8 min reading time

As originally asked by Sheryl E. Chocron-Spieler.

These days there’s a lot of talk about over-education and it leaves me wondering…

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Jamie Dossett-Mercer
Market Research Analyst/Advisor at Dossett-Mercer and Associates, Inc
If your thesis research is closely tied to something of strategic value to the R&D pipeline of a player that can pay you, and if you create value for them, then your doctoral work is less likely to be done in isolation of that for which employers will pay. As well, your PhD will be line line with intellectual property generation of direct concern to a future employer.

Full time or part time or interning, in the end try to get “with” those people WHO can make your PhD align with where you need to be several years from now. Find a forward thinking prof with a network of grads peppered into the industry sector of appeal to you and you’ve got your program.

Key this alignment and something that passes for experience. Try to find a way to spend concurrent time on both sides of the fence, and if at all possible tie your thesis research into alignment with new product development that matters while getting your academic merit work covered.

Find a supervisor who is interested in scoping out unmet medical need before doing R&D such that your research has commercial relevance and can help companies make money now and you mitigate your risk.

Serdar Kiykioglu
Class-II/III Active Implantable Medical Devices | Neuromodulation | Lean Six Sigma
In my humble opinion, this question does not have a single answer for the medical device industry or for any other industry to that matter.

For every individual and for every specific role, it should be clear as to what this person needs to do and accomplish in order to be considered valuable.

Wade (Weidong) Tong
Principal Sci at Front End R&D, turn technology into innovation
I would recommend a PhD student to gain intern experience at industry. This may balance the “overqualified” perspective. This will help to gain entrance to industry.

Ajay Ojha
Primary Examiner at USPTO
You may consider getting a job after masters and than decide if you want to pursue a PhD. I know many who have taken this approach very successfully.

Jerry Robinson
Consulting Designer: mHealth, IoT, Embedded Products, Wireless Commun, Consumer, and Disruptive Innovation Tech.
This has always been an interesting quetion.. I have played “both sides of it”….

On the one hand… For “no degree endorsement”….
There is Gates, Jobs, Eads, Cochran… etc…

On the other hand…
If someone was doing open heart surgery on you…. would a No Degree or MA be an acceptable educational qualifier?

no one real answer, I guess…

I can’t really comment on employer mentality… these days.. is all about minimum wage people or automated computer software – looking at your resume for buzzwords….

As one Dean of UT in San Antonio said….. “If Picasso rose from the dead – I STILL could not hire him… ” that is the the brutal hiring mentality out there in many places…

I do know this much… if you are 4 years into this process – then don’t quit now. That is absolute gospel. Only about half or less of all Grad Students admitted to the PhD program finish it – so that matters a lot….

Toh Laurence
Quality & OHS Manager, Hayden Diamond Bit Industries Ltd
I fully agree with Joerg.

Amy Chaya
Global Product Director at DePuy Synthes Companies
Sheryl, Thank you so much for posting this question! I am in my 4th year as a bioengineering PhD student and plan to work in industry after graduation. I’ve also heard that some companies consider PhDs to be ‘overqualified’ or ‘too specific’ as you mentioned. It has been very uplifting to see so much positive feedback throughout these comments! In my opinion, though I’m obviously biased, I think that having a PhD not only shows your expertise in a specific area, but shows that you are a dedicated problem solver, capable of working both independently and in collaboration, and an expert project manager. I am hoping that communicating these skills to potential employers will help break down the mentality that PhD students are just expert researchers.

Paul M. Stein
Chief Scientist, Inventor, and Entrepreneur – Dedicated to the Treatment of Critical Unmet Medical Needs
Joerg is totally correct. Your specific worth should be viewed for what you bring to the table, no matter what degrees you have. In your graduate career, you need to be true to yourself, but it is great that you are keeping your peripheral vision. You should discuss career options with as many knowledgable minds as possible, both in academia and industry. (I find that most academics only know what it takes to get a job exactly like the one they have right now…and that will be pretty useless advice for most people.) Use LinkedIn heavily to develop as many connections as possible to help you out. You want to do things right, not waste your time, and end up in a place you are comfortable and satisfied.

Joerg Schulze-Clewing
Electronics Design Consultant
Sheryl, if you ever hear someone from a company express such a narrowminded viewpoint like “PhDs have knowledge that is too specific” my advice would be: Run! Look for a company where they are more open, where people matter instead of degrees. I have worked with several excellent folks on engineering projects who have no degree at all. Their companies have realized what an asset they are, regardless of academic achievements.

Sheryl E. Chocron-Spieler
Business Strategy | Oncology | Science-Analytic Background
I’m glad to see different points of view.
I am starting my graduate program. And I originally started thinking about this question after speaking with some local companies and hearing that they were only accepting MS students (not PhD’s) because they thought those with PhD’s had knowledge that was too specific.

I was surprised to hear that because I believe that students in a PhD-track learn way more than the technicalities of their project. I thought it was very close-minded for this company to make that statement, and wondered how many think that way.Thanks everyone for your responses!

Toh Laurence
Quality & OHS Manager, Hayden Diamond Bit Industries Ltd
Personally, I would think a Biomedical Engineering degree would be sufficient and more cost effective in long run. In fact, every engineer with basic degree is equipped with basic engineering / technical skills, project management skills, research skills … etc. Given sufficient coaching and guidance, probably he or she can achieve the desired outputs. In long runs, they will become highly motivated and committed individuals contributing significant added-values to support the growth of the business. Subsequently, some outstanding individuals will be identified and groom to become key appointment holders forming the back borne of the organization. Truly, this is a win-win approach that will benefit the organization as well as individuals.

In fact, it is very rare to come across a few “good men” – potential candidates with good characters (eg. right attitude, humble, integrity, honesty …etc), excellent listening & interpersonal skills, critical thinking skills, trustworthy leadership, loyalty and many more in the wish list. In my past many years working experience in the medical device industries, I have seen many people come and go. Many of them joined the organization, acquired skills & experiences and subsequently resigned and moved to a better job elsewhere in a short span (1~2yrs) of employment. Probably, all of us can visualize the negative impacts to the organization as well as to the other employees working for the organization.

Lastly, we ought to re-examine the job functions and seriously look into the right candidate selection criteria (not limit to PhD and MS qualification). We have to seriously look into other aspects on Knowledge (includes technologies) Retention, People Development and Talents Retention program. These are part of the essential elements in building a sustainable business.

Jagu Barot
Design & Development Engineer, Quality Engineer, Manufacturing/Project Engineer
Combine the academic qualifications with intuition, imagination, dexterity, vision, discipline and dedication. PhD or MS are passports to enter the world of Science. The qualities above are essential to get best utility of those passports. Besides, what do you want that individual to do in the Industry?

Mark J. Kania, MBA.
Regional Vice President of Sales at InfoBionic Digital Health
A Biomedical Engineering degree seems very valuable in that those positions are always in demand, especially in the startup community.

Joerg Schulze-Clewing
Electronics Design Consultant
Jerry, that depends on the job and also on the relationship. I rarely ever encounter a potential client who wants to negotiate my rate. They have a task at hand, want it done prontissimo, and just sign. Same with employees where I sometimes help them find specialists. I advise them to put down an attractive pay package right off the bat and they always do. Academic grade is not all that important in those searches. Trying to pay the least when looking for engineering talent will usually backfire badly.

And yeah, I bought the Sawzall the next day. The original, and that pays off if you use it a lot like I do.

Jerry Robinson
Consulting Designer: mHealth, IoT, Embedded Products, Wireless Commun, Consumer, and Disruptive Innovation Tech.
Joerg…

did you get the Sawzall? I bought the much cheaper Harbor Freight version this weekend.. I think its all about the blades…. Blades are closes tt to the cutting..

Jerry Robinson
Consulting Designer: mHealth, IoT, Embedded Products, Wireless Commun, Consumer, and Disruptive Innovation Tech.
Employers…

want to pay the least they can for the most “authoritative” work. I don’t think it is just a PhD versus MA/MS type answer. Whatever the case – don’t equate education level with expected income. That will mostly be wrong. There are usually full job studies done in each field – and more… Glassdoor.com is one place – and there are a lot more – to find actual info.

In Academia – there might be some equivalence… but that is a completely different issue.

Kim Nielsen, RN, BSN
Healthcare Management Professional
A PhD is very advantageous in Biomedics as there is an enormous range of research and growth in this industry. As to whether a PhD or master’s prepared candidate is more suitable for a position depends, to a great degree, on the position requirements.

The difference in preparation between individuals with master’s degrees and PhDs is considerable. Obviously, the time commitment for a PhD is substantial – many years versus, perhaps, two years for a master’s. Then, there is content. The PhD becomes a true expert in the field of study versus merely knowledgeable. Most important, for this question, is that the PhD requires extensive research – an activity not normally conducted to any great extent by a master’s student. Thus, in this case, it would seem that a PhD would be the better candidate.

However, the requirements for many positions are often overestimated. It is likely that many positions requiring a PhD could be even better served by a person with a master’s degree if that individual brought relevant practical experience, well-developed critical thinking skills and some “street smarts”. Applicants for such positions should explore this possibility with the hiring executive and emphasize their specific talent.

That said, in my experience as a medical technology assessment writer, I reviewed many sets of research conducted by PhDs. Rarely did I see work, either in quality or quantity, from master’s prepared professionals to compare with that of the PhDs. If the position in question has a heavy emphasis on research, the PhD is probably essential.

On a practical note, I have personal experience in making just these kinds of evaluations. One of my children is a PhD and the other is master’s prepared.

Paul M. Stein
Chief Scientist, Inventor, and Entrepreneur – Dedicated to the Treatment of Critical Unmet Medical Needs
Tough question. It really matters what research area the candidate works in; how marketable the person will be to the industry…or on his or her own. The industry is changing rapidly. Trying to get a “job” is less and less possible, so making it on one’s own in a personal start-up may be becoming the new norm.

Joerg Schulze-Clewing
Electronics Design Consultant
Plus MDs with a solid technical background 🙂

After moving to the US one of our clinical advisers, a cardiologist, explained to me in great detail that I needed to buy a Milwaukee Sawzall and about all the things that can be done with it when owning a wood-frame house. Like how to add another section to the house. Another cardiologist was discussing C-code for a user interface with our software engineer.