Darth,

In response to your question about professional registration there are two ways of looking at it .
1. Is it a requirement of your employment? If it is then you have little choice in the matter. If your employer insists on professional registration it would have been agreed at the highest level that the type of registration is appropriate and has been introduced as a safeguard against malpractice whether deliberate or through incompetence.
2. Are you a “bighead”? If you’re one of those people who (Dennis Norden impressions welcome) like to talk a lot or want to tell the world just how good you are then it would be your mission to get as many letters after your name as you can. There are people out there who seem to collect titles whether they are relevant to what they do or not.

In most cases people get registered because they have to. If you are currently employed and do not need to be registered then there is no real need to spend your money. If you are thinking about changing jobs having letters after your name might get you on the shortlist.

This thread is generally concerned with the registration of biomeds working in the NHS as Clinical Technologists. I assume that you are a biomed working for the MOD, are you and your colleagues aware of the VRCT? If so what are your thoughts about it? Should it apply to biomeds working for the armed forces?

The VRCT doesn't have letters or a title associated with it but I do notice that almost every NHS medical engineering job I now see advertised wants individuals to be a position to achieve it.

De-facto it is becoming a qualification, or at least recognition of achievement or ability, that's of value to employers, even if it isn't to prospective employees. I think the question should be:

Do physiotherapists and other professions regulated by the HPC currently work in the MOD in the UK or UK military hospitals abroad? Is it necessary for them to be registered?

Auf Wiedersehen.

ECA -End of Course Assignment, i would never take things out of context just use it to back up a view point.

Bill, if you are currently employed by a company(or the MOD) but feel that the M6(insert any other place of your choosing) will one day will one day be the end of you, registering now (or previous) will or would have been a sensible thing to do, as by that time the hospital jobs will require registration and probably insist on it.

Is it a characteristic of the British (or should I say, more specifically, the English) always to meekly accept the "inevitable"? Could it be something to do with our long association with sheep? Perhaps we need to be a bit more like some other cultures (eg, the French) and be willing to resist a bit more!

In response to Biomedbill - I can guarentee that i am not a "bighead" even though i look like SHREK (Bad Donkey) with a Flat-top, the MOD policy at the moment is that Navy,Army & RAF Medical and Dental technicians do not have to be registered with the VRCT. I think this policy might come in and will cause no end of dramas, we never seem to get it right first time. I belive that registration to the VRCT should be mandatory for all Navy,Army & RAF Medical and Dental technicians and should be done after completion of the course in Arborfield.

The reason i asked about letters after your name is that it seems that the MOD i.e R.E.M.E are pushing (pushing in inverted comas - you will do it) soldiers in this direction, however they are not willing to pay for any registration but expect soldiers to pay themselves.

I totally agree with you on the fact that some people collect letters after their name and i have met a few who i would not trust to wire a plug!

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I am still not a real welder! Darth Welder

Surely it should need more than that? What about years of experience (ie, on medical and dental kit) as well? That is, actually doing the job!

As I've already said, I believe that a US-style Biomed Certification scheme is the way to go.

Re Geoff's post - It would make sense to register with the VRCT as passing the Med & Dent course shows that you have been trained and shown the ability to be able work on Medical & Dental equipment, however it should be at the lowest level until you have gained experience.

My main concern with the VRCT, is the fact it is voluntary, in my view this is not a proper and reconised professional institution. I like the idea of the US-style Biomed Certification, but i need to find out more about it.

PS John Whalley says hello to you Geoff.

As I have said before, it is administered by IPEM and the IET, who are reconised, once it is adopted will it not just be part of IPEM?

Darth,

On paper, the VRCT looks like a good idea but if you trawl through some of the posts on this site you will find that opinions differ as to its relevance. The VRCT was set up by Medical Physics personnel to suit the quirky arrangements of a typical Physics department. In a typical Physics department there are a number of technicians doing very different jobs. There are “clinical” technicians imaging patients using Gamma Cameras and Ultrasound, “hybrid” technicians who carry out certain physiological tests on patients and also calibrate their own equipment and then there are us, the biomeds. Historically we sprang from the loins of medical physics and over the years the trade (or profession if you prefer) has grown significantly to the extent that there are more biomeds working outside of med physics than in it. In fact you and your colleagues are a prime example, do you have any ties with medical physics or the IPEM?
The IET wrote to the DoH in response to their request for views on the future regulation of healthcare professionals. They asked some very pertinent questions IET response about the scope of the VRCT and raised concerns that it is NHS centric.
We need a more profession specific regulator that will cover all biomeds whether they work in the NHS, Military or private sector.

Not sure why link to website didn't come up properly, if some one wants to correct the entry please feel free.