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Biomedical equipment technicians or BMETs represent an expanding group of technically trained personnel whose main responsibility is the maintaining and repairing equipment that deals with medical imaging such as x-ray, CT scanners, ultrasound, MRI, laser technology and so on. The job outlook for BMETs seems to be improving as quickly as newmedical imaging equipment} is coming out.

The need for BMETs is growing. The increase is due to the growth in new equipment used for medical imaging and technologies that require BMET expertise, and, by the need for revenue by institutions that have medical imaging equipment. As institutions like hospitals recognize that downtime on a piece of medical imaging equipment affects revenue generation, there is pressure to add BMETs to hospitals to ensure that every piece of medical imaging equipment is maintained in working order so that costly service contracts are used as minimally as they can be. The U.S. Department of Labor and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Imaging (AAMI) think that the number of jobs available as a BMET in the US will increase 24 percent to 31 percent up through the year 2010.

Not that long ago, BMETs were trained on the job. But, as equipment for medical imaging knowledge has advanced, so has the need for consistent, quality training. Now, most BMETs have obtained an Associates degree in medical imaging technology, electronics or an engineering-related field. Recently an experiment by the AAMI discovered that 62% of all BMETs journeyed on to voluntarily become certified by the International Commission on Accreditation. ICC Certification for BMETs is a formal recognition by the International Certification Commission for Clinical Engineering and Biomedical Technology (ICC) that candidates have shown excellence in theoretical as well as knowledge of the principles of biomedical technology.

The BMET job description keeps evolving and, as it changes, the educational requirements have started to increase also. The BMET profession has started to walk the trail of lots of other professions both in and out of the medical field where increasingly more schooling is required to serve in a job and/or excel inside a job category.

BMETs say that those who employ them are starting to make one have bachelors degrees for advancement to a higher rank or in some situations simply to be a BMET inside some institutions. While this requirement might limit the job options for few 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 command salaries as good as $80,000. The future appears bright for future salary growth in this field.

Jesse Fisher likes composing articles for his clients which includes Transamerican Medical, a business that resells Philips Medical equipment and parts. See also Imaging Centers online directory. (Article may be republished online IF all links are kept intact.)