Biomedical engineering training worldwide
Trained and qualified biomedical engineering professionals are required to design, evaluate, regulate, maintain and manage the medical devices present in health systems around the world.
Biomedical engineering professionals range in skill level and expertise, from high level design and assessment of medical devices to very hands-on technical work. The biomedical engineering professionals responsible for ensuring medical devices are accessible, functional and safely used include: engineers, technologists, technicians, and assistants.
Global survey of teaching units and associations
In 2009, a survey was carried out to identify educational support in the biomedical and clinical engineering field in order to facilitate contact with biomedical and clinical engineering teaching units and associations. A total of 592 contacts were identified in 466 teaching units and 115 associations in 90 Member States.*
Results of the survey can be found at the University of Campinas:
Biomedical engineering training in low-resource settings
In low-resource settings, biomedical engineering professionals are in short supply. They are affected by the same challenges that face doctors and nurses in such settings, including:
- Limited educational opportunities in-country
- Limited on the job training opportunities
- Limited opportunities for career advancement
- Inadequate numbers of qualified personnel to fill posts
- Absence of a national professional regulatory body
- Brain drain to higher-income countries
- Competition with the private sector for scarce skilled professionals
There is a critical need for more biomedical engineering training opportunities for biomedical engineering professionals in low-resource settings.
Sources of biomedical engineering training
Formal professional qualifications for biomedical engineering professionals are obtained through successful completion of programs at educational institutions: both technical schools and universities. Similar to other professions, continuous professional development training is essential for biomedical engineering professionals to retain and enhance their skills. Some sources of continuous professional development training include:
- partnerships with educational institutions abroad;
- non-governmental organizations that specialize in training medical device personnel;
- on the job’ training for new recruits;
- continual professional development training for staff;
- training materials provided through professional associations;
- device manufacturers and vendors; and
- accessible online resources.
Additional training resources
- Engineering World Health (EWH)
- Open Learn Labspace health technology management course
- Open Courseware Consortium
- MIT Open Courseware
* To ensure the relevance and accuracy of this information, please contact medicaldevices@who.int with any updates to the records found within this database or with information on existing units or associations that are not already included.