Biomedical equipment technicians or BMETs represent an expanding group of people who are technically trained whose main responsibility is the maintenance and repair of medical imaging equipment like a a CT scanner, ultrasound, x-ray MRI, and so on. The job outlook for BMETs appears to be changing as quickly as newmedical imaging equipment} is being developed.

The demand for BMETs is expanding. The increase is fueled both by the growth in new medical imaging equipment and technologies that need BMET knowledge, and, by the need for income by institutions that own medical imaging equipment. As institutions such as hospitals see that downtime on an important piece of medical imaging equipment affects income generation, there is pressure to add BMETs to hospitals to ensure that every piece of medical imaging equipment is kept in good condition so that expensive service contracts are used as little as possible. The U.S. Department of Labor and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Imaging (AAMI) predict that the number of BMET jobs in the US will increase 24 percent to 31 percent up through the year 2010.

Historically, BMETs were trained in the workplace. However, as equipment for medical imaging technology has increased, so has the need for consistent, quality training. Now, most BMETs have got an Associates degree in medical imaging electronics or an engineering-related field. Not too long ago a study by the AAMI found that 62% of all BMETs went on to voluntarily become certified by the International Commission on Accreditation. ICC Certification for BMETs is an academic recognition by the International Certification Commission for Clinical Engineering and Biomedical Technology (ICC) that candidates have demonstrated excellence in theoretical and knowledge of the principles of biomedical technology.

The BMET function continues to evolve and, as it changes, the requirements dealing with education have begun to grow also. The BMET job has begun to follow the path of many other careers both in and out of the medical field where more and more schooling is required to obtain a job and/or advance inside a job category.

BMETs say that those who employ them are starting to require bachelor?s degrees for advancement to a higher rank or in some situations just to be employed as a BMET inside some institutions. While this requirement may limit the job options for some BMETs serving right now, the great news is that increased educational requirements creates the chance for greater salaries. Studies have determinedshown|found out} that entrance salaries for BMETs are from $20,000-$30,000. However, higher positions can get salaries as high as $80,000. The future appears bright for future salary growth in this field.

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