Clinical engineers combine engineering and managerial skills to support the everyday operations of hospitals and other medical facilities, interacting with biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs), doctors, patients, IT personnel, and more, to perform clinical equipment technology management.

Clinical engineers also train and supervise BMETs in the service and repair of clinical equipment, assist manufacturers in the improvement and design of medical devices, and maintain sophisticated hospital supply chains. They are also largely responsible for maintaining regulatory compliance of the clinical equipment for the hospital or facility that they support.

Qualifications And Certifications

A clinical engineer typically holds a bachelor’s degree in the field of biomedical science/engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, or physics. Certification is supported by the American College of Clinical Engineering (ACCE) under the administration of the Healthcare Technology Certification Commission (HTCC). The profession is also recognized by the Biomedical Engineering Society (BES).

The Growing Field Of HTM

HTM is one of the fastest-growing fields in healthcare. As today’s biomedical equipment becomes ever-more technologically advanced, there is a pressing need for highly-trained, certified specialists to ensure the equipment’s availability, functionality, and safety. Clinical engineers are the critical connection between those who design the equipment and those who use it, and thus, they often contribute to nuanced redesign or improvements to the clinical equipment and devices that they support.