The role of biomedical physics-engineering in the development of medical device education for the healthcare professions

Abstract

Biomedical physics-engineering involves the development of medical devices and their effective, safe and efficient application in the clinical milieu. Modern healthcare relies heavily on the twin pillars of pharmaceutical and medical device technology. Unfortunately, whilst pharmaceutical education has been given a lot of attention in healthcare professional curricular development, medical device education has been sorely lacking. Meanwhile, the array, variety and complexity of medical devices have been increasing rapidly with the swift advances in technology. On the other hand, as device education has not kept pace so have underutilization of devices and the number of instances of improper and unsafe use.