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Engineering in Healthcare Graduate Certificate Creates New Pathway for Engineers Looking for a Change

November 06, 2019

The Engineering in Healthcare graduate certificate assists engineering graduates with morphing their careers into the healthcare field.

The healthcare industry continues to boom, providing lucrative careers to engineers within it. But what if an engineer wants to transition to a new career in healthcare? Is getting an entirely new degree necessary? Not at the University of Kentucky thanks to the Engineering in Healthcare graduate certificate.

The purpose of the Engineering in Healthcare graduate certificate is to assist graduates in engineering and select science and mathematics undergraduate programs with morphing their careers into the healthcare field. Graduates preparing for medical or dental careers can utilize the “gap year” between undergraduate studies and medical school to complete the certificate. This will provide exposure to medicine and assist with success in the basic science educational component of these professional schools.

This certificate also allows graduates to formally explore biomedical engineering without committing to a master’s degree program. Curriculum for the Engineering in Healthcare certificate allows students the flexibility to attain their self-perceived educational needs. There are two required courses, but students may choose the remainder of their certificate studies—a minimum of nine credits, which is typically three courses—from a variety of biomedical engineering and physiology courses that include classroom instruction, independent study and hands-on laboratory research. Students may choose to gain a broad perspective, or they may choose a cluster of related courses that will allow them to gain expertise in a particular field.

Prospective students for this certificate must have earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from an ABET-accredited post-secondary school (or equivalent) or a bachelor’s degree in biology, chemistry, mathematics or physics, and obtained an official GPA of 3.0 or greater at the institution granting the bachelor’s degree. Applicants must supply an official transcript demonstrating successful completion (grade B or better) in each of two courses (minimum six credit-hours total) of college mathematics (consisting of differential and integral calculus). 

Application for admission to the Engineering in Healthcare Certificate is accomplished via the UK Graduate School by using Hobson’s “Apply Yourself” on-line application network. More than 700 colleges and universities use this application network. Admission to this certificate requires completion of the noted application form and submission of an undergraduate transcript. No examinations or letters of recommendation are required.

For more information, please email the certificate director at pienkow@uky.edu.