This topic brings up an interesting point, especially when students are being worn thin between classes and internships/co-ops. In the end, I believe that all students should get experience working in their field of study. I agree that the colleges should try to build a better co-op program for the students but I also believe that there should be more options from the employers too. Coming from a Veterinary background, I know all about the dedication you need to have for your future goal. I had thousands of vet hours, but they were all volunteer vet hours. I would shadow under one person, and contact them directly to fit a few hours per week into my schedule. An option like this might be beneficial to the student that has a lot on their plate with classes. Yes, it was unpaid, but I gained loads of experience while showing dedication to the career field, and a few hours of experience every week added up to a lot of hours per year.

I'd lean more toward more co-ops or longer internships, due to the multiple years of experience employer often expect for a lot of jobs. For students, co-op can give the student the required experience while being able to juggle both full-time enrollment and full time-work at the same time. This also allows students easier access to potential permanent employment offers or working with people that can become part of their network later. How would you design credit or courses, so work adds experience as well-being educational over a semester?

I think there is certainly an unreasonable amount of pressure placed on students to differentiate themselves as much as possible from other candidates. As you mention, this is to the detriment of students mental well being trying to balance gaining "experience" from internships and co-ops but also education. I think this pressure is is not placed upon the student from their institution, but is more so placed on them from the ever growing expectations of industry for candidates to be "best fit" for a role. I've seen cases where students are participating in a internship, working in a lab, and pursuing coursework all at the same time. This more than likely has a large detrimental affect on these students mental health as they are constantly bombarded with work and have little to no time for personal activities or well being practices. I think the best course of action would be to flesh out school programs such as coops or actual coursework with content that is more practical to industry and less emphasis on theory and problems. And when I say problems I don't mean problem solving as I believe that is a critical part of being a biomedical engineer, but problems that exist just for the purpose of checking off boxes for a courses curriculum. 

The topic of this discussion is experience vs education, so I pose a new question to continue the discussion further, do you believe that industry places more importance on education or experience, or are they valued equally? If one is valued more, why do you think that is, and is it justified that it is that way. Lastly, is it better to pursue a higher form of education (masters, PhD) or to pursue practical and applicable work experience (internships, co-ops)?

Is it reasonable to expect students to manage both a full academic course load and significant professional work experience?

• I have gotten to know people who are working full-time but taking some classes. Most (and I) agree that practical experience outranks most academic teachings.
• I have gained much more experience and retainable knowledge in the field in six months (as a co-op) than I did in four years in college. Working with actual equipment and seeing your work take effect in the real world made me appreciate the time my coworkers took to teach me, and I have become more well-rounded & prepared because of it.
• At school, I have learned a lot, but not nearly enough to prepare me (or anyone) out of the gate. The "experience" we gain in college is mostly generalized to suit most industries, but it does not grant students the practical knowledge that is required to succeed in industry. 
  • i.e., specific software and machine experience, networking, certifications
• It is not reasonable for students to be expected to work and study full-time simultaneously. It will drive them into a direction of stress and confusion, especially during a period when they should be able to step back and think about their academic & professional trajectory.

Is there something you think colleges or industry can do to help foster early career development while also focusing on student well-being?

• Your point regarding modifying the curriculum to have more hands-on experience is something I would wholeheartedly champion. Schools should offer more streamlined avenues of experience through co-ops and internships that integrate specifically what they have learned in class. That way, they not only apply what they have learned with little to no learning curve, but also integrate themselves professionally.
  • This will allow students a direct pipeline to the company, making them more fit to be hired out of school.
• Companies can also improve by offering job-specific training through universities. Students can take these courses and learn about their preferred specialties. Students can then become certified at no additional cost, as their employer will pay for their certification.
  • If employers can guarantee their young employees' success, they will have less turnover and better performance from the students and the company as a whole.

As an undergrad student with no industry experience, my perspective is based off of what I have heard from others. I remember being in a seminar where the professor brought in a past student who is currently working in the industry. They asked what the most valuable class they took while in college that applies to their job, and they said that there was not a class that they could think of that applied to their job and that everything they learned for their job was taught to them there. Although I know that these classes are setting us up with the knowledge we need for the industry, it seems that if there was more emphasis on a co-op program or on making sure the classes emphasis more of the essential information that will be useful. It is scary to think that all the course load we take on is not enough to equip us for the workforce. On the other hand, I think you learn about more in college than just information. I think if you do college right, then you learn life skills that will be applied to the industry. For example, you acquire a work ethic that should carry into the industry. As to @jacobchabuel questions, I think the industry puts more emphasis on experience and what you can fill a resume with rather than education. I agree with this emphasis because I think experience teaches a lot more than education. 

Similarly to what Natalie mentioned, I do not have biomedical industry/work experience in the field and I have to talk from what I've heard from others and what I would expect. To express my thought on the initial question on the topic: I think it is on the less reasonable side to expect that much of a workload of studying as well as trying to gather work experience at the same time. The demographics at the university is so diverse and different that it's really hard to pinpoint a reasonable one size fits all. Me personally, I found the best ways I have learned was a lesson of instruction followed by actively doing the work as if you were in the setting. A good example of this would some of the longer labs where the instruction occurred and then the rest was working with the material (for example analyzing cell proliferation, mechanical testing of biomaterials or creating hydrogels). When it occurs as frequent schedule with the same structure, I find it better (rather than a class of instruction one day and then lab a week later, which might not even be the same material).

Similarly in the topic, my biggest fear I think is when watching Lecture 1.2. Not entirely exactly, but I fear learning all this information at the school, to sort of then go to my first job and not know what is going on. I understand that a lot of the learning occurs when you go to work, but I do not want to feel useless or helpless when I work. From what I have heard from others, that might just be part of the experience, so learning from everyone else is definitely a good boon. 

I think it is reasonable for students to want both strong academics and professional experience, and that colleges should have some type of system in place to make it more manageable, especially with all the money we pay in tuition. Using my internship as an example, I went into the field clueless about a lot of industry standards simply because they weren’t taught in school. From my perspective, I like to take into account the time, effort, and money a lot of college students put in in order to make sure they pass their classes and graduate with a degree. With that being said, I find it unreasonable for colleges to expect us to find the actual key knowledge about how industry works on our own time. The reality is, the job market is so competitive now that having just a degree isn’t always enough, so internships and co-ops really do give students an edge. But expecting them to juggle a full load of classes and a full-time internship at the same time can sometimes be unrealistic. 

I like the previous point about colleges cutting back on some of the less practical courses. If schools balanced their programs with more hands-on, career-relevant work, students wouldn’t feel like they had to overload themselves just to be “marketable.” So yes, students do need that experience, but it should be structured in a way that supports their well-being instead of draining it. For instance, Njit BMES once held an event with Dr. Crombie about medical device design standards. Even though the event was only an hour and a half long I learnt a lot of things about how to develop engineered designs, and I even found that some of the lessons had overlapped with what I had also learned while on my internship. If this material were offered in the classroom, it would be beneficial to a lot more students, and even if they don’t have any internship experience, they would still be able to “market” their knowledge to recruiters. 

In that same thought, I would like to ask if anyone else ever feels like they're constantly competing with their peers to see who can have the most internships/lap experience to make sure they're “well rounded” even if it is draining their social battery?

I think it is often unrealistic to expect students to fully manage both a demanding academic course load and significant professional work experience at the same time. While internships, Co-Ops, or research opportunities are extremely beneficial for career development, balancing them with rigorous coursework can create stress, fatigue, and even burnout. Students may feel pressure to handle everything on their own just to remain competitive in the job market, but that expectation doesn’t always account for individual's well-being and mental health.

I’ve seen this firsthand through a friend of mine who became overwhelmed trying to manage both his classes and professional commitments. The stress eventually took a toll on his mental health, and he began to feel like college wasn’t for him. I had to remind him that these challenges, while difficult, are often temporary, and that things will improve with time and support. His experience really highlighted for me the importance of addressing student well-being alongside career development.

I believe colleges and industry partners could take steps to make this balance more manageable. For example, companies could also offer more flexible or part-time internships designed around academic schedules, ensuring that students still gain exposure without sacrificing their studies. Additionally, career centers could provide more resources on networking, skill-building, and mentorship so that professional development is not solely tied to intensive work commitments.

Ultimately, fostering early career development should be about creating sustainable opportunities that prepare students for the workforce while still protecting their mental health. Do you guys think it would be better for colleges to integrate professional experience into our curriculum directly, or should that responsibility remain primarily with companies through internships and Co-Ops? I feel as though this is a question that has yet to be answered by a professional institution/company.

To answer @NaomiAlves question, while many students feel constant pressure to compete over internships or lab experience, I don’t view it that way. Among my friends in my major, I truly want the best for them, and I trust that my time will come. Jealousy or envy doesn’t change outcomes, it only makes you feel worse. I believe focusing on meaningful experiences and personal growth is far more valuable than constantly comparing yourself to others.

For this I can't really speak from experience as I haven't worked in industry, but it does seem as if the industry does put a lot of emphasis on what you can put on your resume. I do however know people that had internships and full time student as. For some of their experiences they found it hard to not only balance a work and school, but to also have good mental health doing it. They also found some of the class and thing they learned from school work wasn't really applicable as to there job and found the the experience they got was way more valuable than what they were learning in class. I do how ever think that having an education is good, but doesn't teach some of the necessary skills need for the ways to find information and thrive in a work environment. One thing that school is good for is to build connection with classmate and professor, which could ultimately lead to something in the future. Overall it would be better to get work experience while in school, but the only does side is that mental health. Having not only a internship and being in school full time can lead to burn out and being in not a great mental state over time.