High School Preparation

Students often decide at an early age to become a biomedical engineer, in part because the news abounds with advances being made in the area. The question arises as to what they should study in high school. This will depend upon the area they enjoy the most that will lead to advances in healthcare. If it is engineering, they should take as much physics, mathematics, and computing as possible. If it is a biological area, then biology and chemistry is needed. Still it is important to remember that engineers will need some biology, and biologists some mathematics, as biomedical engineering encompasses many different fields of understanding.

An area that is sometimes overlooked in high school is written and verbal communication. These areas are also important because any advances in the field must be communicated to and understood by others. If no one else knew exactly what has been accomplished, it would help no one. Writing must be detailed and comprehensible so that the person reading is absolutely clear as to what the writer wishes to convey about his or her discovery; there can be no doubt. Likewise, when communicating verbally, whether it be a one-on-one conversation or during presentations, the contents must be as clear as possible.

Becoming a biomedical engineer means collecting knowledge in many areas and a set of skills that can be applied.