Education · 1 of 4

The path

A four year engineering degree, with internships doing the real hiring work.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Calculus, physics, chemistry and biology. Any coding course you can get.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering

   4 years

   Pick a program accredited by ABET (the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology). Some people instead take mechanical or electrical engineering with biology electives, which keeps more job doors open.

3. 3

   Internships or co-op terms

   During the degree

   Two or three paid terms at a device company or hospital. This is the step that decides whether you get hired.

4. 4

   Fundamentals of Engineering exam

   1 day

   Taken in your final year. Optional in this field, but it is the first step if you ever want a professional license.

5. 5

   First engineering job, or a master's degree

   0 to 2 years

   A master's degree is common for research, imaging and neural engineering roles, and many companies pay for it later.