By Steven J. Yelton, P.E., AAMIF
Every year that I attend the AAMI eXchange, I leave feeling very inspired and realize that the HTM field is in good hands. It was wonderful that, as I attended educational sessions and worked the exhibit hall, I saw many faces that I have seen for years as well as many new faces. I met many people who told me that this was their first eXchange. They were very excited to participate.
As a member of the AAMI Foundation Board of Directors, I have the pleasure to attend many events that include new members to the HTM field. For more than five decades, AAMI and the AAMI Foundation have awarded scholarships to students who will form the next generation of health technology professionals. Now, the Foundation has formally selected the students to receive grants as part of the Michael J. Miller HTM Scholarship Program and the Franklin Weinberg Fund (FWF) HTM Leadership Scholarship. The Michael J. Miller HTM Scholarship provides a $3,000 grant to students pursuing degrees in healthcare technology management (HTM), clinical engineering, health informatics, computer engineering or related fields. There were 13 Miller scholarships granted this year ranging from high school students accepted into these types of programs at the college level to Ph.D. candidates.
I would encourage anyone who qualifies for these grants to apply. Also, please encourage anyone that you know who qualifies to apply. There are not that many applicants that apply each year, so highly qualified candidates will have a good opportunity to be chosen.
In attending receptions and award ceremonies honoring these awardees, I was very impressed with everyone that I was able to meet and have conversations.
I had the opportunity to meet with other educators who were attending the conference. We did have the opportunity to discuss topics such as AI and the new technology that we hope to take back to our classrooms and laboratories. We all enjoy sharing what is going on in our area of education and discuss how we are going to work this new technology into our curriculum.
This year, AAMI was kind enough to sponsor an educator’s meeting during the exchange. The educator’s meeting discussed at length how the EQ 110 educational standard “Healthcare technology management (HTM) educational programs” from AAMI can and should be used to better the HTM field from an educational standpoint. We feel that the standard may not be getting used in areas that were intended when we developed the standard.
I thought it would be a good idea to present some suggestions for those of you who are not directly involved in education for use of the education standard. First, I would like to outline the AAMI medical equipment standards. These standards are referred to as EQ standards. By definition, standards are built carefully, collaboratively and intentionally by people who understand what happens on the hospital floor, in the shop and behind the scenes in HTM. The EQ 110 education standard is one of these standards. It is intended to support the standards designed to support professionals who perform preventative maintenance and repair of complex medical devices and systems.
For your information, the EQ committee to date has produced four standards. The EQ 110 standard, ANSI/AAMI EQ56:2024 (PDF) Standard for a medical equipment management program, ANSI/AAMI EQ89:2015/(R)2023 (PDF) Guidance for the use of medical equipment maintenance strategies and procedures and ANSI/AAMI EQ93:2019/(R)2025 (PDF) Medical equipment management-Vocabulary used in medical equipment programs.
We feel that we may not be getting the word out about the EQ 110 standard like we should regarding the importance and usefulness of this standard. One misunderstanding could be that the standard is only useful to educators and colleges. This is a great use of the standard in that it outlines the necessary curriculum that should be included in an entry-level HTM education program. I say entry level because we understand that the standard is an introductory standard and includes what we consider to be the minimum requirement for a new HTM technician. We hope that anyone interested in creating or evaluating an HTM education program, particularly at the certificate or associate’s degree level, would refer to this standard as a starting point to perform an evaluation of their program.
We would encourage anyone who is concerned about their background to compare their skill set to the course work and skills outlined in the standard. This would allow them to recognize any areas that they may need to update their skills. This is something that we recommend of anyone who wants to enter the HTM field, is new to the field or is an experienced professional. There may be changes that one is not aware of.
Any employer who is looking into qualifications for entry-level employees, may use the standard to assure that the new employee or current employees meet the skill set that is recommended by a diverse group of HTM professionals.
These standards are meant to be ever changing to meet current needs of the HTM industry and are available through AAMI. They are designed to promote that safe and effective use of healthcare technology.
