BMETs Now Need More Education

Biomedical equipment technicians or BMETs represent a growing division of technically trained personnel whose primary responsibility is the maintaining and repairing equipment that deals with medical imaging such as x-ray, CT scanners, ultrasound, MRI, laser technology and so on. The job path for BMETs appears to be improving as rapidly as newmedical imaging equipment} is coming out.

First and foremost, the demand for BMETs is expanding. The increase is due to the expansion in new equipment used for medical imaging and technologies that need BMET expertise, and, by the necessity for income by organizations that have medical imaging equipment. As medical services similar to hospitals examine that downtime on an important piece of medical imaging equipment affects income production, there is demand to add BMETs to hospital staff to make sure that every piece of medical imaging equipment is kept in working condition so that costly service contracts are used as little as they can be. The U.S. Department of Labor and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Imaging (AAMI) predict that the number of BMET jobs in the US will rise 24 percent to 31 percent up through the year of 2010.

Historically, BMETs were trained in the workplace. However, as equipment for medical imaging knowledge has advanced, the need for quality and consistent training has too. Now, many BMETs have earned an Associates degree in medical imaging electronics or an engineering-related field. Not too long ago an experiment by the AAMI found that 62% of all BMETs journeyed on to voluntarily become certified by the International Commission on Accreditation. ICC Certification for BMETs is a formal acknowledgement by the International Certification Commission for Clinical Engineering and Biomedical Technology (ICC) that individuals have demonstrated achievement in theoretical and practical understanding of the principles of biomedical technology.

The BMET function continues to evolve and, as it does, the requirements dealing with education have begun to grow also. The BMET profession has begun to walk the trail of many other careers both within and outside of the medical field where increasingly more schooling is required to get a job and/or excel within a job field.

BMETs report that those who employ them are beginning to require bachelor�s degrees for advancement to a higher level or in some cases simply to become employed as a BMET within some institutions. While this requirement may constrain the job options for few current BMETs, the great news is that strengthened schooling requirements bring the opportunity for higher income. Studies have determinedshown|found out} that entrance salaries for BMETs are from $20,000-$30,000. However, senior and supervisory positions can command salaries as high as $80,000. The future appears good for future salary growth in this field.

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About The Author Author Jesse Fisher likes composing articles for his clients including Transamerican Medical, a business that resells Philips Medical equipment and parts. See also the Imaging Centers online directory. (Article may be republished online IF all links are kept intact.)