The Georgia Tech/Emory BME program offers students the opportunity to work in a wide variety of biomedical fields. With an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, I was unsure of what type of research I wanted to get involved in. At Georgia Tech and Emory, the opportunity to participate in a number of areas of research including biomechanics, tissue engineering, and imaging, was extremely appealing. Furthermore, with the program still in its infancy, I found the excitement of both the students and faculty over the future of BME contagious.
Advantages/Why I chose BME:
1. My research interests in cardiovascular image processing and ventricular mechanics fit perfectly with my current advisor, John Oshinski, who is a BME faculty member. He is also a really nice guy. This was by far the most important factor in my choosing BME.
2. Georgia Tech has a wide array of graduate courses in engineering that I needed to fulfill my learning goals (such as advanced signal processing and medical image processing courses that Emory programs don't offer).
3. I wanted my PhD to involve lots of math, engineering, and computer programming and I felt an engineering school would be the best place to satisfy this.
4. You can utilize the resources (both research facilities and general things like gyms, intramurals, access to sporting events) of both institutions (Emory and Georgia Tech).
Disadvantages:
1. Commuting between Tech and Emory is a pain and can take up a lot of time when you're taking courses at Tech and doing research at Emory. However, there is a free shuttle available with wireless internet broadcast en-route.
2. BME is a relatively new program (in the last 7 years or so) and there are constant changes going on. This can be good and bad.
3. There is a lot of coursework, especially in the 1st year. I thought when I entered graduate school that I'd have a lot of time for research but that isn't the case in the 1st year.
I chose the BE program primarily for its flexibility compared to the BME program. The BME curriculum has a mandated core curriculum with 3 electives. The BE program stipulates 3 engineering, 2 math courses, and 4 electives. For MD/PhD students, that is the only real difference between the programs. Students in both programs are in the same department and can choose an advisor among the same pool of professors. My background was primarily in molecular biology/biochemistry and I wanted to transition into analytical biotechnology research. I needed to strengthen my abilities in specific areas such as optics, materials science, and biophysics but did not want to be bogged down in coursework that did not pertain to my research topic. BE seemed the more appropriate program for me. I would say the BE programs main advantages include the great freedom in course selection and its depth of engineering and mathematics training. On the other hand, the main advantage of the BME program is the great sense of cohesion among the students built as all the students go through the exact same process (kind of like med school).
