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Thread: Help! Possibly switching careers to biomedical engineering. Input appreciated :)

  1. #1
    Associate Engineer
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    Help! Possibly switching careers to biomedical engineering. Input appreciated :)

    Hi all,
    I have been a Registered Nurse for five years; however, I am now thinking about switching careers. Math has always been a passion of mine, and I often regret not majoring in engineering. With my medical background, I thought Biomedical Engineering might be a great fit. The only issue is that I really do not know much about this area, and have limited resources.Could anyone give me some input on Biomedical Engineering? Would the career change be worth it? What is a normal day like for a Biomedical Engineer? Any insight would be much appreciated!Thank you so much in advance!
    Last edited by Kelly_Bramble; 06-25-2016 at 08:20 AM. Reason: sentence spaces

  2. #2
    Technical Fellow Kelly_Bramble's Avatar
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    Would the career change be worth it?

    I doubt it...

    Strong math knowledge will help you get through the academics however not all engineers calculate for a living..

    The cost of the education, degree and career switch is unlikely to make you any richer.

    What is a normal day like for a Biomedical Engineer?
    Depends on the role. Be aware that there is not any assurances that you get a job as a Biomedical Engineer just because you get a degree in the field.

    Go this route because of passion..
    Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

  3. #3
    Technical Fellow jboggs's Avatar
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    Kelly's last statement is the most important one. Nursing and Engineering can both be extremely gratifying careers. They can also be extremely grating careers. It all depends on your "passion", as Kelly puts it. To me the fact that you seem to have this inner desire to search for something different might be a clue to your satisfaction level now. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing some research. Check out some schools, etc. One thing you will find is that most all engineering careers can be more widely varied than most nursing careers, I would think. I'm guessing a biomedical engineer might be involved in the research and development of new and improved medical devices. Think for a moment just how varied that could be. Everything from the next generation MRI to some new intravenous device. Or he might be part of some larger heathcare program, or could even work for NASA on astronaut's medical concerns. He could be employed by legal firms representing, or suing, medical device manufacturers. He could be part of a ground-floor startup, or one of thousands of engineers in a vast pharmaceutical company.

  4. #4
    Associate Engineer
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    All of that sounds so intriguing to me and I believe I would be much happier. But at this point, I have limited information to make a decision. My concern is this: I am going to be starting my second year of Nurse Practitioner school in August. I only went back obtain my DNP to get away from floor nursing. I almost have my undergrad ***** payed off, however, I now have some graduate ***** accumulating. I want to make sure that switching degrees will be worth it, since I will have a doctorate degree in 2017. If I went back for engineering, I would be dropping out of a doctorate program for a bachelors degree...that scares me! I truly believe I would love biomedical engineering, however, I have to weigh my options regarding length of time for school, how much much schooling will cost on top of the ***** I already have, and career availability. I have been contacting schools in my area trying to obtain as much information as possible, but since summer is here, many are not in their offices. Therefore, I have been researching on the internet, and I have read that it could be difficult to get a job in the Biomedical Engineering field. That is not what i want to read if I am thinking about switching careers! :S I really would like to job shadow a Biomedical Engineer to "walk a day in their shoes," but I am having trouble finding someone who is a Biomedical Engineer. So, I decided to post on here to see if I could get any information at all that would be helpful! I appreciate both of your responses

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