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James O. Wear: Certification in the United States, Canada and Asia

current working in the field. The certification of the CETs The RCEC exam consists of a theoretical exam and
is most equivalent to the CBET in the ICC system in the US. practical test. There is a Chinese exam question bank from
In addition to the CET certification by the government, which the theoretical questions are randomly selected.
the Japan Society for Medical and Biological Engineering Candidates then take a practical test including repair,
14 measurement and maintenance of medical devices. A
(JSMBE) has a Biomedical Engineering Certificate program.
The JSMBE has two classes of certification for biomedical committee of Chinese clinical engineering experts evalu-
st ates the ability of the candidates and determines if they
engineers. The 1 class certification is for experienced
clinical engineers and in 2008 the pass rate was 22.2% for are qualified to receive the RCEC. In 2012, there were
st 176 people who took the exam and 56 passed to become
433 applicants. The 1 class exam covers basic aspects on
medical engineering and medical device related subjects. certified as RCEC.
nd
The 2 class exam is for students or recent graduates of In the future, the candidates for International Clinical
clinical engineering and many take it as preparation for Engineering Certification will be mostly senior clinical
nd
the national CET exam. In 2008 the pass rate on the 2 engineers with more than 10 years experience.
class exam was 29.3% for 1398 applicants. They are establishing a continuing education for both
certification to maintain and improve the quality of the
CeRtifiCAtion in ChinA clinical engineers. The Medical Engineering Division plans
In 2005, the international clinical engineer certifica- to recommend to the government to officially authorize
15
tion was introduced in China. The Medical Engineering clinical engineer training and certification.
Division of the Chinese Medical Association hosted the
first international clinical engineering certification train- RefeRenCeS
ing courses and certification examination. From 2005 to 1. Wear JO. Global perspectives on competency certification of
2016, eight sessions of lectures by international senior medical electronic graduates in the fast-changing healthcare
specialists and exams were done. A written exam based engineering field. International Keynote, Symposium on
on the ACCE BOK with some adjustment for the practice Innovation and Commercialization for Medical Electronic
Technology, Bandor Enstek, Nilai, Malaysia; 2012.
of clinical engineering in China. The written exam is in
2. Croswell DW. The evolution of biomedical equipment tech-
English and is prepared by international senior specialists.
nology. J Clin Engineer 1995;20(3):230–4
Individuals that pass this 100-question multiple choice
3. Wear JO. Certification of biomedical engineering technicians
exam have to pass an oral exam in English to become cer-
th
and clinical engineers: Important or not. 7 Asian-Pacific
tified. The oral exam is given by the international senior
Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering IFMBE
specialists. In the eight training sessions, there have been
Proceedings, 19, 558-61; 2008.
700 clinical engineering personnel from hospitals and
4. Nicoud T and Kermit E. Clinical engineering certification
universities. There have been 219 individuals that have
in the United States. In: JF Dyro (Ed.), Clinical Engineering
passed the two exams and been certified as international Handbook. Burlington, MA: Elsevier; 2004.
clinical engineers.
5. Wear JO and Van Noy FE. Veterans Administration BMET
In the past 7 years, China has been working to estab- certification exam. J Clin Engineer 1979;4 (4)311–3.
lish its own certification program. In 2012, the Medical 6. ETA International. ETA senior and master certifications
Engineering Division of the Chinese Medical Association [Internet]. 2013. Available at: http://www.eta-i.org/sen-
carried out Chinese Registered Clinical Engineer Certifi- ior_master.html.
cation (RCEC) training and examination. The candidates 7. ETA International. ETA journeyman certifications [Internet].
were junior engineers in large hospitals or new gradu- 2013. Available at: http://www.eta-i.org/electronics.html
ates with majors in medical engineering. This exam is the 8. Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.
AAMI Credentials Institute (ACI) Certification Handbook.
basic admission exam to the occupational qualification
Arlington, VA: Author; 2018.
of clinical engineering.

21 J Global Clinical Engineering Special Issue 1: 15-22; 2018