r/BiomedicalEngineers

A lot of us applied to research programs this year—some were accepted, some were waitlisted, and many were rejected.
One thing I realized during the application process is that there isn’t really a place where students interested in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering can stay connected after everything is over.
So I decided to create BioBridge — a small, completely free, student-led WhatsApp community.
The goal isn’t networking for the sake of networking.
It’s simply to:
• discuss research papers,
• share research opportunities,
• ask questions,
• exchange ideas,
• and support each other’s research journeys.
Whether you were accepted to a program, rejected, or you’re just starting to explore research, you’re welcome.
If you’re interested in joining, comment “Interested” below or send me a DM, and I’ll send you the WhatsApp invitation link.
I’d love to build a community of curious students from around the world. 🧬🌍

Hi I am 18f. I am at the point where I need to choose which degree to major in. I want to eventually get into biomedical engineering bit I am confused after seeing the different degrees.

1)Electrical and Computer Engineering

2)Electronics and Communications Engineering

3)Electrical and Electronics Engineering

4)Biomedical Engineering

I understand that electronics and communication engineering may not be the most suitable but at the same time worried if choosing electrical and electronics engineering will restrict me. At the same time am not sure if I should specialise in my undergrad.

Are there any courses or electives I should look for in the courses in particular? or will it really make a difference which degree I take?

I am a 2nd year biomedical student still didn't figure out what should be learnt before I complete my degree so that I could land well settled company. And to be mentioned am I cse group student in school i had the interest learn something in every stages of my life. Please drop your guidance messages.New to reddit too 🙃

I’m a Junior in highschool and trying to figure out what to major in. I want to go to Stanford if that info is of any use. I want to hear from people currently majoring in Biomedical Engineering and people already in the workforce. I don’t know if I’ll like it but I somewhat enjoy physics and I want to go into engineering of some sort. So should I? What are y’all’s experiences?

Hi everyone! I was curious from everyone’s experiences what companies in med tech provided the best work/life balance with good pay (six figures) to keep in mind when recruiting as a new grad. I understand that BME might not have many offers for six figures as a new grad like comp sci might but was just curious!!

please any help is much appreciated!! I'm a rising hs senior, and I feel like I'm in the middle of a crisis rn. I always thought I wanted to become a doctor and then pursue medical research/academia from there, but now I feel like I wouldn't want to go through so much school to get started in research. I started to look into BME, and it seemed like a decent major that I could do while pursuing pre-med (so I could have an option of doing one or the other), but now I'm hearing people say that its a bad idea, since it lowers my chances of getting into a good medical school, and that the job market for BME isn't that great right now. To what extent is this true?

I really don't know what I want anymore, and am just hoping to get into a good school where I can explore my options, but also feel like time is closing in on me.

Hello everyone, I'm a biomedical engineering Masters student pursuing my masters degree in Germany, i did my bachelor's in mechanical engineering, honestly i feel stuck now with the growing competition I'm finding it really hard to make an entry into the job market, also I'm confused about which paths should i take, currently the only thing that comes to my mind is the bio medical equipment designing and analysis sector which uses cad softwares thus aligning with my mechanical engineering back ground, it would be really helpful if someone already working in the industry could give me some insights regarding the paths i can consider to make use of my mechanical engineering background along with my biomedical masters degree inorder for me to tailor a unique profile, thanks in advance

so i'll soon enter university and study BME at Hong Kong. i want to buy a new laptop in a couple days but i don't have firm decision yet on which to choose...

my programme features courses such as bioinstrumentation, cell & tissue engineering, medical tech, biomedical robotics, etc.

i've been eyeing on lenovo thinkpad, msi, and huawei mattebook lately.

please let me know the best recommended laptops for me to use! thanks

I am in high-school atm and looking to get into bio med.i am strong in math bio and physics but I don't enjoy chemistry at all,bme seems to be perfect for me but people here say that it is useless and jobs prefer engineers or electrical engineers over bme.i would also be studying in the uae if that changes things

Body:
Hey everyone, I’m feeling pretty stuck in my career right now and could really use some honest advice.

My background:
I have a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and an M.S. in Data Science. During my master’s, I realized I’m not actually interested in coding-heavy or pure data science roles.

Right now, I work at a clinical diagnostics company. I started as a specimen processor, then moved into instrument maintenance and troubleshooting, and recently got promoted to Accessioning Supervisor. So I’ve grown into lab operations, technical troubleshooting, and process-oriented work, but I know I do not want to go into long-term people management.

I’m also currently on CPT and recently started another master’s in Healthcare Administration, mainly because I was trying to keep options open and build a stronger path in healthcare/industry.

Where I’m stuck:
I want to move into biotech, pharma, or medical devices, but I’m very sure I want to stay more on the individual contributor side. I’d rather focus on technical work, tools, workflows, troubleshooting, customer/lab support, and applications rather than on being a manager.

Lately, I’ve been looking at Field Application Specialist / Field Application Scientist roles, especially on the instrument/vendor side (Thermo Fisher, Agilent, Tecan, etc.). It seems like a role that could connect my engineering background, lab experience, and technical problem-solving without forcing me back into software or pure analytics.

My questions:

1. With my background, am I actually competitive for FAS roles, especially in biotech/pharma or drug discovery? Or do those roles usually go to PhDs and people with much heavier R&D experience?
2. At this point, is my degree combination enough to pivot if I position myself correctly, or do I really need more schooling or certifications to get into higher-paying non-management roles?
3. If you were in my position and wanted a high-paying, non-management technical/lab-facing role in biotech, what path would you focus on?
4. Are there any good consulting agencies, recruiters, or staffing firms that specifically help place people into biomedical, biotech, diagnostics, med device, or field applications roles? I’m especially interested in agencies that actually understand this space and are not just generic recruiters.

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone in FAS, biotech tools/instrumentation, diagnostics, med device, or related roles. I’m trying to make a smart move and honestly feel pretty lost right now.

Thanks in advance.

'm a rising sophomore at the University of Florida and I've been doing a lot of thinking about my career goals, and honestly I'm pretty conflicted.

For most of high school and my freshman year of college, I planned on going to medical school. Because of that, I've been involved in medical volunteering, healthcare leadership organizations, and I've been building a pretty typical pre-med profile.

The problem is that I'm starting to realize I'm not sure I actually want to practice medicine for the rest of my life.

If I'm being honest with myself, my dream isn't to become a physician.

My dream is to create a medical device that genuinely improves people's lives and eventually build a company around it.

I know that's a huge goal and there's no guarantee it ever happens, which is probably why I've always found comfort in medicine—it feels like a much more structured and predictable path.

At UF I'm currently in Biomedical Engineering. After comparing the Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering curricula, I'm really torn.

Mechanical Engineering seems to provide more depth in:

• machine design
• manufacturing
• mechanics
• product development

Biomedical Engineering gives me:

• physiology
• biomaterials
• biomedical instrumentation
• clinically inspired engineering design
• medical imaging

I'm also considering completing UF's Engineering Innovation certificate, which includes engineering entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, project management, and internship credit.

Some additional context:

• I already have my CSWA (SolidWorks) certification.
• I'm interested in internships at medical device companies.
• I want to gain prototyping and product design experience.
• Long term I'd love to found a medical device startup rather than spend my career in clinical practice.
• I have already taken Bio2 and Lab, Chemistry 1 and 2, Physics 1 and 2 w/calc and my fall semester includes Orgo 1, and genetics ( which I put thinking I was going pre-med and a lot of these classes are not needed for MechE
• For those of you working in medical devices, startups, or product development:

1. If you could do it again, would you choose Biomedical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering?
2. Did you ever feel limited by a BME degree?
3. If your goal was eventually to found a medical device company, what would you prioritize during college?
4. Is switching majors worth it, or would you stay in BME and focus on internships, engineering design projects, and entrepreneurship?

I'm looking for honest advice from people who have actually gone through this. Thanks in advance!

hello !
my boyfriend currently resides in mexico and has a bachelors degree in biomedical engineering. he has been successful over the years in learning how to repair, maintain, and trouble shoot various medical equipment/devices that are used in hospitals. he has worked at hospitals repairing 100+ of these devices (almost everything you can think of) amongst a team that he runs. he has also worked in surgery rooms as a technician for surgery equipment as well.
that being said, he does live in mexico and we plan on closing the gap between us in the near future. he was recently granted a tourist visa and does have legal permission to enter the USA however, not to work. he knows fluent english at this point as well. upon my own research, it appears there are various companies that are international and do have openings via visa sponsorship. it appears a position title that is similar to what he currently does is a biomedical technician ? i’m not sure if that is the correct title or if there are other jobs titles that fit a similar criteria to what he is currently doing ?
i come to ask for any insight or advice on the process of him obtaining a job in the field via a visa sponsorship? if any of other people are experiencing a similar situation and how you are navigating it ? any success with this ? he is super passionate about what he does and good at is as well. i would just like to support him in anyway that i can to navigate this

Hey everyone I’m gonna be a junior this fall studying BME and as I start thinking about recruiting for internships next year I was just wondering what salaries of different ppl look like who are currently in the med devices or Pharma industry. I feel like I’m not familiar with what pay is like and would love to know from anyone willing to share!!

I'm a rising senior in high school, and I'm really interested in the technological and sciency aspects of medicine, so I was thinking of doing an undergrad in BME but now I'm hearing it's really hard to get a job with a BME undergrad and people have better luck majoring in one of the big 4. I dont really like the physics aspect of engineering and I live in Boston so I was wondering whether I should do an undergrad and masters in BME or do undergrad in ChemE.

I've done first year of computer engineering because i liked logic and development of smart things but burnout in second semester from the fear of writing abstract code all my life.
I realised I want to invent things in the real world, even better if those can help others feel better.

I've recently looked a lot of videos, asked AI and professors a lot and was stuck deciding between EE, BME and Biotecnology. In the end i tought EE first three years and BME in the next two for specialisation (european university) was the smartest choice for having more opportunities in different jobs.

My dream job is to help in R&D working and testing new medical devices and procedures.
I know that in today's world is impossible to make a project without a computer but my real fear is to be stuck all day behind it without ever testing and seeing the final product in real life (maybe even travelling to present it to sourgeons all over the world).

Is this a realistic scenario and how much will i really work soldering and testing devices irl intead of looking at a screen connecting dots?

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Hi everyone,

I’m planning to pursue Biomedical Engineering in a private college in West Bengal through WBJEE and I need honest advice from seniors.

I have a few doubts:

How is Biomedical Engineering in real life in India?

In WB private colleges, how is the teaching quality and lab exposure?

What are the actual job opportunities after BME (hospital, medical companies, service jobs, etc.)?

Is the salary and growth good for freshers or average?

Compared to Biotechnology/Bioinformatics, is BME a better choice?

I just want to understand the real situation before taking admission. Honest opinions (positive or negative) are welcome.

Hello everyone,
I’m a student from India with a PCB (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) background, and I’m currently exploring career options after high school.
A few people suggested that instead of choosing Biotechnology or Bioinformatics, I should look into newer interdisciplinary courses like Computer Science & Biomedical Engineering (AI), Medical AI, AI in Healthcare, Biomedical AI, and Health Informatics. Some universities (like Sharda University) are offering these programs to PCB students through bridge courses.
I’m a bit confused because these courses are quite new, and it’s hard to find honest reviews.
I’d really appreciate advice from people who are studying or working in these fields.
Are these degrees actually worth pursuing, or are they mostly marketing?
How are the job opportunities in India and abroad?
Do employers value these degrees, or is it better to choose a traditional degree like Computer Science, Biotechnology, or Bioinformatics?
Are the placements and salaries good?
If you were starting today with a biology background, would you choose one of these programs? Why or why not?
Are there any universities you’d recommend for PCB students interested in this field?
I’m looking for honest opinions and real experiences. Thank you!