So all we need to think about now is the training!

Hello

I wrote the certification test for CBET in Canada(same one as in the US)and it is not easy. You are allowed 7 hours to complete the exam and it covers a wide range of topics and equipment. I definately learned from the experience.
Certification is not legally required in Canada(yet) but employers are free to require it of thier employees if they want. My employer does require a biomed tech to become certified.
The nice incentive for the tech is a 10% raise in pay once certification is achieved. There is also a certification exam for biomed techs who do hemodialysis technical service full time.

Here are my own current thoughts on this issue:-

1) You would have thought (would you not) that a large, supposedly homogeneous organisation devoted entirely to public healthcare (such as the NHS in the UK, for example) would not only require it's techs to aspire towards certification, but also actively administer the process. That is, run it themselves!

2) This sort of thing is all very well if you are employed by a large organisation, and your employer offers time, encouragement, and funding whilst you labour through the process. But it is not really an option if (for instance) you are an independent, freelance (whatever) tech struggling to make ends meet.

3) I know that some folk laugh when I say things like the "joy of learning" (and I admit that, in my advancing stages of decay, my own tendencies in this regard may have diminished somewhat), but - for a younger person especially (you know, those "fertile young minds") there are many other ways of making headway with "the knowledge" these days ... this site, and the internet in general, for instance. I'm just trying to imagine what a difference that (the 'net etc.) would have made to us had it been available "back then"!

4) The bottom line ... yes, BMET Certification is a good thing. But I don't see it happening in the UK anytime soon, unfortunately.

I hear you Geoff. It was a long arduous process in Canada to get where we are now and we still have a ways to go. We were able to convince some manufacturers to provide funding to help get this off the ground. Rough guess I would say that about half of the biomed techs in Canada are certified. As a certification group we have sent letters to every major biomed employer(hospitals mostly)in the country to encourage them to get on board. It is slow but we are having some success.
Techs always ask 'what's in it for me?' with regard to certification. Some take the high road and say they will do it for thier own professional growth but "money talks".

Paperwork or experience, experience every-time for me. Don't care what certificates you may or may not have the question is "can you do the job"

I reckon you could be a bit off track here, Neil.

I have always admired the process of BMET Certification on the U.S. model. From what I've seen of it, the breadth, depth and "difficulty level" of the thing is about right.

If I had been given the chance (years ago) I would have gone for it myself.

Notice too that there are is a special syllabus for lab equipment, dialysis, and x-ray equipment techs.

Not so much "paperwork", Mate ... as "training"!

Paperwork or experience, experience every-time for me. Don't care what certificates you may or may not have the question is "can you do the job"

I agree with you but one would need experience to pass the certification exam so they sort of go hand in hand. I really doubt a new tech with say one year on the job could pass this exam. In my organiztion you need 4 years of job experience before you can qualify to write the exam.

Hi All,
Just wanted to let you all know that CTI Productions has launched a new website at www.ctiproductions.com and in honor of the event, they are giving a 20% discount off of all products and services. This includes their CBET Study Forum. They also have over 63 BMET related modules to study. They even have an online training site. You may want to check it out.