Prepare To Be A Biomedical Engineer?

Q: Recently I have reviewed many bme PhD programs, and I found it is very confused to prepare for this major. As I am a bio major, I need to remedize my engineering background. However, every BME program requires different kinds of prerequisite. Some requires nothing at all, some requires differential equation, some requires a lot of engineering courses. So, I have no idea how to prepare. If I will go for biomedical image analysis, should I take differential equation or circuit theory? Anyway, I just feel the field of biomedical engineering is somewhat confusing, espeically in California.

A: The immediate question is easy: the answer - differential equations (particularly with Fourier and Laplace transforms). Why? Because you can't really understand circuits fully (IMHO) without some grasp of diffeq's. Actually, unless you get involved in hardware design, you probably don't need great depth in circuit theory. *Many* areas of image analysis depend to varying degrees on understanding transforms, especially Fourier. You might want to take a class in "linear systems" and/or "signal processing". A solid course in probability would be good, too. There isn't really a "standard" biomedical engineering program. As you have discovered, there are many different blends of biology, chemistry, physics, and various flavors of engineering. That makes any recommendations pretty chancy. Once you narrow down where you want to go, you should talk to advisors at those institution(s). They can make more informed recommendations based on your interests and the particular orientations of those places. Bio majors (in my experience) are typically weak in math relative to their engineering major fellow students. Strengthening your math background would probably be a good preparatory strategy.

Discuss It!

Most Popular Articles

More