Cindy
What are the benefits of obtaining a Biomedical degree?
I am a senior currently applying to colleges and am questioning having a Biomedical degree. What kind of jobs would I benefit from having this degree?
2 answers
Herman Liu
Herman’s Answer
Hi Cindy,
There are a lot of options going into college for a biomedical degree. Many people choose to go into the healthcare profession (dentistry,medicine, nursing, etc) and many go into research or industry. I personally was involved with academic research in a lab (research at a university for the sake of knowledge) at my university and then transitioned into the pharmaceutical industry. Many of my friends chose to go to graduate school to pursue a masters, PhD, or health profession. Some other choices for a biomedical degree would be for biomedical engineering. If you want an idea of what the pharmaceutical industry is like, take a look at the websites for some of these big pharmas: Genentech, JNJ, Amgen. Many of these big companies even have internships!
Good luck!
Herman
I wasn't aware of how much variation of jobs that could happen with this degree. How is research like? Do you propose a question and present it?
Cindy
As an undergraduate, unless you get your own research project, usually you would be assisting graduate students or a principal investigator (head researcher) with their research. It's quite interesting if you are interested in learning something new everyday and likes solving mysteries and puzzles. I studied biochemistry so I spent a lot of time working in labs. Some labs research things for the sake of just researching. Some do it because of a need. One of my labs participated with the mexico gulf oil spill. Pretty interesting stuff!
Herman Liu
Mark Walz
Mark’s Answer
Hi Cindy, Any science degree is valuable and can lead to many different career paths.. I started in Aeronautical Engineering and ended up with a Pre-Med degree. Then I went on to Biomedical Engineering but ended up with a MS in Management. I had taken a good bit of chemistry courses and found many parallels to material science.. As a result, I have worked in different fields for different companies and today I run my own electronics tooling company. The point is, you can never go wrong with a degree in any science field. You just need to find your passion and pursue it. Rare is the person who knows exactly what they want to do in their career. Pursuing a science degree involves a great deal of work and expense. However, you will find that you have many more options for finding a career that you both enjoy and can earn a good living with. Regards, Mark