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HEALTHCARE ENGINEERING JOBS

 

In general, engineers are in high demand in almost all sectors of the healthcare industry.  Healthcare industry is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries, and is projected to add more new jobs than most other industries. Occupations related to healthcare, including healthcare support occupations such as healthcare engineering professionals, are projected to increase significantly in the coming years. 

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The increase in healthcare jobs is, in part, due to the increase of the aging population.  Regardless of the condition of economy, people always need healthcare.  Even during difficult financial times, governments often increase spending on infrastructure initiatives in areas such as healthcare, that will continue to pay dividends in the long term.  The demand for healthcare engineers grows with the healthcare industry accordingly.

Why should engineers consider jobs in healthcare?

  • To work in one of the largest and fastest-growing industries with favorable long-term career prospects and stability.

  • To be able to directly benefit human life and health as an engineer.

Healthcare industry needs engineers from almost all engineering disciplines, such as biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, materials, mechanical, and systems engineering. However, many engineers and engineering students tend to ignore the job opportunities in healthcare due to the myth that only biomedical engineers can work in healthcare. In fact, there are multiple times more jobs in chemical, computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering than biomedical in healthcare. The term "healthcare engineer" is thus most appropriate for engineers from all different disciplines working in healthcare.

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Healthcare engineering professionals perform their jobs in/with/for the healthcare industry.  Major sectors of healthcare industry along with healthcare engineering professional activities are summarized in the table below.

Anchor 1

Healthcare Engineering Jobs

Healthcare Industry 
Sector

Roles of Engineering/Technology in Healthcare

Healthcare Providers

Hospital

Clinic

Dentist

Allied health

Optician

Nursing home

Rehabilitation facility

Retirement center

Others

Healthcare engineering/technology professionals play key roles in creating and developing hardware and software to innovate, support, improve and optimize the operation processes and systems of patient care, and to improve patient outcomes through engineering approaches/methods. 

Manufacturers of Medical Devices,

Equipment, and

Supplies

Manufacturer/distributor of medical device /equipment/supplies in:

  • Anesthesiology

  • Cardiovascular

  • Clinical Chemistry

  • Dental

  • Ear, Nose and Throat

  • Gastroenterology and Urology

  • General and Plastic Surgery

  • General Hospital and Personal Use

  • Hematology

  • Immunology

  • Microbiology

  • Neurology

  • Obstetrical and Gynecological

  • Ophthalmic

  • Orthopedic

  • Pathology

  • Physical Medicine

  • Radiology

  • Toxicology

  • Others

This is an area heavily relying on engineering/technology expertise, and where healthcare engineering professionals make major contributions in basic research, together with health scientists and healthcare professionals, that leads to technology breakthroughs, as well as subsequent design, development, and manufacturing of medical devices, equipment, and supplies of improved performance following special regulations.

Healthcare Systems

Companies that specialize in healthcare systems including facilities, information, financial and other systems.

Healthcare engineering professionals work with healthcare providers to design, construct, improve, and/or operate healthcare facilities, information, financial, and other healthcare systems, following special regulations.

Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals

Companies engaged in research into and development of biological substances leading to new drugs and/or medical procedures.

Manufacturers of prescription or over-the-counter drugs.

Healthcare engineering/technology professionals lead or participate in research and development of cutting-edge technologies for new drugs (including drug discovery, design, development, and delivery) and advanced medical procedures for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of illnesses, as well as pharmaceutical manufacturing processes in terms of process design, unit operation, quality control, and cost reduction.  

Healthcare Consulting, Support and Education

Healthcare engineering/technology professionals provide consulting service, support, and education on all aspects of healthcare involving engineering, such as optimizing healthcare operations, solving problems, providing informatics service, as well as designing, planning and/or executing new projects.

Companies that provide consulting service and support to healthcare, as well as continued education to healthcare personnel.

Employer

Consulting/support engineering
Healthcare providers
Manufacturers of medical devices/equipment/supplies
Healthcare systems
Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
Training & education engineering
Healthcare providers
Manufacturers of medical devices/equipment/supplies
Healthcare systems
Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
Others

Automation engineering

Biomedical engineering

Chemical engineering

Computer science/engineering

Consulting engineering

Data science/engineering

Electrical engineering

Field engineering

Industrial engineering jobs

Information
technology/engineering

Manufacturing engineering

Materials science/engineering

Mechanical engineering

Process engineering

Product engineering

Quality engineering

Research & development 
engineering

Safety engineering

Software engineering

Systems engineering

Others

Civil/construction engineering

Computer science/engineering

Consulting engineering

Data science/engineering

Energy engineering

Facilities engineering

Industrial engineering

Information 
technology/engineering

Infrastructure engineering

Quality engineering

Safety engineering

Software engineering

Systems engineering

Telecommunication engineering

Others

Automation engineering
Biomedical engineering
Chemical engineering
Clinical engineering
Computer science/engineering
Consulting engineering
Control engineering
Data science/engineering
Design engineering
Electrical engineering
Electronic engineering
Field engineering
Industrial engineering
Manufacturing engineering
Materials science/engineering
Mechanical engineering
Product engineering
Quality engineering
Research & development
engineering
Sales engineering
Safety engineering
Software engineering
Supply chain engineering
Systems engineering
Telecommunication engineering
Testing engineering
Others

Biomedical engineering
Chemical engineering
Civil engineering
Clinical engineering
Computer science/engineering
Consulting engineering
Data science/engineering
Electrical engineering
Energy engineering
Environmental engineering
Facilities engineering
Field engineering
Industrial engineering
Information technology/engineering
Infrastructure engineering
Mechanical engineering
Medical device service 
engineering
Quality engineering
Safety engineering
Software engineering
Supply chain engineering
Surgery engineering
Systems engineering
Telecommunication engineering
Others

Healthcare Engineering Job Function

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