Assessing a Career in Business:

Prosthesis Engineering
Job Description
In general the job description of a prosthesis engineer is research, design, development,
and fabrication of prosthesis (Lucas, 2014). The daily work day includes working on multiple
projects, (multiple prosthetics being prepared for multiple patients), collaborating with team
members, making notes of progress and development, creating, and assembling different parts of
a prosthesis, and communicating with new patients for design of a prosthesis.

General Career Path

Most people become prosthesis engineers through an internship or a work training
program, after they have received a masters or a specialized degree equivalent (Draper, 2015).
Biomedical engineers work in many different environments. They work in schools, hospitals,
research facilities, medical device manufacturing, and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities
(collegegrad.com, 2015). Looking at prosthesis engineers specifically, (a subfield of biomedical
engineering) they work at the research, development, and manufacturing of medical devices
facilities.

General Education Experience

There are a few education paths that are commonly taken. The most basic is getting a
bachelors, and masters degree in biomedical engineering and then looking for an internship or
work training. Another way is to get a bachelors degree in any chosen field and then to apply to a

prosthetics and orthotics program for further education. These degrees are an equivalent to a
masters degree. Yet another path, that can be a little more complex, is getting a bachelors and
masters degree with a major in any engineering field and a minor in a field that is more specific
to prosthetics engineering (Hooper, 2015). Schools with biomedical engineering programs, or
bioengineering programs are limited, but even more limited are schools with prosthetics and
orthotics programs.

Average Salary
$86,960 in a year is the median salary for biomedical engineers, (collegegrad.com, 2015).
The pay does vary depending on the industry a prosthesis engineer works in (collegegrad.com,
2015). The Starting pay for biomedical engineers in research and development is around
$55,000, (Hooper, 2015).

Career Outlook
There is an estimated growth of almost 30% with around 5,200 new jobs
(collegegrad.com, 2015). Biomedical engineering is a fairly small field, but it is definitely
expected to grow in the future. This positive outlook presumes expansion in this field.

Bio of Someone in the Profession

Dave Draper is the department head of prosthetics and orthotics at the Shriners Hospital
in Salt Lake City. He went to school at UCLA, graduating from their prosthetics and orthotics
program. He is married, and has two kids. His family lives in Kaysville. He typically meets with
patients, and makes molds and design schematics based on the individual patients needs for their
personalized prosthesis. The schematics are then taken to the lab for fabrication of the prosthesis.

Dave does help with fabrication on occasion, but typically he gives the schematics and any other
specific instructions to his technicians who fabricate the prosthesis for him. He is present to give
his patients their prosthesis and help them learn to use their new prosthesis. Because Shriners
Hospital is for children, he sees many of the same patients repeatedly for new prosthesis as they
grow, (Draper, 2015).

Pros and Cons

I will first go over the pros, and then the cons afterwards. In my mind, the pros of this
career are the following: helping people, working on a team, (usually), variety in the job, (the
projects, and problems are different every day), a high salary, work that stimulates the mind,
hands on, and a service to the community for the greater good.
The cons of this career are: dealing with people, working on a team, and sometimes being
required to work longer, and off hours to complete projects.

Your fit With this Career

I am more interested in the research, development, and fabrication side of biomedical/
prosthesis engineering. I have always been intrigued by science and technology, and I believe
this career is a good combination of those two things. Also, I really enjoy helping people, which
draws me to the medical side of things. Prosthesis engineering is a good mix of all these
elements. I am patient, and good with people. Since there will be many challenges to overcome,
problems to solve, and people to deal with, I think it is a very fitting for my career that will
utilize these characteristics. I hope to be married someday and have a family, so naturally I
would like to be able to support my future family. This career would allow me to do so

comfortably. I am also a musician, and enjoy writing, playing, and performing music. I need a
career that would allow me to have time for such activities, and I believe a career in prosthesis
engineering could allow for this, as well as being able to fund such endeavors. Overall, I think I
am a good fit for this career.

Sources
Hooper, B. (2015, January 30). [E-mail interview].

Draper, D. (2015, August 27). [Personal interview].

Advanced Arm Dynamics - Published Articles. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015,
from http://armdynamics.com/pages/published-articles

Bioengineering Department | UC San Diego. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015,

from http://be.ucsd.edu/undergraduate

Biomedical Engineers. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015, from

https://collegegrad.com/careers/biomedical-engineers

Home - U of U Biomedical Engineering. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015, from

http://www.bioen.utah.edu/

Lucas, J. (2014, September 25). What Is Biomedical Engineering? Retrieved

November 24, 2015, from http://www.livescience.com/48001-biomedicalengineering.html

University of Virginia | Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME). (n.d.).

Retrieved November 24, 2015, from http://bme.virginia.edu/