Is it really hard to get into M.Engineering from B.Biomed?

[Mieow]

I'm on the official website for the Bachelor of Biomedicine and it says last year only 6 people went into the Master of Engineering after getting their undergrad degree. Is this because it is really difficult to get into or some other reason (like not a lot of people actually want to do engineering etc)?

Here's the link if you're interested
http://bbiomed.unimelb.edu.au/biomedicine-pathways

[Hancock]

I'd imagine it's low because anyone looking to do MEng from the get go should be doing it through Science or Environments. BBiomed only had Bioengineering as a major, whilst science has all 11 streams.

[pi]

I'd imagine it's low because anyone looking to do MEng from the get go should be doing it through Science or Environments. BBiomed only had Bioengineering as a major, whilst science has all 11 streams.

I'm not knowledgeable on this, but I have a few friends who are pursuing M.Eng from B.Comm too? Not sure what the deal is with streams and so forth though.

[Mieow]

I'd imagine it's low because anyone looking to do MEng from the get go should be doing it through Science or Environments. BBiomed only had Bioengineering as a major, whilst science has all 11 streams.

Oh that makes a lot of sense, thanks. But still, only 6 people who majored in Bioengineering pursuing a Masters in it sounds kind of like a low number to me for some reason

[Hancock]

Well, if you're looking to do a Mechanical Engineering degree at Melbourne you firstly complete a major in Mechanical Systems in a Bachelor of Science. This will ensure your Masters degree is only 2 years. It makes zero sense to complete a BBiomed and then do an MEng(Mech) as you will need to do a 3 year masters to ensure accreditation.

So that being said, students usually major in the 'Engineering System' they want to get qualified in. Civil Systems -> MEng(Civil) and so forth. You can swap disciplines after your Bachelors if you want to (do a Mechanical Systems major in Bachelors but then do an MEng in Civil), but people usually sort that that indecisiveness by 2nd year. Swapping also increasing the length of your masters program.

BSci would have the most engineering students because it's the most flexible with subject choices in engineering. BComm would be next because you can do all MEng pathways through the breadth program, similar to Science. Then BEnvs with it's Civil and Environmental Engineering majors and finally BBiomed (only Bioeng).

[Hehetymen]

Some probably also try out for med/dent/physio etc. And I imagine that people who major in bioeng are only a small proportion of the cohort.

[Hancock]

Nah, I'd imagine it would be about the number. BBiomed really isn't the greatest pathway if you want to do anything besides health related postgrad.

If you were properly interested in Bioeng and not using it as a fall-back (which a lot of students do I've heard), BSci (Electrical + Bioeng) majors followed by the BSci (Mechanical and Bioeng) would arguably be a better program due to the nature of the Bioengineering discipline.

[notveryasian]

I'm not knowledgeable on this, but I have a few friends who are pursuing M.Eng from B.Comm too? Not sure what the deal is with streams and so forth though.

I believe that whilst doing a BCom you can do one of 7 Eng streams which gets you into the MEng. Only problem is that your course is fairly rigid as all your breadth must be Eng subjects.

[Pup]

Being a biomed student who did the bioengineering stream for first year before dropping out of it for the normal pathway, I believe that Biomed isn't very good preparation for the Masters of Engineering (Biomedical). Firstly, the number of engineering subjects done in the biomed degree (bioeng pathway), is not enough to give you a good grounding in engineering studies. Science is perhaps better for this. the  biomed core subjects (MCB, HSF etc) is surplus to the biology knowledge need in biomedical engineering. Many of my friends who did the bioengineering pathway only did it, to give them options if they didn't make it in postgrad medicine, dentistry, optometry etc. Hence why you see a small number of Biomeds choosing to do a Masters of Engineering.  Engineering subjects in my opinion, are harder and take a huge amount of time to study for and hence many people do poorly for these subjects (ESD2, Engineering Computation) alongside with the rigourous Biomed cores. These subjects are harder in comparison to the heavy rote-learning nature of MDHS subjects, in which you could cram and still do well in. This isn't the case for many engineering subjects, where alot of hard work and smart study is needed to succeed. In my opinion, only do the bioengineering major in a Science degree if you really want to do a Master of Engineering and be a Biomedical engineer. Bioengineering major is not a great fit in the Biomedicine degree and I don't recommend it.