Results of Education Questionaire

Developments are happening fast and furious for this group. It is hoped that a course will be offered to technicians who want to build their qualification to degree level. The proposed starting date for the course is September, 1996. The course will be based at Tallaght RTC. The qualification will be a degree in Mechanical/Electrical Engineering and specialisation in Clinical Engineering will be an option in the final year. The proposal for the course will be submitted to the NCEA, who will award the academic qualification, in February, 1996. However, much preparatory work remains to be done. For example, we must ensure that the course will be accredited and recognised at a national and international level, that the course content is relevant and at an appropriate level, and to iron out the finer details.

If you are too impatient to wait for this course, it may be possible to begin the Electronic degree course in Tallaght RTC which it is hoped will be available in September, 1995. Assuming all goes well with the course we are developing then it may be possible to transfer into that course at a later date.

The questionnaire circulated last year to identify the demands of the membership in terms of education played an important role in the development of this course. Therefore, as promised we have included in this article the results of the first analysis of the survey.

Results of Questionnaire on the Educational Requirements of Technicians Working in Medical Technology

At the Inaugural Meeting of the BEAI, the need for further education for technicians was voiced by many members. Biomedical Engineering is a developing area in both hospitals and in the private sector. New legislation requires higher standards of accountability, quality assurance and patient care. The membership of the BEAI is aware of the urgency for educational development.

In order to identify more precisely the needs of the membership the Educational sub-committee of the BEAI circulated a detailed questionnaire on education. This questionnaire was circulated among technicians working in the field of Medical Technology. Both company based and hospital based technicians responded. The results of questions relevant to this stage of course development are summarised below, where necessary, questions are accompanied by a brief explanatory note.

* There were 114 respondents.

* 113 respondents felt there was a need to develop higher education courses in this area.

* 88% of respondents were personally interested in pursuing a higher level course if one was available.

* The questionnaire asked respondents to indicate the level of course they wish to see developed. 79% indicated degree level, 14% indicated Honours Diploma, and 5% indicated Higher Diploma (2 respondents did not reply). While the degree option is preferred, a modular course could also fulfil the needs of those wishing to reach Honours Diploma level. These participants need not complete the requirements for a degree.

* While 34% of respondents felt that the area of Biomedical Engineering in particular needs to be developed, the vast majority of respondents (60%) indicated that acourse combining Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics is most appropriate to their needs.

* There was almost an equal spread among those prepared to study part-time, nights only and those prepared to study part-time nights and weekends (a small majority favoured the latter).

* The notion of 1 week fUll-time block modules was proposed and respondents were asked to indicate how many times per year they could attend such a module. 29% of respondents are available to attend I such module, 29% were available to attend 2 such modules, and 20% were available to attend each of 3 or 4 such modules. 20% would not be available to attend any modules and 4 respondents gave no reply to this question.

* 6O% of respondents are prepared to travel between 10 and 20 miles for course-work, 16% are prepared to travel up to 30 miles, the remainder consisted of a small number of people who would only travel a very short distance and those who would travel up to 100 miles.

* As regards the duration of a higher level course, 14% are prepared to commit themselves for two years, 41% were prepared to commit themselves for 3 years, 10 % did not respond and the remainder were prepared to study for longer than 3 years.

* Respondents were asked to list the most important considerations in taking on such a course ( note that most respondents listed more than one consideration, therefore totals are given in the form of the actual number of responses):

Distance: 9

Time: 41

Fees 17

Family Commitments: 29

Company Business: 37

No reply: 6

Total: 139

* Finally respondents were asked if they felt that rotational training posts within the hospitals would be of value. This question relates mainly to hospital-based technicians, however almost half the company-based engineers also replied. It is interesting to note that almost 100% of the company based technicians feel that rotational posts would be of value. Of the hospital-based technicians, 90% agree with the notion of rotational posts.

There is a great deal of interest in higher level education for technicians working in medical technology. This is demonstrated by the results of our questionnaire. It should be noted that other areas of specialisation are beginning to overlap with the field of medical technology, for example, those working in computers and telecommunications. These professions offer a whole spectrum of people who are becoming more involved in medical technology and who will require further specialist education.

Meabh Smith