EBME Forums Forums Management Training Biomed Engineering Scholarship

I’m mulling over the idea of assisting some young person or other in starting out in a career as a medical equipment engineering technician. But being a bit out of date myself, I need to do some research first. Hence I have a pile of questions.

I have no particular student in mind at present, but imagine a youngster from a "person in need" kind of background, if you catch my drift (someone who otherwise would not have the opportunity to pursue this kind of career).

I have in mind a "vocational" approach, gaining a placement in a hospital biomed workshop (or succession of workshops), moving towards an ONC level of electronics education. Moreover, and importantly, I would hope to enlist the help of the various greybeards and pipe-smokers out there (with some free time on their hands, perhaps) to engage in a bit of mentoring and hands-on instruction from time to time.

1) Does anybody else feel the need to get involved in this sort of thing?
2) Any idea how much such a scheme might cost, and what its duration could be?
3) Where are suitable training courses available these days? Is City & Guilds 224 (Electronic Servicing) still around? If not, should we set up our own (similar course)?
4) How would we select the student? Anybody already know of a keen youngster in need of this kind of help?
5) Should this be something that we could all (ie, this forum) be involved in?
6) Any sponsors willing to support the idea?

All comments, criticisms, feedback and suggestions are most welcome, as always.

If you got together an "independent training consortium" of EBME departments that could provide training placements then I suppose you'd have venues to do the hands-on stuff and provide wider-ranging experience.

What you're suggesting could be supported via distance learning, i.e. training packages and web-based materials such as presentations and lectures. You'd need individuals to come up with that sort of stuff as well as mentoring I guess.

If this were supported by proper training planning plus the other training stuff, described above, and was of reasonable duration with acceptable content, in terms of depth and breadth, then it'd most likely turn out individuals with valuable skills that are in demand.

It'd probably be useful to target some academically biased individuals who are trained in adult education, for example, to give credibility to the specialist course material and theoretical stuff, in addition to the ONC in electronics, at some stage I reckon.

Giving the departments involved in the training "first-pick" of individuals coming through the scheme would be an incentive for them to get involved in training I guess.

In my view a single well-trained and motivated individual is better than pushing through lots of individuals that continue learning the basics when employed in working grades due to a lack of high-quality training.

How about offering your services as an IPEM training moderator to help oversee the vocational training that is currently going on around the country?

You could act as quality-controller and make a contribution that way, perhaps.

As I say, I'm really thinking in terms of one young person (two, perhaps). That person would have to be keen and truly interested in becoming a biomed (I don't have any time for wasters). He (she) would be motivated, because I (and others like me) would motivate him (her/them). As you know, Richard, I don't feel the need to join any gang (eg, IPEM) myself. But can I take it that I can count on your support regarding this idea?

Your thoughts on this one Geoff are completely supported by us and we hope to make funding available for just such purposes, we have tried it before you know back in the 90s.

With the young and those about our age, it seemed such a simple idea with the promise of great outcomes, unfortunately every man and his dog jumped on the band wagon to add credibility here and legitamcay there and it soon ground to a red tape end.

So at the time our idea hit the press but not the mark, we think this can work now as we have launced from a more mainstream direction, we find it has help and the young ones are more likely to study too, as long as the young craftspersons involved are prepared to work , the introduction to clinical engineering by the likes of you can be a wonderful thing Geoff, it really can.

Andy

I'm always willing to assist anyone who's learning the ropes. The only reservation I have is that it'd be a shame to get some trainee's hopes up only to find that prospective employers won't recognise or value any training & experience that's gained, however good it actually is.

Just a quick sugestion, how about some opencourseware thing? It would surely benefit interested people from distant places (Brazil, maybe? :-))

We are of course aware that you are allways willing to assist the newcomer and actually we had the same reservations as you have now Mr Ling.

We thought these best tackled by having the educational and vocational mentoring content recognised by an independant and external body , we liked the idea of an award of credits towards certain qualifications and CPD points too.

This has now been done by us.

We liked the old NVQ logbook of gathering evidence on the job, of course computer style now.

One hard thing to tackle was the fact a person had to be in some sort of employment, there are issues around things like insurance and we must not forget those , we have found many employers and mentors willing to give it a go and this has pleased us a lot.

We like your idea too Marcello, Mr Rehal is working along similar lines , you should talk

Thank you

M.andy

Mentoring is going to be of great benefit to an individual who's getting some work experience, I think, Geoff.

If a guy came along to me saying he might be interested in having a go, but was worried about the availability of job later on, I would probably send him away with a flea in his ear, I should imagine. Personally, I’m more interested in people seeking out biomed as a lifestyle, not just as a (nine-to-five) job!

I’m thinking in terms of an exceptional young person, a potential "genius guy" who might otherwise not make the grade, for one reason or another. A "fertile young mind" who needs (and deserves) a break! But don’t worry, there will always be work for a guy with the right mind-set.

Someone with a willingness to work (rarer than you might think, it seems), an enquiring mind, a perpetual scholar. Someone with a desire to "do some good", with the "hands-on imperative". Thinking about it a bit more, perhaps what I’m really looking for is an apprentice!



Yes, I believe that mentoring is important. I feel strongly that out youngsters are sadly deprived of decent role models, leaving them trying to emulate the dross that fill the pages of so-called "celebrity magazines".

Meanwhile, I’m aware of some well-organised NHS biomed departments who regularly have trainees in their midst (and under their wing). It is a pleasure to meet these bright young people, especially in environments that are more usually populated by pipe-smokers counting down the days till retirement. Wouldn’t it be nice if all NHS hospitals had such training schemes in place? An apprentice in every biomed shed.

And lastly, I notice that no-one has yet addressed any of my questions!

Yes, Marcelo, maybe something like that could be the answer. It would cast the net globally, and hopefully give opportunities to really needy people, not just youngsters either. Yes, I like that idea.

Didn't Biomed Rx start something like that a few years back?