Anyone in either the biomedical or biotechnology fields?

[Brian Ashton]

I don't get on many forums so this is pretty much the best place to as the question that I have...

I'm at a cross road in my uni studies. I am doing dual major degree Bus/Sci. Just finished up on the Bus (ACC) and am now starting on the Sci side. At first i signed up for Environmental Management but I have this feeling that there isn't a lot of real good opportunities in that field so I am switching to either a biotechnology or biomedical major. I want to be able to move around this big blue marble and work - hopefully. So I'm wanting a program that is universally accepted in most "developed" countries. Problem is which one. Anyone that can offer some insight into this would be very helpful. I know biomedical is mostly focused on human health and biotechnology is a very broad and has minimal focus on human health (I think).

I have asked the uni profs but they kinda give the usual speech published in the course outline, none have any real world experiences in the fields

Anyone want to chime in and add a few pieces to this puzzle it would be very much appreciated. If this is out of place for this forum I would be happy to have you PM me.

[Shawn Pixley]

The choice is really yours. I think that there is a fair amount of opportunity in environmental sciences (that whole "green" thing). That said, in the U.S., there are not a lot of majors in "biomedical". Most of the people I work with are PhD in biochemistry or Chemical Engineering or are M.D.'s.

The real question is what do have passion for? Rather than looking outside for a job, look inward for your career and profession.

[David Cefai]

"Biotechnology" is such a wide field that you cannot really generalise. I specialised in fermenation but job opportunities in my field seem to be declining. As a previous poster remarked, what do you WANT to do?

[Ruhi Arslan]

"Biotechnology" and "biomedical" are not interchangable terms. Almost every major university/college has biomedical engineering graduate programs if not departments and as many of them are offering biomedical engineering undergraduate degrees. It IS one the most desired fields of study. If you are interested in hearing opinions from a biomedical engineer PhD, PM me so we can talk and I will try to answer as many questions as you may have. And, oh, my research focus is entirely about "human health and well being". :)