[Mrl4]

So now I am in my senior year in high school and I have pretty good grades (I can make it in both majors), but I am not quite sure of what to major in...

I have 2 things in mind right now: pharmacy and biomedical engineering

People who actually told my pharmacy is a good major for later on, were actually from an older generation (50-60 yrs old). the ones who thought engineering in general (not necessarily biomedical) were in their 20s-30s.

That's why i've come here to ask your opinion, the opinion of people who majored in one of those areas, and your thoughts about each one, as well as the working fields.


I would prefer to know about the situation on a global scale because i am not in the US or Europe. But all answers are welcome.

[CharonY]

From what I have heard it appears that the career path in biomedical engineering is somewhat less clear (considering that it is a relatively new discipline). For pharma students there are the typical options that still exist. Biomed engineering sounds fancy, but jobwise they still lack their own strong niche.

Due to the dual nature of it, they tend to be less specialized and especially in research positions more biological or more engineering-oriented disciplines are better established and have an edge there.

Engineering as a discipline is very diverse, though and there are plentiful established subdisciplines apart from biomed, obviously.

At this point it would be best to figure out where your priorities and interests are.

[DrRocket]

Mrl4, on 1 January 2012 - 08:51 PM, said:

So now I am in my senior year in high school and I have pretty good grades (I can make it in both majors), but I am not quite sure of what to major in...

I have 2 things in mind right now: pharmacy and biomedical engineering

People who actually told my pharmacy is a good major for later on, were actually from an older generation (50-60 yrs old). the ones who thought engineering in general (not necessarily biomedical) were in their 20s-30s.

That's why i've come here to ask your opinion, the opinion of people who majored in one of those areas, and your thoughts about each one, as well as the working fields.


I would prefer to know about the situation on a global scale because i am not in the US or Europe. But all answers are welcome.

Do what interests you.

Biomedical engineering is a solid curriculum, and a good undergraduate major for those interested in medical school. There are in fact dual PhD/MD programs with the PhD in biomedical engineering.

Engineers need not be employed only in the specific field in which they received their degree, and biomedical engineering, though somewhat specialized at the academic level, is no exception. Within biomedical engineering there are specialties that involve primarily materials, electronics, robotics, mechanical systems, etc. and those skills are readily transferable.

Pharmacy is also a viable career path. There is always local demand for pharmacists. But pharmacy is very different from engineering. It involves different academic disciplines and very different working conditions, particularly with respect to dealing with the public.

The thing to do is pursue an area that interests you and in which you have aptitude.

The situation on a global scale is irrelevant. Employment is based on the specific conditions is a given industry and in fact in a given enterprise.

[Mrl4]

I have made up my mind on biomedical engineering
thanks for your answers


But I still need your opinion on one more thing: what do you think about the whole major/minor in BME?
I am asking this question because i am entering a french university, and the system is totally different from the american system.

There are no classes that you choose and all that... The degree comes as it is, you can't skip credits or choose different ones in order to graduate.
So there is no such a thing as minor/major. It's a degree. And the BME degree is undergraduate. For graduate degrees i can go into tissue engineering, genetic engineering... as a masters degree.

And I've seen that in the important universities such as McGill and MIT, the BME is a minor for other engineering majors...
What do you think about that?