Hello, Aida, One of the challenges in seeking training in biomedical engineering (especially advanced training) is that the phrase biomedical engineering is very broad, and so consists of different topics and specialties at different universities. The best thing for you to do is choose a couple of areas of biomedical engineering youd like to work in (robotics? medical device design? bioimaging?) and then seek out a program with faculty who specialize in that area. So, instead of choosing a place of study based on an overall program, you would be choosing a place of study based on the match between the courses and faculty in a program and your interests. That match, especially at the advanced level, is more important than the overall name or reputation of the institution. That being said, I can give you a couple of places to start looking, based on my personal experiences. Imperial College in London has a very good department of bioengineering, and excellent research/training opportunities. One of my past students spent time at Imperial and had a very good experience. In Canada, Ive seen some very good research and researchers come out of the University of Toronto, and I believe bioengineering is a growing field in Canada. Here is a useful collection of links with which to explore opportunities in Canada: http://engsoc.queensu.ca/qube/html/downloads/biomed-ed. pdf It will take some time (and Web searching) to find a school with faculty expertise that matches your areas of interest, but it will be worth it! Good luck. Kay C Dee

Dear Tara, This is a very good question. The terms bioengineer and biomedical engineer are often used interchangeably. But sometimes biomedical engineer is used to imply someone who focuses on human health, while bioengineer is used more broadly to include someone who brings engineering expertise to issues involving animal health and/or plants and agriculture. So, if you are looking at engineering school programs, it is important to look at the educational objectives/outcomes of the programs and at the classes required by the curricula to be able to tell whether the program is using the term bioengineer narrowly or broadly. Good luck! Thanks for your question. Kay C Dee

Hi Carmen, Great question. Engineering degrees are much more versatile than people think. For example, I?????????ve certainly seen people with undergraduate degrees in biomedical engineering go on to work for companies that make all kinds of medical products, but many graduates also go on to graduate school in all sorts of engineering fields or in biology, go on to medical school, or go on to law school. I?????????ve also known people who graduated with undergraduate biomedical engineering degrees who then worked for consulting firms ????????? firms that basically ?????????lend????????? companies (not necessarily medical companies - banks, airlines, companies that make food products, etc.) teams of people who work on solving whatever problems those companies have. Working for a consulting firm can be exciting, because you get to work on many different kinds of problems, in diverse teams, and sometimes you get to travel around the world. I?????????ve known people with undergraduate degrees in biomedical engineering who have been hired by companies that make non-medical products ????????? snack foods, coffee, copy machines, etc. These companies (and the consulting firms) hired our biomedical engineering graduates because they had excellent communication skills, great teamwork skills, and were really good at thinking creatively and using logic to solve technical problems. You get to learn and practice all of those skills while completing an engineering degree. Thanks, KCD