Associate of applied science (AAS), associate of science (AS) or bachelor's (BS) degrees differ from certificates in that they require general education credits. Specific courses and numbers of classes differ by program and institution, but students generally need to take classes in composition, social studies, arts and humanities, laboratory sciences and math. Such courses for the AS and BS degrees must be college-level, such as college algebra and college research paper, but the AAS is not a transfer degree, and so may allow courses like consumer math and technical writing instead.
Medical technician programs prepare students to install, calibrate, troubleshoot, repair and maintain medical electric equipment such as EKG machines and bedside monitors. Courses teach basic electrical concepts such as DC and AC electronics, electronic devices, microprocessors, computer networking, digital electronics and fundamentals of electricity. Biomedical courses include titles such as medical imaging equipment, applied biology for medical systems and introduction to medical electronics. Students may need to spend time in an internship or practicum as well.
Medical engineering programs also contain medical electronics courses. Undergraduate programs in medical engineering focus more on the development and adaptation of technologies and electronic devices to solve problems within medicine. Besides courses in basic anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry, electronics and computer systems, such programs include titles such as molecular bioengineering, neural engineering, bioengineering and nanotechnology, synthetic biology, laboratory methods and biomedical signals and sensors. Many of these courses have laboratory components to give students hands-on experience.
Master's and doctoral courses tend toward engineering rather than device management. Colleges may offer special topic seminars to allow students to focus on their areas of interest at this level, but common offerings include cell and protein reactions, advanced synthetic biology, technology commercialization, host response to biomaterials, neurophysiology, prosthesis design, laser-tissue design, digital image and video processing, cell and tissue engineering, modeling of biomolecules and health information systems. Graduate programs usually require a dissertation as well.