IFMBE/clinical engineering division projects for the advancement of the profession of clinical engineering

The IFMBE/CED has been conducting, in the past years, a project aimed to know and understand the current programs for registration and certification of clinical engineers in the whole word. A similar project has been designed and budgeted in the CED action plan for the triennium 2016-2018. One of the key issues for arriving to a worldwide guideline is having a common glossary of definitions. As a result of the first Global Clinical Engineering summit, a document has been outlined to define what are the main activities describing Biomedical Engineers and Clinical Engineers. The main purpose of this document is inserting the Biomedical Engineering and Clinical Engineering professions in the forthcoming ILO International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-2018). This will be a milestone for every current and future programs of professional certification, since it will give a clear worldwide reference. One other important project is the International Forum of Clinical Engineering Societies, aimed to discuss regional but also common problems among the participants, identifying the possibility of exchange of experiences not only among the societies but also among experts worldwide. The other project that is closely connected to those above-mentioned is the definition of both a Body of Knowledge (BoK) and a Body of Practice (BoP) for Clinical Engineering. The results of this ongoing project, which at the moment involves taking online questionnaires to hundreds of clinical engineers worldwide, will form the basis for the definition of the forthcoming IFMBE/CED white paper for the assessment and design of certification and registration programs.