How to prepare engineers in medicine and biology?

Biomedical Engineering education has become very popular in the past two decades. New biomedical engineering programs have been developed to prepare students for this emerging field of study. Due to its highly multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature, combined with the fact that many engineering students have limited life sciences backgrounds, preparing graduates for an engineering career incorporating medicine and biology is not straight forward. The University of British Columbia established a graduate level biomedical engineering program in the fall of 2006 after an industry survey and extensive consultation process. The program curriculum also employs a device-based approach to the education of life science components including anatomy and physiology. Feedback from current students, industry sponsors, and practicing biomedical engineers favour this UBC approach. The program will continually update its curriculum and delivery style in response to the industry needs and student evaluation.