145
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, VOL. BME-22, NO. 2, MARCH 1975
Biomedical Engineering Program
Biomedical
Equipment
to
Upgrade
Technicians
NORBERT T. TORZYN, MEMBER, IEEE, WILLARD D. McKINNEY, ERNEST LEE ABBOTT, JR., MEMBER, IEEE, ALBERT M. COOK, MEMBER, IEEE, AND DONALD H. GILLOTT, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE
Abstract-With the increase in the number of biomedical equipment technicians (BMET's), there has been a corresponding need for opportunities for their career growth. California State University, Sacramento, is developing a "career ladder" program designed to meet this need. This program has been initiated in conjunction with Napa College. By carefully selecting college-level electives in the BMET program, following the mathematics sequence which includes calculus, granting credit for certain required lower division (freshman and sophomore) engineering courses, and providing the opportunity for credit by examination, we have initiated a career ladder program requiring 5 semesters beyond the two year terminal degree. This program retains the technical content of a standard engineering curriculum while also emphasizing the course work and experience of the BMET.
INTRODUCTION A FUNDAMENTAL problem confronting biomedical ..CI.engineering educators, administrators, and practitioners is career development. As the field of biomedical engineering expands from one based primarily on academic research and development to a more complete discipline including application and practice, the problems of continuing education are brought into focus. In particular, the concepts of "lifelong learning" and "upward career mobility" become important aspects of a total biomedical engineering educational program. At California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), a program has been initiated which is aimed at one aspect of this problem, namely, a career ladder for biomedical equipment technicians (BMET). BMET TRAINING The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has defined the BMET as a "person knowledgeable in the theory of operation, the underlying physiologic principles, and the practical, safe, clinical application of biomedical equipment." This skill and knowledge is best obtained by matriculating in a BMIET degree program at a community college or technical institute. The BMET program is one of the fastest growing technical programs in the country today. The Manuscript received June 28, 1974; revised October 16, 1974. N. T. Torzyn, A. M. Cook, and D. H. Gillott are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, California State University, Sacramento, Calif. W. D. McKinney is with the Department of Clinical Engineering and Equipment Services, Sacramento Medical Center, University of California, Davis, Calif. E. L. Abbott, Jr., is with the Department of Electronic Techno-
logy, Napa College, Napa, Calif.
first such program was inaugurated in 1967, and today there are in excess of fifty institutions throughout the United States offering BMET programs. These curricula are typically two-year terminal programs leading to an Associate in Science degree, and upon completion, the graduate is fully qualified to begin work as an equipment technician in a hospital, medical center, or industry. A lifetime career as a technician can be quite satisfying and rewarding to many people. However, it is desirable to provide upward mobility educationally for these individuals. This upward mobility is usually blocked, however, by the nature of their previous training. A typical BMET curriculum is designed as a terminal two-year degree with no provision for continuing in a baccalaureate degree program. The main-line technical courses usually have no equivalency in four-year science or engineering curricula. In some of the elective science, math, and general education subjects, the BMET student may have a choice of baccalaureate or non-baccalaureate level courses that will fulfill his degree requirements, but most students opt for the less rigorous non-baccalaureate level courses. Thus, a person with a BMET degree finds it very difficult to enroll in a four-year science or engineering curriculum because very little of his community college course work is applicable. Most technicians wishing to obtain a baccalaureate degree are so discouraged upon finding that they must start out practically as freshmen again that they give up hope of continuing their formal education.
DEVELOPMENT OF A CAREER LADDER FOR BMET'S The School of Engineering at CSUS, in conjunction with the Education Committee of AAMI, has studied this problem and has recently devised a special plan to expedite the entry of BMET's into a regular engineering curriculum leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. This approach is called a "career ladder" since once a person has obtained the baccalaureate degree, he may climb the next rung of the ladder to the master's level and so on through the doctorate if desired. For a BMET, the first rung to the bachelor's level is the most difficult to master, and we have placed our emphasis on this area. At CSUS, undergraduate biomedical engineering training exists as an option in either electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or computer science through the use of specified electives and substitutions for certain re-
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, MARCH 1975
146
TABLE I COMPARISON OF BMET PROGRAM WITH PRE-ENGINEERING CURRICULUM PRE-ENGINEERING (semester units) Math (calculus) Differ. equations Statistics Physics Chemistry Statics Engr. Mlaterials Fortran Prog. Engr. Graphics Circuit Theory Elec. Circuit Lab Gen. Ed. Electives
icy Transferabil of~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Transferabi l ity of BMET courses to CSOS Comnents T _
BtIET (quarrter units) 12 3 2 11 8 3 3 1 2 3 l 18
Tech. Mathh. -
I:7
_.
,
5
non-transferable
4 9
non-transferable transferable
..
-
Physics Chemistry -
requirement waived
-
-
requirement waived requirement waived
-
w U JU * s/Soc.Sci Humanities,
10U
baccalaureate level course5 courses a,_LaPFauvleao ir|evreW required for transfer 10 satisfies general education requirements Physical Education 6 satisfies general education
Biology
requirements
Health occupations
3 satisfies general education requirements English 5 satisfies general education requirements Electronics 40 non-transferable experience used to gain credit by examination of upper division electronics courses Biomed. electronics 7 transferable credit assigned to waived courses Independent Study 1-4 transferable credit assigned to waived courses Work Experience 1-4 non-transferable Electives 12 baccalaureate level courses pre-engineering required for transfer courses may be elected Total 113-119 (79-83 semester units) -
-
Total 67
quired courses. program is also
A master's level biomedical engineering offered [1].
cerned, it was found that no sacrifices were made when credit was given for all except the statics and circuits courses, providing that electives were carefully chosen. DEVELOPMAENT OF A CAREER LADDER The core of the Napa College program is a series of In investigating the possibility of launching a career laboratory-type electronics and biomedical electronics ladder, we studied the curricula of a number of BMET courses which have no direct equivalency with our elecprograms to see if the concept was indeed feasible and trical engineering courses. However, we felt that once the viable. This study indicated that such a program could be transfer student had attained a sufficient level in matheestablished if sufficient flexibility existed within the elec- matics (calculus and differential equations), examinations trical engineering curriculum. As a starting point, repre- in electronics could be administered and credit obtained sentatives of the Biomedical Electronics program at Napa for basic required courses and certain elective electronics College and the Electrical and Biomedical Engineering courses. The student would, of course, have to take all programs at CSUS met and developed a transfer agree- the remaining required electrical engineering and engineerment. This agreement established how much course work ing science courses. The California State University and Colleges system a recent graduate of the BMET program would need in order to pursue an engineering degree at CSUS. requires 40 units of general educationi courses, and CSUS The first two years of a typical engineering curriculum in particular requires 46. A transfer student from Napa consist of basic science, math, social science, and humani- College would have about 30 units of general education ties courses along with some basic engineering courses requirements completed. He would, therefore, need to such as graphics, materials, and statics (see Table I). take additional social science/humanities courses, but by The Napa College BMET program also has a significant judicious use of science electives, the remainder of the number of basic science courses. This includes social general education requirements can be met. An engineering degree at CSUS requires 131 units. The science/humanities courses which, if properly selected, can be transferred to a four-year baccalaureate program. transfer program worked out between Napa College and However, like all technician programs, the Napa College CSUS requires a minimum of 75 units, or approximately program does not place the same emphasis on mathe- four and a half semesters. Thus, a student entering the matical formulations as do engineering programs, and a CSUS engineering program from Napa College would retransfer student normally would need to strengthen his quire approximately an additional half semester over a mathematical background. As far as the lower division regular engineering student, even though he has a terminal (freshman and sophomore) engineering courses are con- technician degree rather than a pre-engineering program.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING, VOL. BmE-22, NO. 2, MARCH 1975
If a student chooses to transfer to CSUS well in advance of his graduation, Napa College has the flexibility to allow program changes which aid the transfer student's objective; thus, he may elect courses which will eliminate the need for an extra half semester.
147
a baccalaureate degree some time subsequent to his graduation from a 13MVET program, certain deficiencies in general would exist due to out-of-date or non-transferable courses. However, enough flexibility has been included in the career ladder arrangement to allow students with diverse backgrounds to pursue the program. Each student will be counseled individually, and a specific program of study tailored to his educational experience will be worked out to make up for any deficiencies. The aim of this "career ladder" program is to permit qualified BMET's to pursue a rigorous program leading to a baccalaureate degree in biomedical engineering. It is the feeling of all concerned that the type of arrangement described herein is an important component of a complete biomedical engineering educational program. REFERENCES
CONCLUSION The program described above has been developed through cooperation between CSUS and Napa College, and we are currently developing similar arrangements with other BMET programs in Northern California. It is important to note that specific programs have been arranged to represent the best compromise between the BMET program at Napa College and the electrical/biomedical engineering curriculumn at CSUS under the assumption that the student has decided to transfer to CSUS before graduation from Napa College. In the more [1] Cook, A. M., "An applied bioengineering curriculum," A-fed. Res. ikely event that a student makes the decision to pursue Engr., in press, 1974.
Education for Employment Industry
Biomedical Engineering
by
ALAN R. KAHN, FELLOW,
Abstract-While a considerable number of bioengineers have been trained during the past few years, relatively few have found challenging jobs in industry. This is due in part to the level of development of the biomedical industry and to the type of training received by the bioengineers. However, significant industrial roles have developed for bioengineers including management of R & D projects, clinical evaluation, and collaborative professional relationships with clinicians in the medical community. Bioengineers have not been most effective in the product design process. A need exists for additional training for bioengineers in the role of prgject leadership and in the technical areas of the interface of body tissues with materials and electrical current.
IEEE
application of this training. Industrial institutions concerned with providing bioengineering products and services have not availed themselves of the bioengineer and have provided very little feedback to the training institutions. Another important factor relating to the industrial community can be seen in some of the data on the various corporations. Most of this industry is made up of very small companies selling single products to limited markets. A number of the relatively few larger corporations do not have biomedical products as their major interest and tend to utilize classical engineering disciplines and ignore the biomedical engineering resource. There are very few major companies strongly committed to biomedical instrumentation product lines. This rather fragmented industry must certainly be a disturbingly confusing area when viewed from the standpoint of a new graduate preparing to enter the field or an educator determining how best to
T HE development of the use of sophisticated instrumentation in the care of human patients has been so recent and so rapid that the institutions supporting these activities are only now beginning to understand how to use the people and the technologies effectively. Biomedical engineering education programs have been producing him to do so. highly trained people, but at the same time they have prepare been giving insufficient attention to the opportunities for ROLES FOR BIOENGINEERS During the past seventeen years in which I have been Manuscript received July 9, 1974; revised September 28, 1974. in the biomedical instrumentation industry, I involved The author is with Medtronic, Incorporated, Minneapolis, Minn. have seen several key roles develop for bioengineers. 55418.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, VOL. BME-22, NO. 2, MARCH 1975
Biomedical Engineering Program
Biomedical
Equipment
to
Upgrade
Technicians
NORBERT T. TORZYN, MEMBER, IEEE, WILLARD D. McKINNEY, ERNEST LEE ABBOTT, JR., MEMBER, IEEE, ALBERT M. COOK, MEMBER, IEEE, AND DONALD H. GILLOTT, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE
Abstract-With the increase in the number of biomedical equipment technicians (BMET's), there has been a corresponding need for opportunities for their career growth. California State University, Sacramento, is developing a "career ladder" program designed to meet this need. This program has been initiated in conjunction with Napa College. By carefully selecting college-level electives in the BMET program, following the mathematics sequence which includes calculus, granting credit for certain required lower division (freshman and sophomore) engineering courses, and providing the opportunity for credit by examination, we have initiated a career ladder program requiring 5 semesters beyond the two year terminal degree. This program retains the technical content of a standard engineering curriculum while also emphasizing the course work and experience of the BMET.
INTRODUCTION A FUNDAMENTAL problem confronting biomedical ..CI.engineering educators, administrators, and practitioners is career development. As the field of biomedical engineering expands from one based primarily on academic research and development to a more complete discipline including application and practice, the problems of continuing education are brought into focus. In particular, the concepts of "lifelong learning" and "upward career mobility" become important aspects of a total biomedical engineering educational program. At California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), a program has been initiated which is aimed at one aspect of this problem, namely, a career ladder for biomedical equipment technicians (BMET). BMET TRAINING The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has defined the BMET as a "person knowledgeable in the theory of operation, the underlying physiologic principles, and the practical, safe, clinical application of biomedical equipment." This skill and knowledge is best obtained by matriculating in a BMIET degree program at a community college or technical institute. The BMET program is one of the fastest growing technical programs in the country today. The Manuscript received June 28, 1974; revised October 16, 1974. N. T. Torzyn, A. M. Cook, and D. H. Gillott are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, California State University, Sacramento, Calif. W. D. McKinney is with the Department of Clinical Engineering and Equipment Services, Sacramento Medical Center, University of California, Davis, Calif. E. L. Abbott, Jr., is with the Department of Electronic Techno-
logy, Napa College, Napa, Calif.
first such program was inaugurated in 1967, and today there are in excess of fifty institutions throughout the United States offering BMET programs. These curricula are typically two-year terminal programs leading to an Associate in Science degree, and upon completion, the graduate is fully qualified to begin work as an equipment technician in a hospital, medical center, or industry. A lifetime career as a technician can be quite satisfying and rewarding to many people. However, it is desirable to provide upward mobility educationally for these individuals. This upward mobility is usually blocked, however, by the nature of their previous training. A typical BMET curriculum is designed as a terminal two-year degree with no provision for continuing in a baccalaureate degree program. The main-line technical courses usually have no equivalency in four-year science or engineering curricula. In some of the elective science, math, and general education subjects, the BMET student may have a choice of baccalaureate or non-baccalaureate level courses that will fulfill his degree requirements, but most students opt for the less rigorous non-baccalaureate level courses. Thus, a person with a BMET degree finds it very difficult to enroll in a four-year science or engineering curriculum because very little of his community college course work is applicable. Most technicians wishing to obtain a baccalaureate degree are so discouraged upon finding that they must start out practically as freshmen again that they give up hope of continuing their formal education.
DEVELOPMENT OF A CAREER LADDER FOR BMET'S The School of Engineering at CSUS, in conjunction with the Education Committee of AAMI, has studied this problem and has recently devised a special plan to expedite the entry of BMET's into a regular engineering curriculum leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. This approach is called a "career ladder" since once a person has obtained the baccalaureate degree, he may climb the next rung of the ladder to the master's level and so on through the doctorate if desired. For a BMET, the first rung to the bachelor's level is the most difficult to master, and we have placed our emphasis on this area. At CSUS, undergraduate biomedical engineering training exists as an option in either electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or computer science through the use of specified electives and substitutions for certain re-
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, MARCH 1975
146
TABLE I COMPARISON OF BMET PROGRAM WITH PRE-ENGINEERING CURRICULUM PRE-ENGINEERING (semester units) Math (calculus) Differ. equations Statistics Physics Chemistry Statics Engr. Mlaterials Fortran Prog. Engr. Graphics Circuit Theory Elec. Circuit Lab Gen. Ed. Electives
icy Transferabil of~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Transferabi l ity of BMET courses to CSOS Comnents T _
BtIET (quarrter units) 12 3 2 11 8 3 3 1 2 3 l 18
Tech. Mathh. -
I:7
_.
,
5
non-transferable
4 9
non-transferable transferable
..
-
Physics Chemistry -
requirement waived
-
-
requirement waived requirement waived
-
w U JU * s/Soc.Sci Humanities,
10U
baccalaureate level course5 courses a,_LaPFauvleao ir|evreW required for transfer 10 satisfies general education requirements Physical Education 6 satisfies general education
Biology
requirements
Health occupations
3 satisfies general education requirements English 5 satisfies general education requirements Electronics 40 non-transferable experience used to gain credit by examination of upper division electronics courses Biomed. electronics 7 transferable credit assigned to waived courses Independent Study 1-4 transferable credit assigned to waived courses Work Experience 1-4 non-transferable Electives 12 baccalaureate level courses pre-engineering required for transfer courses may be elected Total 113-119 (79-83 semester units) -
-
Total 67
quired courses. program is also
A master's level biomedical engineering offered [1].
cerned, it was found that no sacrifices were made when credit was given for all except the statics and circuits courses, providing that electives were carefully chosen. DEVELOPMAENT OF A CAREER LADDER The core of the Napa College program is a series of In investigating the possibility of launching a career laboratory-type electronics and biomedical electronics ladder, we studied the curricula of a number of BMET courses which have no direct equivalency with our elecprograms to see if the concept was indeed feasible and trical engineering courses. However, we felt that once the viable. This study indicated that such a program could be transfer student had attained a sufficient level in matheestablished if sufficient flexibility existed within the elec- matics (calculus and differential equations), examinations trical engineering curriculum. As a starting point, repre- in electronics could be administered and credit obtained sentatives of the Biomedical Electronics program at Napa for basic required courses and certain elective electronics College and the Electrical and Biomedical Engineering courses. The student would, of course, have to take all programs at CSUS met and developed a transfer agree- the remaining required electrical engineering and engineerment. This agreement established how much course work ing science courses. The California State University and Colleges system a recent graduate of the BMET program would need in order to pursue an engineering degree at CSUS. requires 40 units of general educationi courses, and CSUS The first two years of a typical engineering curriculum in particular requires 46. A transfer student from Napa consist of basic science, math, social science, and humani- College would have about 30 units of general education ties courses along with some basic engineering courses requirements completed. He would, therefore, need to such as graphics, materials, and statics (see Table I). take additional social science/humanities courses, but by The Napa College BMET program also has a significant judicious use of science electives, the remainder of the number of basic science courses. This includes social general education requirements can be met. An engineering degree at CSUS requires 131 units. The science/humanities courses which, if properly selected, can be transferred to a four-year baccalaureate program. transfer program worked out between Napa College and However, like all technician programs, the Napa College CSUS requires a minimum of 75 units, or approximately program does not place the same emphasis on mathe- four and a half semesters. Thus, a student entering the matical formulations as do engineering programs, and a CSUS engineering program from Napa College would retransfer student normally would need to strengthen his quire approximately an additional half semester over a mathematical background. As far as the lower division regular engineering student, even though he has a terminal (freshman and sophomore) engineering courses are con- technician degree rather than a pre-engineering program.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING, VOL. BmE-22, NO. 2, MARCH 1975
If a student chooses to transfer to CSUS well in advance of his graduation, Napa College has the flexibility to allow program changes which aid the transfer student's objective; thus, he may elect courses which will eliminate the need for an extra half semester.
147
a baccalaureate degree some time subsequent to his graduation from a 13MVET program, certain deficiencies in general would exist due to out-of-date or non-transferable courses. However, enough flexibility has been included in the career ladder arrangement to allow students with diverse backgrounds to pursue the program. Each student will be counseled individually, and a specific program of study tailored to his educational experience will be worked out to make up for any deficiencies. The aim of this "career ladder" program is to permit qualified BMET's to pursue a rigorous program leading to a baccalaureate degree in biomedical engineering. It is the feeling of all concerned that the type of arrangement described herein is an important component of a complete biomedical engineering educational program. REFERENCES
CONCLUSION The program described above has been developed through cooperation between CSUS and Napa College, and we are currently developing similar arrangements with other BMET programs in Northern California. It is important to note that specific programs have been arranged to represent the best compromise between the BMET program at Napa College and the electrical/biomedical engineering curriculumn at CSUS under the assumption that the student has decided to transfer to CSUS before graduation from Napa College. In the more [1] Cook, A. M., "An applied bioengineering curriculum," A-fed. Res. ikely event that a student makes the decision to pursue Engr., in press, 1974.
Education for Employment Industry
Biomedical Engineering
by
ALAN R. KAHN, FELLOW,
Abstract-While a considerable number of bioengineers have been trained during the past few years, relatively few have found challenging jobs in industry. This is due in part to the level of development of the biomedical industry and to the type of training received by the bioengineers. However, significant industrial roles have developed for bioengineers including management of R & D projects, clinical evaluation, and collaborative professional relationships with clinicians in the medical community. Bioengineers have not been most effective in the product design process. A need exists for additional training for bioengineers in the role of prgject leadership and in the technical areas of the interface of body tissues with materials and electrical current.
IEEE
application of this training. Industrial institutions concerned with providing bioengineering products and services have not availed themselves of the bioengineer and have provided very little feedback to the training institutions. Another important factor relating to the industrial community can be seen in some of the data on the various corporations. Most of this industry is made up of very small companies selling single products to limited markets. A number of the relatively few larger corporations do not have biomedical products as their major interest and tend to utilize classical engineering disciplines and ignore the biomedical engineering resource. There are very few major companies strongly committed to biomedical instrumentation product lines. This rather fragmented industry must certainly be a disturbingly confusing area when viewed from the standpoint of a new graduate preparing to enter the field or an educator determining how best to
T HE development of the use of sophisticated instrumentation in the care of human patients has been so recent and so rapid that the institutions supporting these activities are only now beginning to understand how to use the people and the technologies effectively. Biomedical engineering education programs have been producing him to do so. highly trained people, but at the same time they have prepare been giving insufficient attention to the opportunities for ROLES FOR BIOENGINEERS During the past seventeen years in which I have been Manuscript received July 9, 1974; revised September 28, 1974. in the biomedical instrumentation industry, I involved The author is with Medtronic, Incorporated, Minneapolis, Minn. have seen several key roles develop for bioengineers. 55418.
