BME Graduate School Degree Requirements

Master of Engineering:

The M. Eng. is an advanced professional degree awarded by the School of Engineering. It is designed to provide advanced instruction to qualified students who are interested in applying engineering principles to biological systems. The purpose of the program is to prepare students for the professional practice of biomedical engineering. The emphasis of the Master of Engineering Program is different from that of the Master of Science Program. The M.S. program emphasizes research and requires completion of a thesis, while the M. Eng. program emphasizes professional practice through 30 hours of didactic instruction and a supervised design project. Courses are distributed as follows:

Biomedical Engineering – 12 hours
Subspecialty Area – 6 hours
Engineering Design – 6 hours
Professional Practice – 6 hours

In addition, the candidate must complete a design project, and present results to the faculty.

Master of Science:

Candidates for the M.S. degree must complete 24 semester hours of graduate-level courses approved by the program faculty, with the following minimum distribution:

Biomedical Engineering
          3 courses
Life Science
          MPB 331, Medical Physiology
          1 additional course
Advanced Science or Engineering
          2 courses

All courses should carry a minimum of 3 semester hours of credit.  At least two of the BME courses and one of the Advanced Science or Engineering courses must be 300-level courses.    One hour of BME seminar can count toward the total of 24 hours necessary for the M.S. degree.

In addition, the candidate must present a research thesis and pass a final oral presentation.

Doctor of Philosophy:

Candidates for the Ph.D. degree must complete 36 semester hours of graduate-level didactic courses approved by the program faculty, excluding seminar, research and teaching hours, and distributed as follows:

Biomedical Engineering       15 hours should be 300 level courses	18 hours (6 courses)
Life Sciences       MPB 331. Physiology (4 hours - 1 course)       Advanced Life Science (3-4 hours - 1 course)       Recommend Biochem/Molecular/Cell Biology	7 - 8 hours (2 courses)
Advanced Engineering or Science       300 level (3 hours minimum)	11-12 hours (4 courses)

                                                                  Total (>=36 hours, 12 courses)

In addition, Ph.D. candidates must satisfy the following: 

• completion of up to 36 semester hours of research, in addition to didactic and seminar hours,  to bring the total number of semester hours required for graduation to 72.
• evidence of preparation for doctoral work by passing a comprehensive, written examination covering basic knowledge in biomedical engineering.
• successful completion of a qualifying examination consisting of written and oral presentations of a proposal for doctoral research.
• a dissertation presenting the results of original research in biomedical engineering.
• successful completion of a final oral examination in defense of the dissertation research.

Students wishing to combine study for the M.D. degree with that for a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering must apply to the School of Medicine for admission to the Medical Scientist Training Program. Financial aid for this program is available on a competitive basis.

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CURRICULUM:     link to on-line graduate catalog*

Graduate courses offered on a regular basis in Biomedical Engineering are listed below.  Additional courses are also offered as special topics courses.  Students choose their BME courses with the assistance of their advisor.  All M.S. and Ph.D. students take the medical school physiology course as one of their life science requirements.  Other graduate-level life science courses are available in biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology, and molecular biology. 

Regularly Offered Graduate Courses:
BME 312 Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation
BME 313 Advanced Biomechanics
BME 314 Bioelectric Signal Processing
BME 316 Medical Imaging
BME 317 Physiological Transport Phenomena
BME 318 Magnetic Resonance Imaging
BME 319 Engineering Models of Cellular Phenomena
BME 320 Laser-Tissue Interaction and Therapeutic Use of Lasers
BME 321 Optical Diagnosis: Principles and Applications
BME 325  Physical Measurements on Biological Systems
BME 329  Advanced Computational Modeling and Analysis
BME 350 Neural Networks
BME 365  Biomedical Pattern Recognition
BME 373  Design of Medical Products, Processes and Services

Special Topics Graduate Courses:
BME 395  Advanced Biomaterials
BME 395  Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery
BME 395  Experimental and Theoretical Systems Biology
BME 395  Cellular Transport Phenomena
BME 395  Quantitative and Functional Imaging
BME 395  Imaging with Ionizing Radiation
BME 395  Advanced Topics in Biomedical Imaging
BME 395  Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging
BME 395  Biological Basis of Medical Imaging
BME 395  Therapeutic Bioengineering

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Admission Requirements:

Students applying for admission to the graduate program in biomedical engineering must meet the general requirements of admission of the Vanderbilt University Graduate School. Admission is competitive and students are selected on the basis of their scholastic preparation and intellectual capacity. All applicants shall have maintained a B average in their undergraduate work, provide three letters of recommendation and take the General Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Applicants for study in biomedical engineering should have a bachelor's degree in engineering or science, with the following minimum preparation: 

• Biology - two semesters of molecular-based biology
• Mathematics - calculus, differential equations, and statistics; one semester of computer programming highly recommended.
• Physics - two semesters, modern physics recommended
• Chemistry - two semesters; biochemistry or organic chemistry recommended
• Engineering - one course in basic electrical engineering, and introductory courses in two of the following three areas: materials science or biomaterials, mechanics or fluid mechanics, transport or heat and/or mass transfer.  Courses in instrumentation and systems physiology are highly recommended.
• Research or Design Experience - highly recommended.

Special plans may be made on an individual basis for students who are highly prepared in one area, but underprepared in another.  Students seeking admission without this background should be prepared to take these courses.  Such courses cannot be counted toward graduate degree requirements and are ordinarily not included as part of tuition scholarship awards.

Applicants should have a minimum 3.0/4.0 grade point average overall, in the last two years of undergraduate study, and in their major field. 

Applicants must take the basic quantitative, verbal and analytical portions of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for admission.  Minimum expected GRE scores for acceptance are 500 verbal, 750 quantitative, 4.5 analytical writing.  

Students for whom English is not the primary language must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination.  A minimum score of 550 is required.

Admission to the program is competitive and limited by financial support and available positions in laboratories.  Qualifications of an applicant are judged relative to the qualifications of the entire applicant pool.  Although admission is restricted by the above minimum criteria, the actual admission standard for a particular semester may be considerably higher.  For example, the average undergraduate GPA of new graduate students in recent years has been above 3.5 and the average verbal GRE score is 600.

Admission to the doctoral program is based on the undergraduate preparation outlined above, 24 hours of acceptable postgraduate course work and evidence of potential for research as exemplified by previous courses, experience and passage of a program examination covering basic knowledge in biomedical engineering.

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      * - opens in a new window                                     updated 12/20/2005