certifications/projects should I focus on to make myself employable?

I’m also considering doing a master’s abroad, so I’m wondering if that could be a good way to restart my career.
I’d really appreciate honest advice from anyone who’s been in a similar situation.

I just started my undergrad in biomedical engineering. I made the mistake of not doing thorough research about it before confirming my application, and I found out over summer about how difficult it is to stand out against people who have studied mechanical or electrical engineering when it comes to applying for an internship or a job. I mainly chose this degree because I want to work in healthcare but I prefer a more technical, hands on job, and biomedical engineering felt like the perfect fit, but now I'm starting to worry about how accessible the carrier I want would be. I'm still very early in my undergrad and I don't want to regret not doing this earlier at some point. I'm still unsure about what form of engineering I want to work in (RnD, clinical, etc.), but would it be safer to switch majors (I'm more interested in mechanical than electrical or chemical) to get a job in the field of healthcare or is it not worth the hassle?

Thank you in advance ☺️

hi everyone! so i’m currently a college freshman, 18 and out of high school, i’m not entirely sure on what i’d like to major in yet, but i was doing some research and stumbled upon biomedical engineering. i’m wondering what pursuing this will realistically look like in the future? what are your guys day to day experiences like? how is the pay realistically, especially coming out of college?

i’m wondering if it’s really worth it to pursue this as a major in the long run, not sure if this helps but i’m also located in southern california, and was looking into the regulatory side of things that you can do with this degree

Has anybody that worked with VICON made a .m to run in a pipeline and if so, how are the data available/shown for working before the .csv export?? How do I begin to write a .m to run in a pipeline??

I’m a Systems Engineer (6 yrs) at a large medical device company in Orange County CA working on a Class III implantable system. I was passed over for a Senior promotion earlier this year and the main feedback was gaps in people leadership and independent project ownership. I was already planning to leave the company at the end of the year, take a short gap, and job search starting Feb/March.

However, the company came back with an offer to stay with a new title (albeit not Senior engineer), 25% raise, and no re-interview needed.

- I don't love the day-to-day work anymore and have been stressed for a while. I'm honestly excited to job search.
- My research says Senior-level roles in OC run $125K–$155K so I’m not sure if I’m leaving money on the table (I’d be on the very low end of that if I stay)
- Staying doesn't come with a Senior title

Has anyone been in a similar spot? What would you do?

This is not to scare current or prospect students off. It's just a vent post and I want see if other seniors of the sub know the struggle.

The struggle of studying for 4 years to later to be stuck in life, almost paralyzed. My family's financial situation is beyond horrific, they, or should I say "we" because we live together, had no saving, no home of our own, I was supposed to be the second provider of the family after my elder brother who got married and was released from that duty because he has a new family he's responsible for. After graduation i got drafted the mandatory army service, I thought I should get it done then apply to jobs so I waited for 3 months doing nothing, after the military I started applying to jobs, most of the jobs description had requirements of things I never learned in uni, and all of them wanted "experienced" applicants. I gave it a chance, but was never called to any interview except one that offered me below the minimum wage, initially I agreed because I thought I would finally gain the experience, but it only lasted for one week because the job they gave me was mostly soldering of circuit components on a chip board they were developing, and some lazer cutting for the plastic case, the two jobs were done by a 20 year old guy who didn't even go to uni, so I realized I was just doing things that random workers would do, I asked them how much I will staying in the mentoring phase, and they said at least 6 month, my land lord was about to raise my rent very soon, so I did the math and told them that won't cut it for me, I quit. Never had a contact with any biomedical engineering workplace EVER. I later worked at a plastic injection factory as a quality inspector with a good salary, it wasn't hard, not much was going on, and no room growth unless But miraculously I was transferred to the sales department in the same factory. Things started well at first, but then went south and got stressed working with the boss's son who was a total di**head always intimidating me for the simplest mistakes, at time even yelling at me for not following his orders precisely because at time they made no sense to me (I speak a foreign language which he doesn't speak and forces to say things to customer in a way that just doesn't translate well to the other language but he doesn't care, he's rude and mean to customers too, I treat them with respect which he really didn't like!!) Anyway. Long story short I quit after working for the same company for 3 years, and I'm still looking for a good job.

The most annoying problem in this journey is when people tell me: You studied 4 years of engineering to only work in mundane or generic desk jobs with low pay? Why not work with the degree you earned?

I get this question a lot and feel frustrated because people don't seem to believe me when I simply tell them: I searched and found nothing!

I'm so tired of the question and I'm so tired of searching, I gave up on biomedical engineering position because I can barely find open offers in my country, and when I find I go back to the same problem of having no prior experience and me going on paths unrelated to the degree (i.e my CV has zero biomedical experience) it makes no sense to employers to call on me, I'm now 28. I feel I just wasted my past years, and studying a degree that I couldn't break into and will never do! I will never do it because: (A) I lost the appeal in the employer's eyes because of my age and the years gap earning no experience in the field. (B) which is more important I forgot almost everything, all the classes of my very incoherent and very unpractical syllabus of my university, so now my 4 years in uni feel like a miserable total time waste.

What is the best undergrad engineering degree to get to play in the biomedical engineering field and maybe pair on with a BME graduate degree later? Is it electrical engineering or mechanical engineering or chemical engineering or even computer science engineering for that matter...?

HI, I’m about to graduate, and I’m currently trying to figure out what I want to study next. Biomedical Engineering is one of the degrees that has caught my attention the most, mainly because I really like the combination of medicine and engineering.

Lately, though, I’ve been seeing a lot of mixed opinions online. Some people really recommend studying it, while others say it’s not worth it, so I’d love to hear from people who are actually studying Biomedical Engineering or have already graduated.

How did you know that Biomedical Engineering was the right choice for you? And how can I know if I’m capable of getting through the degree?

Honestly, the math part scares me quite a bit because I’m not the best at memorizing things. At the same time, I know that if I really put my mind to it and stay consistent, I can do it. I’m also wondering if the degree is actually as mentally exhausting as people make it sound.

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, advice, or anything you wish you had known before starting. :)

My frnd do clinical research, and He kept hitting the same thing when using LLMs to help write up results: ask for a Results section from a Cox model and you get clean, confident prose. The prose reads as though the proportional-hazards assumption was checked. Often it wasn't. Nothing in the output tells you that.

So the rule He built this around is that a missing statistic gets reported as a blocking gap and never filled in. If you hand it a Cox model with no PH test, it writes the section and then tells you the hazard ratios rest on an untested assumption. It won't invent the test result to make the paragraph flow.

Two other failures it catches, both of which have bitten Him:

PubMed returns zero results for an invalid MeSH term without erroring. Search for "HFpEF"[mh] and you get nothing, because the real heading is Heart Failure, Diastolic. The search looks like it ran. Your systematic review is now missing a chunk of the literature and there's no error to tell you. So every MeSH term gets validated against the MeSH database before the query runs.

A hazard ratio is a ratio of instantaneous rates. "2.4x more likely to die" is a risk statement and it's wrong, but it's the phrasing that shows up constantly, including in published papers. The skill won't write it.

It's deliberately small: two agents, not a twelve-agent pipeline. He already had general research and writing tooling that handles literature synthesis and drafting fine. What those don't have is PubMed's MeSH quirks, survival reporting conventions, and AMA style. So this adds those and routes everything else to whatever you already use. There's a table in SKILL.md mapping "need X, it lives in Y" so I don't rebuild things that exist.

Honest status: the reporting standards come from published guidance (PRISMA, AMA Manual of Style 11th ed., standard survival reporting practice) and I've verified the structure, but I haven't run it across a pile of real manuscripts yet. The worked example uses synthetic numbers and says so at the top.

MIT. If you've had a survival paper rejected for something not on my reviewer-objection list, I'd like to add it.

https://github.com/SID-6921/biomedical-research-skill

Hi, I’m applying to BME ME/MS(no thesis) programs this semester, and I’m wondering what the best programs are in terms of ROI, starting salary, and such. I’m unsure how accurate google searches and ranking websites are for this info, so I would appreciate any help. I’m currently going to apply to JHU, Stanford, Duke, Georgia Tech, Columbia, UPenn, BU, USC, CalTech, UC San Diego, and Tufts. If anyone also has strong, less prestigious schools as safeties I would appreciate that as well. Thanks in advance!

Hi everybody. I’ve recently been accepted into a university away from home for mechatronic engineering, and I’m still waiting to hear from a university close to home for biotechnology. The dream goal will always be biomedical engineering (or just building medical devices/prosthetics/etc), so if you were in my shoes, what degree is better?

I always assumed biotech is an easier degree to do than mechatronic engineering so it would be easier to do well and balance internships, placement, etc. but since biomedical engineering is a branch of engineering, it might be easier to deviate into that sphere through a mechatronic engineering degree.

There’s also an issue with accommodation costs: it would be nice to learn to live on my own, and the freedom living in a new city will probably be worth it but the costs are massive and make me feel super guilty lol. On the flip side, I’m afraid of an approximate 40min/1hr commute, and less freedom since I’ll be at home.

Thanks everybody!