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Louisiana Tech University Biomedical Engineering Program

Policies on Graduate Student Coursework

The following policies will apply to all students being admitted as of spring quarter 2004.

I. Entrance Requirements

For admission to the MS program in Biomedical Engineering, the student must fulfill all of the following criteria:

1. A bachelor’s or degree in Biomedical Engineering or a related field (e.g. another engineering discipline, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine or mathematics).
2. Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above (students from countries that operate on a percentage basis will be required to have a GPA of 65% or above).
3. Composite verbal plus quantitative GRE score of 1070.
4. Demonstrated undergraduate coursework in the 5 key areas listed in section III below.

For admission to the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering, the student must fulfill all of the following criteria:

1. A bachelor’s or medical degree in Biomedical Engineering or a related field (e.g. another engineering discipline, physics, chemistry, biology, or mathematics).
2. Undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or above (students from countries that operate on a percentage basis will be required to have a GPA of 65% or above).
3. Composite verbal plus quantitative GRE score of 1270.
4. Demonstrated undergraduate coursework in the 5 key areas listed in section III below.

or

1. A MS or other post-bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering or a related field, (e.g. other engineering disciplines, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, or mathematics.
2. Graduate GPA of 3.5 or above.
3. Composite verbal plus quantitative GRE score of 1170.
4. Demonstrated undergraduate coursework in the 5 key areas listed in section III below.

The above requirements do not guarantee admission.

II. Requirements for College-Funded Assistantships

To obtain a college-funded assistantship at the MS level, a student must satisfy all of the requirements below.

1. Have GRE scores of 1170 or above.

2. Have graduate status.

3. Have unconditional admission status.

4. Have submitted all deliverables required for the given quarter (e.g. Plan of Study by the end of the first quarter, Proposal by the end of the second quarter).

5. Have demonstrated satisfactory progress on their plan of study, defined as completing, on average, 15 of the semester hours listed on their plan of study (excluding research and thesis or research and dissertation) in the first year of study and 12 semester hours per year each year afterward until all non-research courses in the plan of study are completed.

Note: According to COES policy, students on college-funded assistantships are required to devote an appropriate amount of time on college-related duties, which generally means assisting in the teaching and grading of courses. Work required for the student to complete his/her thesis or dissertation is not considered college-related in this context.

III. Purpose of coursework

The program considers the masters degree in biomedical engineering to indicate an understanding of key engineering concepts and the ability to perform directed research in an area of biomedical engineering. Therefore, the coursework undertaken by students will serve two purposes:

1. To allow the student to achieve proficiency in the key areas.
2. To provide a foundation that will be needed for the student’s research project.

It is expected that students entering the program have an undergraduate-level understanding of the 5 key areas below.

1. Chemistry (8 Hours, 6 Hours of lecture + 2 hours of lab).
2. Calculus-Based Physics
3. Engineering (Statics, Circuits, and Thermodynamics)
4. Calculus, through Differential Equations
5. Introductory Biology

Proficiency in these areas will be assessed by an entrance exam. In addition, it is expected that students who graduate will have a graduate-level understanding of systems physiology, bioinstrumentation, partial differential equations and physiological modeling, along with other concepts relevant to their research area.

IV. Entrance Exam

An entrance exam that covers the key undergraduate areas will be given to all graduate students prior to their first quarter of study. Students who are found to lack fundamental knowledge in these areas will be directed to appropriate undergraduate courses. Students who are required to take up to three undergraduate courses will be placed on conditional admission status until they have completed the required courses. Students who are required to take more than three such courses will be placed on post-baccalauriate status until they have completed all but 3 courses, at which time they will be placed on conditional status until all undergraduate requirements are fulfilled.

V. Plan of Study

The plan of study (download doc) is a list of all courses the student will be required to take to fulfill degree requirements. The courses will be selected by the student and his committee, with the following guidelines being followed.

1) For the MS degree, the plan must include the three core courses:

Course Number	Course Name	Semester Hours
BIEN 500	Systems Physiology	4
BIEN 510	Biomedical Instrumentation	4
BIEN 501	Physiological Modeling I	4

2) For the Ph.D. degree, the plan must include four core courses:

Course Number	Course Name	Semester Hours
BIEN 500	Systems Physiology	4
BIEN 510	Biomedical Instrumentation	4
BIEN 501	Physiological Modeling I	4
Statistics	Graduate Statistics Courses	3

3) Additional graduate courses will be selected from Engineering (including Biomedical Engineering, other Engineering disciplines), Science (including Physics, Chemistry, and Biology), Computer Science and Mathematics. Graduate courses outside of these specified Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SEM) areas may be considered only if they are determined to be necessary to the student’s research project. For the MS degree (thesis or practicum) only one non-SEM graduate course will be allowed. For the Ph.D. degree, up to two non-SEM courses will be allowed. At least two thirds of the coursework on the plan of study (not counting BIEN 551, 555 and 651) must be in engineering disciplines.

The makeup of the plan of study for Thesis MS, Practicum MS and Ph.D. are summarized below.

VI. Changes to the Plan of Study

A plan of study may need to be changed in response to changing conditions within the college (such as the offering of a new course, or the discontinuation of an existing course) and changing needs of the student. If the student must substitute a course for one that is not listed on the current plan of study, a new plan of study must be filed before the last day of classes of the quarter in which the substitute course is being taught. If the new plan is not filed within the deadline, it will not be possible to retroactively use the course as a substitute on the plan of study.

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