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摘要

Recent requests for international assistance regarding clinical engineering (CE) registration/certification and related legislation resulted in a survey for the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) leadership. The survey comprising two questions ('What is CE?' and 'How can we advance CE globally?') with five sub-questions each, was e-mailed to 63 members and collaborators of the Clinical Engineering Division of the IFMBE (CED/IFMBE) and to 16 members and collaborators of the Health Technology Assessment Division of the IFMBE (HTAD/TFMBE). The survey response rate was 34%. All respondents were of the view that CE is not synonymous with either biomedical engineering (BME) or health technology management (HTM). Significant affirmative responses included: 'CE is a subset of BME' (89% of respondents); 'CE encompasses HTM' (73%); 'CE practitioners are health professionals' (93%) and 'CE is not only for engineers' (74%). Other responses were as follows: 'Do/can we legislate?' (41% of respondents), 'Do we register?' (74%), 'Do we certify?' (83%) and 'Do we support accredited CE undergraduate programs?' (89%). Survey results should assist both CED/IFMBE leadership and other global stakeholders in defining concrete practical steps to advance formal recognition of CE practitioners.