EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Free discussion IPEM - the best organisation to represent technicians?

What do you think of IPEM and the VRCT?

IPEM - The best organisation to represent EBME technicians? single choice
	Yes
	No - (Who would you rather have?);
Votes accepted starting: 01/01/70 1:00 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

VRCT - Value for money or a waste of time? single choice
	Value for money
	A waste of time
Votes accepted starting: 01/01/70 1:00 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

the register is a good idea. if we arent going to go down this road we need to set up our own.

I agree that the register is a good idea. I'm not sure that the IPEM are the right organisation to champion it, unless you are a Medical Physics bod.

I believe that the IET should be involved in the registration process. They have written to the DoH in response to the public consultation on the proposals for changes to the registration of healthcare professionals. Their response can be found at: http://www.iee.org/policy/submissions/sub762.pdf
It looks like they have taken on board a lot of the opinions/ concerns some of us have with the VRCT and are asking to be involved with the registration process.

THIS ORGANISATION ISNT SPECIFIC ENOUGH FOR MY LIKING.
MAY AS WELL STAY WITH WITH WE GOT.

I think I'd rather be bunched in with engineers than a load of physicists.

Point of Information:-
The VRCT is administered by IPEM in partnership with the IET (previously the IIE) and ART. This information has been in the public domain for over six years!

Jim Methven

As far as I can tell a lot of Physicists aspire to be Engineers so be careful what you wish for.......

I am not alone in thinking that as far as I can tell, a lot of physicists aspire to be the bosses of engineers.
I have seen this school of thought arise in other places in europe and in MPCE, Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering departments, the physicist always seems to be prominent.
It has caused a lot of unease in the past, the clinical engineering profession gets somewhat overshaddowed, bad feelings arise.
I think the vast majority of clinical engineers consider they are not best represented by IPEM, ICEPM would be a more specific institute, problem is, it does not exist, I agree with KM, there is a need to form our own.
This may indeed not be the most appropriate forum in which to discuss such matters, there is however a Clinical Engineering Network in development,it is being used at present as a sounding board for those who wish to, to air veiws, express wishes and shape its development.

Darren

I've been in this profession for a few years now. There has always been a feeling that we are the underdogs. I think that this boils down to the view that EBME technicians and engineers have lower academic qualifications and this justifies physicists being 'in charge'. I disagree, in my my experience - a well qualified engineer with EBME experience is the best person to manage EBME staff, and it therefore follows that an EBME/Clinical Engineering society will best represent EBME/Clinical engineering.... or does it? I am a member of the IET. I have turned down invitations to join IPEM for the above reasons, but i do feel the tide is changing. IPEM needs membership to generate income. We are a growing profession. Therefore, it makes sense for IPEM to think about our needs, and I believe they are. I have been a member of the IET for years, been on their medical engineering special interest group, and I feel that they represent our profession and carry more clout than IPEM. I don't know whether it is worth setting up our own institute, but a focus group with input from IPEM, IET, IHEEM, etc would be a good idea. I though AIME (Assosiation of institutes for medical engineering) was meant to address this point, but it seems to have gone quiet. ??? What should we do?