Some very good points. The EBME steering group is meeting on September 26th and I will bring up these very relevant points.
I am also on the the Special Interest Group for Medical Engineering at the IIE, which is meeting at the 6th National Biomedical and Clinical Engineering on 17th October 2002 (Philips Medical Systems UK Ltd)
I will bring it up on that agenda too. Hopefully, we are working towards developing a strategy for marketing our profession.
So far as training is concerned, we (as a dept)are actively developing training as a key responsibility. I totally agree that maintenance will reduce and training increase. If we are not on the bandwagon, we will find our depts getting left out in the dark.
With regard to my homebrew - 2 litres of malt, 1Kg of sugar, 25 litres of water some brewers yeast, and some tender loving care gives a very palatable lager. Sorry to dissapoint you louis, but thats my tipple. (By the way, you are welcome to a pint if you're in my area)
