Marie Kluge '02
4th year Veterinary Student at UW-Madison
Position Description:
Full-time student currently on clinical rotations
Necessary education or experience:
To be accepted into the Madison Veterinary school, 60 semester college credits, including
prerequisites (genetics, physics, biology, chemistry, organic
chemistry, biochemistry, statistics, English composition and some
social science) and GRE scores are required. Animal experience also is a large factor.
Do you think a degree in BE
is a good choice?
Biomedical engineering is not for everyone. It is demanding in that it
incorporates a lot of electrical and mechanical engineering. Also, the major
of biomedical engineering differs between schools. Prospective students
should research the career options and schools of interest to be better
informed on their college and choice of major.
Do you think MSOE is a good
choice of college?
It was good for me. I liked the smaller school size. For the most part,
I enjoyed my classes and the program. With the quarter system and the BE
curriculum, it is difficult to change majors if you decide biomedical engineering
is not for you.
Why did you choose MSOE's BE program?
I had an interest in engineering and medical sciences. Biomedical engineering seemed like
a way to bring those two together. MSOE has a Rapid Prototyping
Center and I wanted to work there. I was very interested in the BE projects they were researching.
What did you like about MSOE?
The Rapid Prototyping Center, the small school size, I was close to my family, and the location near the lake and east side of the city
What did you like about the BE program?
When I was in school, the BEs took a lot of classes with the electrical and mechanical engineers.
I enjoyed having classes with different majors and professors from other majors. I believe the
program forced you to be knowledgeable in electrical and mechanical engineering at the same level
of electrical and mechanical engineering students in those classes.
Now that you have graduated and are in the workforce,
are you happy with the education that you received in the BE program at MSOE?
Yes, I believe I received an excellent education. Engineering is a useful background in any graduate work you pursue.
The systematic process of thinking is key for problem solving.
Key skills that are necessary to be successful in your position:
A strong understanding of physiology, communication skills, problem-solving abilities and time-management.
A description of your path to your current position:
I have my B.S. in biomedical engineering. As for animal experience, I
volunteered at the Humane Society for a year, shadowed a small animal
and a large animal vet, and spent a year at the Medical College of
Wisconsin doing microsurgery as part of my research while finishing my
last year at MSOE. At UW-Madison, I've finished one year of classes,
and have two more years of classes, and a year of clinical rotations.
Good (and bad) aspects of your current position:
Good: On rotations, I spend most of my time with animals learning how to
use medicine in a practical way. Every day my cases are interesting and
often my patients make me laugh.Bad: My rotations change every two weeks. It's a little stressful to be changing your mind set from small animal to large, from medicine to surgery, from radiology to necropsy, etc. The hours this year have also been very long and my free time is restricted. I am looking forward to graduating.
Good: I loved my classes. Usually four or five people with Ph.D.s in the specific subject being taught teach the class. They're excited about almost everything they teach and you receive varied teaching styles having more than one professor for a class.
Bad: Long hours of lab - not too much different from MSOE.
Good: No lab notebook and almost no homework.
Bad: Huge amounts of material to remember. It's not too difficult to understand the material, but it can be a huge task to retain all of it. Cramming doesn't work for these classes.
Bad:Going to professional school is expensive. A semester of tuition is about 8,000. It's only going to go up from there.
| For information about MSOE's B.S. in Biomedical Engineering program, contact interim program director Dr. Charles Tritt at (414) 277-7421. |