The evolution of undergraduate biomedical engineering education and the professional opportunities for program graduates.

Abstract

In order to assess the present status of undergraduate training in biomedical engineering and the professional opportunities for program graduates, a survey of existing programs was conducted. The results indicate that 24 institutions are currently offering a bachelor's degree program in biomedical engineering. The annual rate of initiation of new programs has been increasing since the offering of the first such program in 1961, with seven new programs reportedly being initiated in 1974. The combined total enrollment of the 24 programs surveyed is approximately 1525 students. The large majority (17 of 24) of the surveyed programs reported increasing enrollment. Among the 9 programs in existence sufficiently long to have graduated at least one class of 10 or more students, the following trends emerged: The range of the reported fraction of graduates entering industry varied from 10 to 50%, with hospital employment the most frequently cited industrial opportunity. All 9 programs reported one-half or more of their graduates entering graduate or medical school. In particular, 5 institutions reported more than one-third of their graduates entering medical school. These distributions reflect the majority view of the 24 degree programs surveyed, namely, that the bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering should not generally be viewed as a terminal degree.