“Professional development keeps you strong, prepared, and valuable.” This is probably the most important sentence one of my business professors ever said to me. It has been 100% true throughout my career. Continuous professional development has kept my skills strong and updated, prepared in the face of unexpected layoffs, and valuable for my employers who were looking for someone who wanted to do more than just get the job done.

Continuous professional development also offers you the opportunity to change your monotonous day-to-day routine. For Biomedical Technicians, this is likely the trigger for seeking professional development. For this special role, professional development often includes learning new equipment, specialty equipment and their associated repair and troubleshooting processes. For a Biomedical Technician, general biomed service is typically the starting point. With additional schooling, training courses, cross-training, and mentorship, they can tackle even some of the most complex medical equipment service and repairs. By developing their skills, Biomedical Technicians can change their daily routine by increasing the amount of specialty equipment they are trained on.

However, we must not limit professional development to equipment for Biomedical Technicians. We must also consider the positive impact of traditional business courses and management and leadership training. For many technicians, a career path that leads to management is the ultimate career goal. Starting with professional development on a traditional business path will give them the skills to be molded into a leader with proper business acumen.

We’ve covered why Biomedical Technicians should be looking for professional development opportunities, now let’s explore 3 resources available.

#1. AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation)

AAMI is the primary source of consensus standards, both national and international, for the medical device industry, as well as practical information, support, and guidance for healthcare technology and sterilization professionals. AAMI offers a wide array of courses and programs for HTM professionals, certifications, webinars, and training tips. As a rule of thumb, HTM professionals should navigate here as a first step to locating career path design, professional development opportunities, and networking events.

#2. OEM Training

The best way to get specialized medical equipment training is to go directly to the source. Manufacturers such as GE, Philips, Trisonics, Drager, Mindray, etc. all offer training courses to BMETs. Most courses are between one to seven days in length and can range anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on the equipment you will be learning, the length of the class, and the location. Each of these specialized courses will increase your professional skills as a BMET. If the courses seem too high a cost for you personally, find out if your employer would be willing to sponsor you. You can read more about that on our blog here.

#3. Higher Education     

For most BMETs, an Associate’s degree was obtained long ago. With the want [or need] to expand your professional business skills and knowledge, the best place to do so is at school. Whether it is returning to a full degree program, utilizing singular online classes, or attending training through a program like Fred Pryor, these classes will help you gain the skills you need to take your career to the next level.

There are a variety of professional development options available for BMETs, do you have a preference? We’ve shared our staff's top 3 resources, but did we leave one off the list that is essential to you? Share it with us in the comments, we would love to hear from you.

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