Certification: a rewarding endeavor.

About the Author Stephanie Stephens, MA, is a freelance writer, producer, and multimedia expert. Early in his career, Paul Kelley, like many other biomedical equipment technicians, struggled to understand the benefits of professional certification. " People who were certified weren't always the cream of the crop, " Kelley, who started in 1979 and now is director of biomedical engineering and green initiatives at Washing-ton Hospital Healthcare System in Fremont, CA, says. " Often, there seemed to be no good reason for it. I thought it would cost me and there'd be no return. " Thankfully, many healthcare facilities now are rewarding healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals who take the extra steps to become certified. Studying for certification helps these professionals develop needed job skills and advance their careers. After leading a certification study group for his local association in 2003, Kelley figured he'd done the work and might as well take the test. He passed, and he's glad he did. " Now I help my staff with their test study needs and we pay for the tests they pass, " he says. " Having 100 percent certification on staff shows they care about our field. It's like getting a degree, and is definitely more important than it used to be. " Consider that lawyers must pass the bar and doctors must be licensed and pass their board examinations within their states, Kelley says. " They've demonstrated a minimum level of education needed to do their job. " Three years ago, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs initiated a national certification push for all its biomedical engineers, says Michelle Baquie, MBA, CCE. Baquie is a biomedical engineer and healthcare technology manager for the VHA Healthcare Technology Management Program Office. Her organization funds clinical engineering preparation, supports self-study and study groups, and provides helpful articles about testing subjects, she says. " We have even offered face-to-face meetings, along with online opportunities and teleconferences, to help our employees prepare for certification. During our initial study course, we found that clinical engineers with 25 or more years in the field walked away learning things that helped them be better engineers. " The agency is also currently hosting a pilot phase CBET study course, both in-person and online, " because technicians also benefit from certification, " she says. Approximately 40 percent of engineers, Many healthcare facilities now are rewarding healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals who …