Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Background

Biomedical Engineering (BME) plays a crucial role in advancing healthcare. While BME graduate programs have expanded globally, Saudi Arabia faces a significant gap in this area. As the country shifts from being primarily a consumer to a producer in the healthcare sector, determining the essential knowledge and skills required for BME graduates to meet market demands becomes increasingly important.

Objective

This study aims to assess the need for a graduate-level BME program in Riyadh and to design a Master's program that aligns with international standards and industry requirements.

Methods

A comprehensive questionnaire was developed to evaluate the proposed program's coverage of BME fields, its relevance to current and future job market demands, and stakeholder feedback. The questionnaire was distributed to 45 managerial and executive-level BME professionals involved in hiring and policymaking.

Results

The findings indicated strong support for the program, with respondents affirming its comprehensiveness and alignment with industry needs. Public sector participants showed greater enthusiasm compared to the private sector, which preferred hiring candidates with existing qualifications. Additionally, 25% of respondents recommended incorporating regulatory and business courses to enhance the curriculum.

Conclusion

The results highlight the urgent need for graduate-level BME education in Saudi Arabia to support the country's healthcare objectives and better prepare graduates for the dynamic and evolving job market.

Keywords

Biomedical engineering master of science higher education job market job-education gap skill mismatch

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Budget | National Institutes of Health (NIH) [Internet], https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/budget (23 October 2023).

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bioengineers and biomedical engineers: occupational outlook handbook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [Internet], https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm#tab-1 (cited 23 October 2024).

Investment M of. The National Initiative for Global Supply Chains (JISRI).

Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources. The National Strategy for Industry. 2021.

Linsenmeier

Saterbak

. Fifty years of biomedical engineering undergraduate education. Ann Biomed Eng 2020; 48: 1590–1615. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10439-020-02494-0

Jendrucko

RJ.

The evolution of undergraduate biomedical engineering education and the professional opportunities for program graduates. Ann Biomed Eng 1976; 4: 17–24. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02363555

International Labour Office. Skills and jobs mismatches in low- and middle-income countries [Internet]. International Labour Organisation (ILO), https://www.ilo.org/publications/major-publications/skills-and-jobs-mismatches-low-and-middle-income-countries (2019, cited 21 October 2024).

Cappelli

. Skill gaps, skill shortages, and skill mismatches: evidence and arguments for the United States. Ind Labor Relations Rev 2015; 68: 251–290. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0019793914564961

McGuinness

Pouliakas

Redmond

How useful is the concept of skills mismatch? IZA discuss pap No 10786 [Internet], https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2979934 (2017, cited 22 October 2024).

10.

Weaver

Osterman

. Skill demands and mismatch in U.S. manufacturing. Ind Labor Relations Rev 2017; 70: 275–307.

11.

Figueiredo

Biscaia

Rocha

, et al. Should we start worrying? Mass higher education, skill demand and the increasingly complex landscape of young graduates’ employment. Stud High Educ 2017; 42: 1401–1420. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2015.1101754

12.

Grosemans

Vangrieken

Coertjens

, et al.

Education–job fit and work-related learning of recent graduates: head start or filling a gap?

J Career Dev. 2020; 48: 638–653. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0894845320904789

13.

Nocera

Ortiz-Rosario

Shermadou

, et al. How do biomedical engineering graduates differ from other engineers? Bridging the gap between BME and industry: a case study. In: ASEE Annu Conf Expo Conf Proc, 23 June 2018. 2018-June.

14.

Linsenmeier

. What makes a biomedical engineer? IEEE Eng Med Biol Mag 2003; 22: 32–38.

15.

AlRuthia

Al-Washali

Aljuhani

, et al. Exploring the value of a doctor of philosophy program in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy research in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Pharm J SPJ 2020; 28: 107–115. /pmc/articles/PMC6950942/

16.

Lhotska

. Biomedical engineering as health care profession. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol - Proc 2007; 2007: 5936–5939.

17.

da Ana

Lombello

. Biomedical engineering: history and areas of expertise Curr Trends Biomed Eng 2023: 1–13. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-38743-2_1

18.

Amos

Reuther

Markey

. Overview of biomedical engineering graduate education landscape. Biomed Eng Educ 2024; 4: 171–173. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43683-024-00155-5

19.

Prusak

. Learning environment in engineering technology with a high percentage of non-traditional students. ASEE Annu Conf Proc 1999; 1999: 3353–3362.

20.

Peters

Daly

. Returning to graduate school: expectations of success, values of the degree, and managing the costs. J Eng Educ 2013; 102: 244–268. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jee.20012

21.

Gray

Amos

Bailey

, et al.

BME Master’s programs: who are they for and what can they offer?

Biomed Eng Educ 2024; 4: 175–183. https://link-springer-com.sdl.idm.oclc.org/article/10.1007/s43683-024-00141-x

22.

Alzubaidi

. Education–job mismatch in Saudi Arabia: an analysis of horizontal mismatch among tertiary graduates. Al-Azhar J Educ 2022; 41: 549–582. https://jsrep.journals.ekb.eg/article_243674.html

23.

Zylla

JLS

Bomgni

Sani

, et al. Convergence research and training in computational bioengineering: a case study on AI/ML-driven biofilm–material interaction discovery. Biomed Eng Educ 2024; 4: 283–294. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43683-024-00146-6

24.

Adamo

Keegan

Boger

, et al. Just-In-Time education of FDA regulation and protection of intellectual property for medical products: a course review after our first 10 years. Biomed Eng Educ 2024; 4: 225–234. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43683-024-00134-w

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.02 MB

Assessing the need for biomedical engineering graduate programs in Saudi Arabia: A stakeholder perspective