Pick Your Battles: Specialization Interests of Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Students

Abstract The vast field of biomedical engineering tackles critical problems in healthcare delivery, which become more addressable through themed specializations. As undergraduate students engage with the field, they are exposed to specializations, allowing them to develop specialization interests. The identification of these interests is beneficial to students and educators to improve the learning experience, and the reporting of these interests can further curriculum design, resource allocation, and alignment between student curiosities and workforce demands, catering to policymakers and employers. To provide insight, n = 139 undergraduate biomedical engineering students were surveyed on their interests regarding specializations in and out of the field. These respondents also indicated interest in pursuing further education and perceived institutional support respecting their specialization interests. For further exploration, chi-square testing and determination of Cramer’s v were employed to find associations with gender and year of study. Respondents expressed the most interest in medical imaging, clinical engineering, and biomaterials as specializations, and medicine as a field independent of biomedical engineering. Biomimetics and bioprocess engineering were the least selected specializations, attributable to a lack of academic focus provided by the focal institution. Significant associations were found pertaining to gender and year of study, encouraging discussion on academic and professional factors affecting student interests. This perspective reports these results to explore the contemporary student climate and student-driven trends.