Biomedical engineering discipline will always be a sunrise discipline, because biomedical engineering (Biomedical Engineering, BME) discipline is science, engineering, medicine, biology and other disciplines are highly intersection of emerging disciplines. The discipline is committed to human disease prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and health, is committed to the exploration of life phenomena to provide high-level scientific methods and engineering technology means. As biomedical engineering is the application of the most advanced theories and methods of science and technology to study the phenomena and laws of human life, its research field is extremely broad, and its research direction is also very much, such as: detection and processing of biomedical signals; medical instrumentation; medical imaging; biomedical materials; artificial organs; biomedical manufacturing; interventional therapy; rehabilitation engineering; telemedicine; biochip and so on. In each of these directions there is a very wide range of content. The field of biomedical engineering is also one of the disciplines where theoretical breakthroughs and technological innovations are most likely to occur in the next few decades.
The core of biomedical engineering, medical devices, has become a pillar industry in the United States. In China, with a population of 1.3 billion, medical instruments will soon become a pillar industry in our country, as society as a whole and the government have begun to pay great attention to medical instruments.
Professional analysis of opportunities and challenges
Advantages
High social recognition of bioengineering, this profession has high expectations, due to the wide range of knowledge, a strong foundation in biology, solid knowledge of engineering, the two are organically combined with a solid foundation and wide range of applications, it can be easily transferred to the direction of biological sciences or other related applied professions, such as food science, pharmaceutical science, for the Talent rational thinking ability, good at analyzing problems and problem solving ability requires high; in addition, also focus on hands-on ability, you can carry out independent experiments and submit professional papers, so the ratio of graduate school examination is very large, and many students have the opportunity to go abroad for further study.
Disadvantages
However, the biomedical engineering professional courses are not very mature, the schools are uneven, the depth of the biological sciences and engineering knowledge is limited, the required subjects are more, the coursework is heavier, you want to learn to learn well must invest a lot of energy, so the time after school is not very sufficient, the prospects for graduating from undergraduate school is not very clear, the related employment field requires more Higher education
Opportunities
Cultivate senior scientific research and technical personnel disciplines, a large proportion of foreign countries, the major famous universities are very much focused on its development, the application of a wide range of specialties, easy to change majors, you can further study the upstream of the life sciences, but also downstream of the study of practical engineering disciplines. Employment in a wide range of fields, such as pharmaceuticals, food, scientific research, or technology development, etc., if the advanced high-end life sciences and application of the link, is a very hot profession, the prospects are very promising
Challenges
Relative to the mouth of the professional requirements of a higher degree, the undergraduate graduate work is relatively difficult to find, for which many students to further their studies, the employment of the general engaged in the level of the lower level of technology or the employment of the work of the lower level. Simply give up this specialty and change careers, if you are interested in engaging in related scientific research work, you need to cultivate a solid spirit of research and exploration, and pay attention to the exercise of hands-on ability, and further education and learning, will become a high-level scientific talent in this area.
Strong demand for talent shortage
Medical engineers is to have a solid knowledge of biomedical engineering, computer and information science, and to master a certain degree of biological and medical basics, with the biology, medicine and engineering technology combined with a comprehensive talent.
At present, there are only 100,000 medical engineers in the country, and the strong demand for biomedical engineering, biotechnology, bioinformatics, health care, medical instrumentation and other fields, so the starting salary of college graduates on the 3,000 yuan or so, to the development of medical equipment, the income is quite substantial.
At present, there are about 60,000 hospitals in the country, and medical engineers only account for 10% of the total number of hospitals, which is a huge difference from the proportion of 30% abroad. As the largest industry of medical engineering, more than 10,000 domestic medical equipment companies are also in urgent need of medical engineers. Moreover, many undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral students of this specialty are pursuing further studies abroad, and there is not a small gap of technical expertise in the country.
Raising the threshold to enter the profession is not easy
Medical engineering personnel must have two skills, one is the development of new products, and the other is the operation of the instrument. At present, medical engineers have not only stay in the installation of equipment, commissioning and other aspects, more and more customers need engineering staff to provide value-added services. Moreover, with the introduction of a large number of foreign equipment, excellent foreign language, operation of the basic skills of solid, theoretical updating speed, etc. have become indispensable to the basic qualities of the professional talents, those who cling to the old knowledge will undoubtedly be faced with the danger of being eliminated. The technology + sales" is the trend of the development of this industry.
Expansion of the speed of sensible choice of school
Because of the optimistic prospects for the development of the biomedical engineering discipline, not only Tsinghua, the first medical, NIT and many other colleges and universities have opened the undergraduate specialization, some of the School of Medical Engineering has also opened the medical device application technology "higher vocational", specializing in the training of both the medical foundation, but also the knowledge of science and technology of the application of medical equipment talents.
In the face of similar specialties, training direction of different institutions, students how to choose the most suitable for their own institutions? The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on a new pair of shoes or boots, and then you're ready to go. For example, Tsinghua focuses on medical electronics and precision medical instruments; Polytechnic University focuses on information processing, biomaterials and tissue engineering. Students should first know their own interests, and at the same time, they should also have an in-depth understanding of the school they are applying for. The agency reminded the majority of students, students in the bullish market prospects of the profession at the same time, but also to pay attention to some of the problems first is the problem of teachers, this is a highly sophisticated field, so there are stringent requirements for teachers' qualifications; second is the teaching hardware, the technical requirements of the profession is very high, whether the school can provide enough hardware directly affect the teaching effect, and some schools to expand enrollment blindly set up the specialty, is actually The first is a waste of resources.
Employment prospects are mixed
Going abroad
Biomedical engineering is a comprehensive cross-development of disciplines, and with the application of a close combination of many famous foreign universities are very concerned about its development, so the opportunity to go abroad for further study is very large, there will be a greater space for the development of the
Graduate studies
The proportion of graduate studies is very large, if you want to have a good career in the discipline or want to engage in high-level technical work must go to school. or want to engage in advanced technical work must go to graduate school for further study, generally more than half of the students will choose to go to graduate school, graduate school options to play, the chances of graduate school is greater than a master's degree after graduation will have a very good employment prospects
Finding a job
Undergraduates are unlikely to engage in scientific research directly, some graduates turn to other industries, some graduates engaged in related professions in the downstream of the technical work, the work content is generally more monolithic. Technical work, the work content is generally more monotonous technical work, and need to further experience and practical skills training