The AAMI Foundation is partnering with the GE Foundation to increase the number of skilled biomedical technicians serving in developing countries. According to an announcement, the organizations have committed to revisit the issue in 6 months with proposals for establishing a scalable, time- and cost-effective BMET training program.

For its part, the AAMI Foundation will identify the key stakeholders in existing BMET training programs, including students, ministries of health, nongovernmental organizations, and trainers, and solicit them for feedback on how to improve existing practices. The association aims to eventually establish a professional network for international biomeds throughout the developing world.

“This is a perfect fit for AAMI, given its support of the healthcare technology management field over the years,” said AAMI President Mary Logan. “We’ve provided professional certification for BMETs and provide a range of tools to help them advance in their careers. This project continues AAMI’s work to ensure a strong corps of HTM professionals who can service and maintain vital medical equipment.”

The AAMI Foundation plans to hold a stakeholder meeting June 11–12, 2015, in Toronto, Canada, in conjunction with the 2015 International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine‘s World Congress on Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering. The organization plans to release a meeting summary in August and produce a final report by October 15.