PhD in Biomedical Engineering
This article is going to be very short, and that for a very simple reason. I haven't done, neither I am doing, a Ph.D. Therefore I have no experience to share about it. However, I want to do one in a couple of years.
Therefore, even if I cannot write complete articles on what doing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering is, yet; but we can still talk about a few considerations.
Why doing a Ph.D.?
There are many reasons for doing a Ph.D.
First is, of course, for knowledge itself. If you are knowledge-thirsty and you want to improve to the further recognized level in your field of study (or any field of study you are interested in), then Ph.D. is the final goal to achieve. Of course, you can always learn, more and more, but a Ph.D. brings you to another level of the education system. Do not forget that you need a master's to do a Ph.D.
On the other hand, it gives you a lot of skills you probably have not developed enough during your career, transferable ones, such as better communication skills, how to correctly write papers and do a proper search, solve complex problems, resistance, etc. If you already managed those aspects, you will reinforce them.
Furthermore, it is an open door to many job opportunities. Not only in research. For example, in my very personal case, almost all the jobs I would like to do later, like in ten years or so, ask for a Ph.D. That includes international government agencies and private enterprises.
Even, if you want to become a scientific writer, then you need a Ph.D. Did you know?
Of course, there are many reasons for doing a doctorate, but there are also reasons not to do it. You have to think about it carefully. There are many persons who begin a Ph.D. and never finish it. And there are many interesting jobs that do not ask for a Ph.D.
Where doing a PhD?
Well, nowadays, you have many options. I think the best thing is to do a very thoughtful previous search of what you are looking for. Which Ph.D., where (country and universities), for how long, with which teachers, what are my options after, what are the admission conditions, and so on.
N.B.: Choosing a Ph.D. implies quite a lot of time preparation. Even if you know which one you want and that you have the odds with you, you have to ask for it at least with one year of time.
Each person will have a very personal search, but in order to help you, I recommend you to use phdportal to make the search easier. It is a Ph.D. searcher with doctorates all around the world. It is a very interesting tool for discovering doctorates, and having a general view of what they are about, where, how much it costs, and the deadlines!
However, do not forget to enter the websites of each university that offer PhDs you are the most interested in, and even to contact the teachers!
About what doing a PhD?
And here we are at the most important question. As well as I said that the specialization during the career wasn't that important, because at that stage you still are at a very early level of your professional development, this is not at all the same. Here, the subject is capital because it will determine what you are working on (except if you do a Ph.D. out of passion).
I cannot tell you which subject you should choose, but be sure to choose the one you like enough to pass at least three years of your life working on it and the rest of your professional career doing things related to it.
If you want to know more about PhDs, you can go to the interviews section where you'll find people who are doing a master (or have just finished so).
