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The differences between biomedical engineers and clinical engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a biomedical engineer and a clinical engineer. Additionally, a biomedical engineer has an average salary of $79,436, which is higher than the $75,883 average annual salary of a clinical engineer.
The top three skills for a biomedical engineer include patients, medical devices and biomedical equipment. The most important skills for a clinical engineer are patient care, medical devices, and patients.
| Biomedical Engineer | Clinical Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $79,436 | $75,883 |
| Hourly rate | $38.19 | $36.48 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 33,662 | 80,770 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
As a biomedical engineer, it's their main job responsibility to innovate advances that can improve human health care in all aspects. They analyze and create solutions to certain problems with biology and medicine to improve the effectiveness and quality of patient care. They also do complex tasks that include installing, repairing, maintaining, or providing technical support for biomedical equipment. Moreover, checking safety evaluation, efficiency, and effectiveness of biomedical equipment is also part of their job responsibilities.
A clinical engineer is responsible for designing and creating medical equipment and technology for medical procedures and examinations. Clinical engineers maintain and inspect the performance of machinery regularly to ensure the accuracy of results and prevent potential hazards. They also conduct quality control tests to locate system failures and perform immediate troubleshooting as necessary. A clinical engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in identifying the most needed equipment for treating and diagnosing patients.
Biomedical engineers and clinical engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Biomedical Engineer | Clinical Engineer | |
| Average salary | $79,436 | $75,883 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $108,000 | Between $55,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Cornerstone Research | Regeneron |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a biomedical engineer and a clinical engineer in terms of educational background:
| Biomedical Engineer | Clinical Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Biomedical Engineering | Biomedical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between biomedical engineers' and clinical engineers' demographics:
| Biomedical Engineer | Clinical Engineer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.0% Female, 25.0% | Male, 77.3% Female, 22.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 20.1% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 14.1% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 13% |