Job Prospect

Job prospects for postgraduates in biomedical engineering are excellent and varied. The main aim of doing a postgraduate course in biomedical engineering is to build on existing knowledge and make preparation for a professional career in a range of healthcare establishments. Postgraduates can be employed in companies working on the design, development and manufacture of medical devices; in hospitals working with clinical colleagues in providing non-clinical services; in academic or governmental research facilities; and in government regulatory agencies. They can also work as technical advisers for marketing departments.

As a biomedical engineer, you will have the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of exciting projects. Hip replacement surgery is now a very common operation, which has brought renewed mobility and reduced pain to millions of people worldwide. Despite its success, there is still a great deal of work being undertaken to improve the performance of artificial hip joints still further, and in particular to extend their lives so they can be used in younger and more active patients. Indeed, replacement joints are now available for most of the articulating joints of the human body. Artificial limbs are also becoming increasingly sophisticated, and a bionic arm has recently been supplied to a patient that has powered finger, wrist, elbow and shoulder movement. Soon these limbs will be controlled directly by muscle and tendon contacts.

And in the future, applications which today might seem unrealistic, are already being developed in research labs around the world. For example, an artificial retina chip has been developed which can be implanted in the eye to replace a damaged retina and partly restore lost vision. You will know that it is already possible to restore lost hearing, but electronic circuits are also under development to restore the senses of smell and taste. Similarly, artificial tendons have already been developed and approved for use in patients, and now materials are being developed that respond to electrical currents and behave in a similar way to human muscles.

But one is important, we not only work at hospital.