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Biomedical engineer vs pharmacist

The differences between biomedical engineers and pharmacists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a pharmacist has an average salary of $118,968, which is higher than the $79,436 average annual salary of a biomedical engineer.

The top three skills for a biomedical engineer include patients, medical devices and biomedical equipment. The most important skills for a pharmacist are patients, customer service, and employee development.

Biomedical engineer vs pharmacist overview

Biomedical EngineerPharmacist
Yearly salary$79,436$118,968
Hourly rate$38.19$57.20
Growth rate10%2%
Number of jobs33,66250,943
Job satisfaction53.67
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age3842
Years of experience2-

What does a biomedical engineer do?

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.

What does a pharmacist do?

Pharmacists are medical experts who distribute prescribed medications and immunizations to individuals. They are responsible for ensuring the quality of medicines supplied to patients, which should be within the law and prescribing only what is suitable to the condition of the user and provide proper knowledge on how to take them and possible reactions or side effects that may occur. Pharmacists could work in all environments where medications are used, or medication therapy is appraised as part of patients' care plan but most commonly in hospitals, community-based setting, and health systems.

Biomedical engineer vs pharmacist salary

Biomedical engineers and pharmacists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Biomedical EngineerPharmacist
Average salary$79,436$118,968
Salary rangeBetween $57,000 And $108,000Between $93,000 And $151,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASacramento, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyCornerstone ResearchSafeway
Best paying industryTechnologyRetail

Differences between biomedical engineer and pharmacist education

There are a few differences between a biomedical engineer and a pharmacist in terms of educational background:

Biomedical EngineerPharmacist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common majorBiomedical EngineeringPharmacy
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Biomedical engineer vs pharmacist demographics

Here are the differences between biomedical engineers' and pharmacists' demographics:

Biomedical EngineerPharmacist
Average age3842
Gender ratioMale, 75.0% Female, 25.0%Male, 43.2% Female, 56.8%
Race ratioBlack 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, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 5.6% Asian, 20.9% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage13%11%

Differences between biomedical engineer and pharmacist duties and responsibilities

Biomedical engineer example responsibilities.

  • Lead writing of new grant submissions to agencies such as the NIH, NIA, and VA.
  • Implement modifications to place equipment for 12-lead ECG investigation that lead to changes in accept monitoring standards.
  • Manage routine small projects without assistance and support larger projects for improvements to the quality system as approved by management.
  • Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
  • Present test results of various medical instruments in hospital in team meetings using PowerPoint.
  • Experience in OSHA, AAMI and HIPA standards.
  • Show more

Pharmacist example responsibilities.

  • Perform diabetes interviews along with physician collaboration agreement to manage therapy and optimal goals.
  • Dose and manage all Vancomycin and Aminoglycoside antibiotics throughout the entire hospital including overseeing, evaluating, and ordering antibiotic labs.
  • Perform critical care and oncology medication therapy management reviews for all patients assign to both satellite pharmacies.
  • Assist with transition to new computer system pending start of permanent PIC.
  • Deliver approximately 20K prescriptions per day to patients through budgeting Dr. Andy Nguyen, Pharm.
  • Provide small-group formal educational presentations for cardiac rehabilitation patients.
  • Show more

Biomedical engineer vs pharmacist skills

Common biomedical engineer skills
  • Patients, 11%
  • Medical Devices, 8%
  • Biomedical Equipment, 7%
  • Patient Care, 6%
  • FDA, 6%
  • Electrical Safety, 5%
Common pharmacist skills
  • Patients, 22%
  • Customer Service, 11%
  • Employee Development, 8%
  • Allergies, 6%
  • Patient Care, 6%
  • Drug Therapy, 5%

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