EBME Forums Forums Management Modernisation (Formerly, Controls Assurance) Training Schedule

Hi All

I am starting a new Biomed in a few weeks and wondered if someone out there in the Biomedsphere has written a suggested training schedule?
My new biomed will be an electronics technician, so its just the Biomed angle I will be after.

Thanks

Phil

I would take things at a gentle pace, and just do a little bit each day ... and split the training into three streams:-

1) Hospital Organization
2) Anatomy and Physiology
3) Biomed Techniques

For example:-

1) How the hospital is organized, what each department does, and how they inter-act (leading to priority of response by the biomed). "The Hospital as a System"!

2) Start with the heart ... and take it from there (paying special attention to signal "shapes" and voltage levels). "The Body as a System" - and relate physiology to "engineering" (the heart as a pump, for instance); analogies to "plumbing", and equivalent circuits!

3) Electrical safety in the hospital ... then on to what each bit of kit does, and how it works (ECG, ESU, X-ray etc., etc.). Basic principles and block diagrams!

Then simply deal with other stuff as it arises; oxygen cells, medical gases, laboratory instruments, biomed test kit ... and all the rest.

Other than that, the Buddy-Buddy system of learning on the job ("learning the ropes", gaining confidence, whatever) by going around with an experienced tech for a while is probably the best way of all, in my experience. "Mentoring", in other words.

You could always look at what the VRCT require of a technologist (technician) to see what they consider a "qualified" person should know.
Robert

Far better to stay firmly rooted in the practicalities of the local situation, in my view.

Didn't you see the tongue in my cheek?
I suppose not, it does not come out very well when typing, except for the dribble on the keyboard.
Robert

That comes under "Anatomy and Physiology" on Day 28. <- tongue in cheek

I almost missed the irony in Robert's post, very Jose Mourinho.
(Chelsea football manager, Geoff. just got into trouble for being sarcastic in a post match interview).
What do other biomed units do in NZ Phil?

Hi All

Sorry for the delay in saying thanks for the advice.

Along with new staffer starting soon - we have new hospital opening soon in Whakatane, this is keeping me/us very busy across both sites.

What do other Biomed units do? Well I'm not to sure is the honest answer, so I was looking to the home country (with a larger population base/more hospitals and therefore more Biomeds) to see if any one has a structure for new inductees.

Regards Phil

Wow,just 2 sites. Wish I was that lucky and we have just taken on another 5 staff. Lifes a bitch and then you die!

Over here most departments generally do in-house training coupled with part-time study leading to an HNC/ HND level qualification in an engineering subject, normally electronics. There are some private companies that do general training which can be useful if you don’t have the time to train your guys on the job. Personally I’d opt for in-house if you can. I sent a trainee to the famous Eastwood Park and he came back “dumber” than when he went. He had worked with us for about 8 months before getting onto the course and in that time was given one-on-one training. When he went on the course they had an exam at the start and one at the end, he scored 95% going in and only managed 92% at the end of the course. Wasted c.£2000 & lost two week's work.

There is no single training pathway in the UK for Biomeds. There are a couple of organisations who are trying to produce national training schemes which in itself is a good idea. Unfortunately both the VRCT and the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) have got it woefully wrong. Rather than setting up recognised training and qualifications that are targeted at Biomeds they are trying to encapsulate Biomed training within a much larger sphere. I don’t believe that they fully understand the training requirements of EBME departments. We have a student on work experience who is studying a Healthcare Science Practitioner degree (BSc). He was under the impression that as soon as he completes the course will walk straight into a job as a ”working grade” Biomed. My manager and I both told him that there is no way we would employ him on anything other than a trainee grade as he does not have the level of knowledge that we require. The irony is that this guy will be a registered Healthcare Science Practitioner.

I think you will be better off looking at the American model, BMET (I think), I’m sure others out there will be able to tell you more about it.