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Maybe.

Looks like the "typical" profile for a Medical equipment maintenance technician is that of an individual that has probably gained basic engineering skills at school/college/university or in industry as an apprentice and gets most of their further job-specific training in-house or via manufacturers courses. Academic qualifications are likely to be higher qualifications with a relatively high probability of a degree. The individual is likely to have been in the job more than 8 years and at the top of their grade. No surprises in that poll then. anyone got any interesting observations or ideas?

If, as is suggested, there is such a high prevelence of degrees, what has all of the fuss been about concerning qualification level under AfC?

Exactly - that's one of the reasons I raised the poll to "dispel the myths" if there are any.

A high prevalence of degrees? Only 28% so far, and the vast majority - 68%, have only got qualifications up to HND. This is probably what I would expect from the department I work in.

There was no box to tick to say whether your department had a formal in-house programme or a lash-up as-and-when job, or whether you had a job-relevant degree or a personal-interest OU type degree. These questions might have helped make more sense of the poll - not that it wasn't a good thing, please don't misunderstand!

I ticked that my basic engineering skills came from school, but there was an awful lot to learn on the job, too, and certainly no amount of Uni course gives you half of what you need in practical skills (e.g. soldering). That was something I did plenty of at school, but hardly any of through Uni until I started my current job.

A box to show how many people were on the VRCT or members of professional bodies might also have been interesting, given the controversy on this forum as well...

Nearly one in threes technicians are likely to have a degree and nine tenths are likely to have higher qualifications. (HNC and HNC are categorised as higher qualifications - or they are at the colleges and universities where I went).

I think you'll find there were ample boxes covering basic training - including "Formal NHS Training" (such as the regional Medical Physics Training Scheme). We did used to have formal NHS National/Regional engineering training back in the 80's you know - not necessarily a "lash-up" job.

I am a 23 year old female,I am one of the new blood that you are on about. I have worked in med eng at jcuh for nearly three years (qualified). I carried out a 4 year apprenticeship prior to that,and gained HNC in electronics, plus many more along the lines of city and guilds qualifications. I actually carried out my apprenticeship in the hospital and found that there was a great deal of chance to develop in many fields. I have one question to ask though, has any other female technicians found it quite hard in such a male dominated profession?

This is my first time at sending a message, so if it comes out wrong, sorry????

I only wish there was more young blood in this profession, at some point there only be me left. Everyone else is older and new people coming into the department are all over 40.

Maybe it is becasue of the agenda for change offer and that the pay is just not attractive enough for newly qualified electronic technicians????

Carol-Anne

Carol Anne

The age profile of our departments at Carlisle and Whitehaven is quite high, we have a 4th year apprentice at each site, but the youngest tech is in his mid thirties, and out of a total workforce of 8 there are 3 who are within 3 years of retiring.
When we`ve advertised for staff in the past, generally the majority of applications have been from men 35 years old plus, with HNC/HND and many years of experience in various fields of engineering. We`ve had a few applications from younger men with degrees, and I say with some sadness, that their performance at the interview stage was often very poor, which accounts for the prevalence of wrinklies here. Future workforce requirements will largely be supplied by apprentices.

Hello Carol-Anne

I am a female engineer and have been for approximately 9 years (started at the young age of 23). I "attended" uni and have a BEng in elctronic Engineering. I am a MTO 3 at a Childrens hospital. I have worked at a couple of other bigger hospitals, but none were as nice as working at a smallish hospital, so i've been here a couple of years.

I can honestly say that that I've never had a problem with my gender at work, although i have encountered people who are not receptive to change. The only sexism i have encountered has always come from females, not males.

Perhaps were just a bit non-gender specific in brum, as the head of the biggest medical engineering deptartment in Birmingham is a young lady whom celebrated her 30th birthay very recently.

( You will find what your looking for if you look hard, but life is hard enough without a chip on your sholuder, so dont carry it around with you. )

If you can do the job, what's the problem????
If someone else has a problem then let them keep it!

Tracy

Interesting how thread topics can change (evolve?)