Biomedical Engineering Distance Learning - The Online Way to Enter the Sunrise Sector

The development of biomedical engineering distance learning programs is a godsend for employers of biomedical engineers. The demand for engineers in this field will outpace every other engineering branch for almost the next 10 years, and only through distance learning will enough biomedical engineers be educated to meet this demand.

Why Biomedical Engineering?

Biomedical Engineering applies cutting-edge engineering methodologies to the rapidly expanding healthcare knowledge base to come up with innovative solutions spanning diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.

Diagnostic equipment like MRI, interventional gear like Cathlab, novel drug delivery systems, and implants like Pacemaker, Insulin Pump, Artificial Joints, Prostheses etc, are all breakthroughs of Biomedical Engineering. Salaries for Graduate Engineers in the sector range from US$60,000 to US$100,000, and many get opportunities to work in R&D.

Why Biomedical Engineering Distance Learning?

Being a sunrise sector, there is a huge demand-supply gap in the industry which can only be met by engineers in other fields like Mechanical, Electronics, or Instrumentation, who undergo Graduate training in Biomedical Engineering. As such, the demand for Graduate Degree or Certificate programs which can be taken by working engineers is huge, and is the prime reason for the popularity of Biomedical Engineering Distance Learning Courses.

Universities and Colleges Offering Biomedical Engineering Distance Learning

Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) offers it's Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering (M.S.) through its widely acclaimed facility for distance learning, the Columbia Video Network (CVN). Course delivery is entirely through Internet, and the methodology used is Streaming Video of lectures and labs, which can also be downloaded for repeat viewings.

Students interact with their Professors and Teaching Assistants primarily through email, while telephonic consultation is available during special hours set aside for it. A specialty of this course is its 100% non-resident nature; apart from the online homework and assignments, even the exams are conducted online.

Stanford University's Department of Bioengineering offers two Biomedical Engineering Distance Learning courses. Both are specialized certificate programs targeted at working professionals, delivered through the Stanford Centre for Professional Development (SPCD).

The more formal as well as specialized among these is the program titled 'Cardiovascular System in Health and Disease: Fundamental Concepts for the Medical Device Industry'. Targeted at professionals like Engineers and Product Developers currently working or planning to work in the Cardiovascular Device Industry, the course is conducted over the Internet through streaming video, and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and can be started anytime.

The other course which is less formal and targeted at a wider audience is titled 'From the Innovators' Workbench'. It is designed as a series of in-depth interviews about the contemporary inventors, inventions, and research companies in the field, answered by two cutting-edge Stanford educators of Biomedical Engineering.

University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering offers Biomedical Engineering Distance Learning, through which two specialized Graduate Degree programs are available - Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering (Medical Imaging & Imaging Informatics), and Master of Science in Medical Device and Diagnostics Engineering (MSMDDE).

Both degrees are available entirely online, and draw on the strengths of USC's industrial consulting activities as well as the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering working at USC.

In the coming years, if not months, a lot more Universities and Colleges are expected to start Biomedical Engineering Distance Learning Courses, to meet the massive demand for trained professionals.

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