Clinical engineering certification in the US and Asia – 1970’s to present

Abstract

Certification of clinical engineering staff was started in the US in 1970 with the certification of biomedical engineering technicians by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). In 1975 AAMI and the American Board of Clinical Engineering (ABCE) started in the US to certify individuals in clinical engineering. These two programs were merged in 1984 under the International Certification Commission (ICC). The US program was discontinued in 1999 by the ICC, but was initiated again in 2004 by the Healthcare Technology Certification Commission (HTCC). Certification of clinical engineering personnel exists in China (2005), in Taiwan (2001), in Japan (1987) and by the Commission for the Advancement of Healthcare Technology Management in Asia (CAHTMA) (2005) in Malaysia.