Although the industry is still emerging in NZ, globally the biomedical industry is much more established. With healthcare being privatised in many countries, the biomedical industry continues to grow, supporting more biomedical engineering programs and more biomedical graduates.

The opportunities to practice in New Zealand are limited within the biomedical industry upon graduation, but the same skills and knowledge developed within the NZ biomedical engineering programs, can be applied internationally, which translates into a multitude of opportunities abroad for biomedical engineers.   On the international stage, you have multinational billion dollar companies the likes of Johnson & Johnson, GE and Philips which are all recognisable brand names and all employing Biomedical Engineers in their healthcare divisions. My time abroad provided me with a better appreciation for the industry and how I could contribute using my biomedical engineering degree. The USA, being hard and fast, I developed a collection of skills and detailed knowledge within the biomedical industry within a relative short space of time, that would otherwise have taken at least twice as long to develop in NZ because of the limitations of the local biomedical industry.  

The key for anyone with an interest in biomedical engineering, is to be open to travel and crafting your trade in the global industry.  For me, it has been a great career path, and looking back on my decision to work abroad, it was the best career move I could have ever made – the great California sunshine was also a bonus!