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Biomedical Engineering

Running head: BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Biomedical Engineering as a Career Path


Shelby Baccala
California Polytechnic State University

Biomedical Engineering

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
Biomedical Engineering as a Career Path
Biomedical engineering is a diverse field full of possibilities with many career options. It
was even named as the number one best job in America according to CNN Money in October of
2012. There are no limitations which can be highlighted by the through job information and
outlook, local wages, unemployment, the cost, and the short term and long term advantages and
disadvantages.
Job Outlook and Information
Biomedical Engineering is a rapidly changing and growing career path that moves with
the advance of technology and medicine. Biomedical engineers must be analytic thinkers, strong
communicators, creative, skilled in mathematics and problem solving. These are all necessary
skills to work on a team developing, selling or manufacturing products. For example, if an idea is
not clearly communicated to the manufacturing team the part will more than likely fail and the
engineer is going to have to rapidly problem solve to fix the part and communicate in a more
precise manner in the future. Biomedical engineering entry positions require no previous job
experience; however, it can be difficult to obtain a job in this fast paced career without at least a
little background. Biomedical engineering requires a bachelors degree from an accredited
university for entry level positions and a masters or even doctorate can be recommended to
move up in the field. As technology and medicine have advanced, the baby boomers generation
has aged but will live longer and stay more active than past generations. This creates an evergrowing need for biomedical products and procedures, such as artificial knees, pacemakers, etc.
That being said, biomedical engineering employment is expected to grow 23% from 2014 to
2024, much faster than the average for all occupations. The lowest ten percent of biomedical

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BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
engineers make less than $51,480, the median pay is $86,220, and the highest ten percent make
$139,520.
Local Wages
In San Diego County, biomedical engineering does not register as an industry but medical
applies. Instead of biomedical engineering, this investigation used medical electronic instrument
manufacturing which is a comparable or possible career for a person with biomedical
engineering degree. The average weekly wage has increased approximately $300 from 2005 to
2015 in San Diego County. In 2015, the average weekly pay was $1875 which results in $97,500
yearly. This is higher than the median pay for biomedical engineers discussed in the previous
section of this paper by roughly $10,000. There are many jobs for biomedical engineers in San
Diego. St. Judes offers jobs in the area as well as a genome sequencing company to name a few.
Unemployment
Unemployment is and has been a hot topic since the recession and unemployment rates
skyrocketed. The national unemployment rate peaked in October of 2009 at ten percent
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since then, the unemployment rate has halved and
returned to the five percent of 2007 and below. In the past six months the unemployment rate has
held fairly constant for the United States, fluctuating between 4.7 and 5.0 percent. As of June
2016, the unemployment rate is 4.9 percent nationally. The lowest unemployment rate this year
was in May at 4.7 percent. For the state of California, the month of May had an unemployment
rate of 5.2 percent, higher than the national rate by 0.5 percent. However, in San Diego, the
unemployment rate compares much to the national unemployment rate and even dips lower. In
the past six months, San Diego has experienced unemployment rates between 4.2 and 4.7

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percent. The highest unemployment rates this year in San Diego is the lowest national
unemployment rate. The unemployment rate has continuously dropped in San Diego over the
past year.
Cost of the Chosen Career
As a Cal Poly undergraduate student, the cost of attendance is estimated to be $25,467
per year for an in-state student. Tuition is $9,000 per year alone. A bachelors degree takes four
years to complete if students average 16 units per quarter. Going into my second year at Cal
Poly, I have spent the estimated $25,467 as an in-state student and I am on track to graduate in
four years. Books estimate to cost $1,500 per year. There is no required apprenticeship for a
biomedical engineer but internships are usually a good idea to get some field experience prior to
graduating. The average biomedical engineering intern makes $19.39 per hour. If I were to get a
full-time, eight-week internship one summer, I would make a $6,204.80 before taxes and
spending four years at Cal Poly is estimated to cost $101,868. After the internship, a bachelors
degree in biomedical engineering would cost about $95,663.20.
The Short Run and the Long Run
The cost of an education can be a daunting number as young adults leave home and begin
college, however many of the careers they choose will allow college graduates to break even
much faster than they may have originally thought.
As mentioned in the previous section, my education at Cal Poly will cost $9,000 in
tuition every year and about $1,500 in books. This adds up to $10,500 per year and over four
years that comes out to $42,000 for my bachelors degree. I currently make $12.85/hour at

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BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
Kohls. $12.85/hour x 40 hours/week = $514/week before taxes. My annual income will be
$26,728 which leaves me with a profit of $16,228.
A career as a biomedical engineer pays about $97,500 annually in San Diego. In my first
year of work my income will increase by $70,772. Working as a biomedical engineer for ten
years would equal $975,000 and if I were to stay at Kohls, I would make $267,280 in ten years.
I will make $707,720 more as a biomedical engineer than a supervisor at Kohls in ten years. My
education cost was $42,000 after four years leaving me with a $933,000 profit. Biomedical
engineering is a strong investment as a career path.

Biomedical Engineering

References
CNN Money. (2012). Best Jobs in America. CNNMoney/PayScale.coms list of great careers.
Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/pf/best-jobs/2012/snapshots/
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016). Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population
Survey. Databases, Tables, & Calculators by Subject. Retrieved
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). The Recession of 2007-2009. BLS Spotlight on Statistics.
Retrieved http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2012/recession/pdf/recession_bls_spotlight.pdf
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016). San Diego. Western Information Office. Retrieved
http://www.bls.gov/regions/west/ca_sandiego_msa.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015). Biomedical Engineers. Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Retrieved at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedicalengineers.htm#tab-1
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
Databases, Tables, & Calculators by Subject. Retrieved at
http://data.bls.gov/pdq/querytool.jsp?survey=en

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