Call for Contributions

Status Report on Medical and Biological Engineering in Europe

On 27 August 2001, 29 delegates of IFMBE and 22 IFMBE affiliated European societies convened in Vienna and agreed unanimously to a resolution recommending the formation of an IFMBE affiliated European umbrella organisation, as has been reported in the September issue of the IFMBE News. The main objective of the new organisation with the tentative name European Association for Medical and Biological Engineering and Sciences (EAMBES) is to promote medical and biological engineering in Europe. Some of the specific tasks identified in Vienna are:

  • assisting in the development and strengthening of BME and BME societies,
  • assisting, advising and co-ordinating the preparation of guidelines for BME education, training, accreditation, certification and continuing education (lifelong learning),
  • liasing with national governments, European governmental agencies and European bodies,
  • fostering and co-ordinating the activities of the member organisations,
  • participating in the regulation process for medical devices, and
  • representing medical and biological engineering at the European level in order to raise the profile of our profession.

Given these ambitious tasks, it is mandatory that we have an exact and up-to-date knowledge on the status of BME in all countries intending to participate in this exciting European initiative. Two important publications relying on this information are currently in preparation: a white paper on the accreditation of BME programs in Europe, and a comprehensive status report on BME in Europe. These publications are not only needed to support the European societies in their initiative towards founding an umbrella organisation, they are also thought to serve as important publicity material describing the nature, range and status of all aspects of medical and biological engineering to the public as well as to the many governmental, academic and societal organisations and bodies, especially those with an interest in health care, which will be involved in shaping the future of BME in Europe.

We need to finish the White Paper on Accreditation as well as the Status Report on BME in Europe in the near future, as they should be available in time for the inauguration of EAMBES. So far, I have received an encouraging number of high-quality contributions and preliminary manuscripts describing the status of BME in the respective countries. If any country or society participating in this initiative would not be represented in the European BME survey, this would be damaging and disappointing both for the umbrella organisation and the concerned country or society. Therefore, I am urging all European BME societies who have not yet done so to identify somebody to work on this very important paper, and to provide me with an article on the status of BME education, societies, industry, and BME accreditation in their countries. In the following we are publishing two examples of such contributions, which can serve as templates for the expected papers.

Joachim H. Nagel
Chairman, IFMBE/EAMBES Working Group on Accreditation and Education
Email: jn@bmt.uni-stuttgart.de

[ example1.doc | example2.doc ]