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Medical devices & clinical engineering

Biomedical Engineer

Engineering with the FDA looking over your shoulder.

Typical pay

$70k-$130k

How you get in

ABET bachelor's in biomedical or a traditional engineering field

Outlook

Growing; an aging population drives device demand

Biomedical engineers design and maintain medical devices and systems. Regulation shapes everything — documentation, validation and design control are as much the job as the engineering itself.

A day in the life

  1. 8:30aReview design verification test results
  2. 10:00aDesign work on a device subsystem
  3. 12:00pLunch
  4. 1:00pRisk analysis and design history file documentation
  5. 3:00pMeet with regulatory affairs on a submission
  6. 4:30pLab testing and results write-up

How to get in

Biomedical engineering degree

Duration

4 years

Cost

$40,000-$180,000

Credential

BS in biomedical engineering

  1. Complete an ABET-accredited biomedical engineering degree
  2. Specialize deliberately — the general BME degree is broad and employers want depth
  3. Intern with a device manufacturer, which is the main hiring pipeline
  4. Enter as a design, quality or manufacturing engineer

Traditional engineering into medical devices

Duration

4-6 years

Cost

$40,000-$180,000

Credential

BS in mechanical, electrical or materials engineering

  1. Complete a mechanical, electrical or chemical engineering degree
  2. These are often more employable than a general BME degree
  3. Move into the medical device industry, which values traditional engineering depth
  4. Learn design control and ISO 13485 on the job

Clinical engineering in hospitals

Duration

2-4 years

Cost

$8,000-$120,000

Credential

BMET certification or an engineering degree

  1. Start as a biomedical equipment technician with an associate degree
  2. Maintain and repair clinical equipment inside a hospital
  3. Add certification and a bachelor's for clinical engineering management
  4. A stable hospital-based alternative to device manufacturing

What people love

  • · Work with direct patient impact
  • · Medical device industry is recession-resistant
  • · Strong pay with a bachelor's
  • · Clinical engineering roles exist inside hospitals

What wears people down

  • · Regulatory documentation is enormous
  • · Development cycles are long and slow
  • · The broad BME degree can be less employable than mechanical or electrical
  • · Errors carry patient safety consequences

From people doing it

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