The California Medical Instrumentation
Association (CMIA) is dedicated to the promotion, education and
information
exchange of the state’s clinical biomedical engineering community.
Professions span the gamut of Biomedical Equipment Technicians
(BMET) to Biomedical or Clinical Engineers (BME or CE) and their
management. The CMIA's
major instruments for achieving these goals are monthly chapter meetings,
the annual awards banquet and technical workshop and this
web site. Click here to learn more.
Join CMIA Online
Inland Empire Chapter
goes online
The Inland Empire's members and those wishing to become members can now join online through your credit card or PayPal. To join now click here.
Next year’s CMIA annual banquet is moving to a new venue and date. It will be held during “MDexpo spring 2011”, providing California’s Biomeds a greatly expanded FREE educational program by DITEC and vendor fair at the Meritage Resort in Napa, March 24 through 27. Click here to learn more.
Biomeds plan now to attend the west coast’s largest Biomed event in a beautiful wine country setting.
Vendors do not miss this singular opportunity to meet the highest concentration of Biomeds in one place. For developing information and to learn more about past MDexpos go here.
Watch this page for developing details or sign up for details by email.
$1,000 FRANK YIP SCHOLARSHIPS
Applications Now On-line
The CMIA will announce Frank Yip Memorial Scholarships at our March, 2011 State Meeting. California resident CMIA members are invited to submit an application. Part-time and full time students, and Biomeds continuing their education are also welcome.
This year two $1,000 scolarships were awarded (see article below). Next year you could win one!
The Frank Yip Scholarship application process is now all on-line. Applications
are due October 15th, those received after that date
will be considered for the award the following year. Click here to learn more.
High School Career Day
Scripps Biomeds Participate
Where will the next generation of Biomeds come from? Most if not all high school students are unaware of Biomedical Engineering in hospitals. San Diego’s Patrick Henry High School (http://www.henry.sandi.net/) holds Career Exploration Fairs to introduce its students to new professions. This year Yvonne Walden an Employer outreach specialist at Patrick Henry uncovered local Biomed information through cmia.org. She contacted Marcia Wylie, San Diego Chapter VP and Scripps Health Director of Biomedical Engineering to promote the profession at the schools Engineering, Math and Science Career Exploration Fair. Marcia and two of her team Steve Rubino and Jeannine Gorgas brought a selection of current equipment including a, pulse oximeter, , wireless physiological monitor and a robotic surgery video to acquaint students with equipment found in the hospital. They were quick to point out that a Biomed’s tasks extend beyond fixing equipment to teaching medical staff, sleuthing when equipment fails a patient, and networked medical equipment and clinical information systems. They also presented avenues of Biomed training in a geographical area without a formal program. The fair was judged a success by student reactions and requests to contact the Scripps team for additional information.
Bringing our vocation to the next generation Scripps Biomeds participate in a local high school’s career day.
2010 CMIA symposium synopsis
January 29-30, San Diego, CA.
America's finest city was the host for this year's annual symposium. It gives me great pleasure to announce that this past January's Annual Symposium was a big hit. Revenue exceeded expectations. Costs were kept to a reasonable amount with a small profit leftover. The overall satisfaction rating gathered from participant surveys was over 90% positive, indicative of the fine work by CMIA volunteers and vendors to the Biomedical community. With all we learned this past year I'm sure we'll have many more successful Symposiums in the years to come.
I would like to thank Jim Smith, President and CEO of EQ2, makers of the fine HEMS software, for their generous sponsorship of our Awards Banquet with keynote speaker George Mills. Huge thanks to the following vendors for their valuable contributions to our educational sessions: Conquest Imaging, Philips Healthcare, BC Group, DITEC, Ampronix and GE.
Congratulations to Paul Kelly, the recipient of the Welch Allyn Professional of the Year Award. Also, congratulations to David Dwyer and Patrick Pettey the recipients of the Frank Yip Scholarship Award, David Sieminski, Philips Hospital Respitory as the CMIA Vendor of 2009.
David Sieminski, Philips Hospital Respitory receives the CMIA Vendor of 2009 from Eddie Acosta
To all of the volunteers, vendors, participants, and Paula Costa, our wonderful event planner on behalf of the CMIA I would like to extend our thanks for all of your hard work and support. We could not have done this without every one of you.
Gus Sakis
Board Member, San Diego Chapter
2010 Symposium Chair
winners of 2010 SCHOLARSHIPS
David Dwyer - Capitol Chapter
David Dwyer (left) receives a 2010 Frank Yip $1,000 scholarship from from Eddie Acosta (2010 CMIA Chair).
Patrick Pettey
- San Diego Chapter
Patrick Pettey (center) receives a 2010 Frank Yip $1,000 scholarship from from Marcia Wylie (left) former CMIA chair and Eddie Acosta (right).
join our email list
Learn about State & Local Activities
Join CMIA's email database to learn of upcoming state and local chapter's Biomed activities. Your information will not be sold or shared. "Opt Out" at any time.
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Email
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Calif. Region
Comment
knowledge base
New CMIA Website Area
Visit the new CMIA.org "Knowledge Base" area to view a host of presentations on Biomedical Engineering equipment, technologies and management overviews. Just click this "Knowledge Base" button or the one at the top of any cmia.org page to view an annotated table of contents. It will lead you to the requested document, presentation or video.
Initial content is varied and includes:
What the Biomed Department does
Overview of medical equipment found in hospitals
What Biomeds should know about incident investigation
State of Biomedical Engineering in California
Introductions to mechanical ventilation, electrical Safety Testing, Ultrasonics, and Fetal Monitoring
How are we doing?
Please take a minute complete the cmia.org survey
The CMIA is really proud of our website. We admit that we are somewhat biased, and so we really want to know what YOU think of our site. Please take a few minutes and give us your opinion, and let us know how we can make it even better.
Conquest
Imaging is providing the CMIA membership
with one FREE seat in all their training classes
through 2010. To attend: First go to the
Conquest Imaging
web site class
schedule to
select a class and date you want to attend (with
two (2) alternates). Second complete the simple CMIA
application form. The CMIA Board
will notify you if you are selected to attend. If
there are multiple requests for a class and date
the Board will select the attendee.
You must be a current member of the CMIA. Please
make sure you can attend the class prior to applying
so as to not deprive another
member of taking the class. Transportation, meals
and lodging are your responsibility. Registration
is not transferable without the approval of the
Board.
BMET best 2008 jobs
says U.S. News & World Report
The U.S. News and World Report chose the Biomedical Equipment Technician (BMET) as one of 31 careers for 2008 with bright futures. The careers listed offer strong outlooks and high job satisfaction. Each career is profiled in two parts: an executive summary and a portrait of a typical day in the life. The weekly news magazine and web site is well known for its series on best colleges, grad schools, high schools and hospitals.
Obtain a variety of CMIA apparel and gifts
directly online by clicking here.
Display your pride in your vocation and professional
organization .
You may order shirts, a cap, mugs, bags or souvenirs
with typical shipment of two business days. You
will place orders through an independent fulfillment
organization through a secure link.
Click on image above to visit the CMIA Store.
EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS
Looking to step up to the next rung of your career
or just want a change of pace or location. The CMIA
Positions Open page has many current
California opportunities. Positions vary from hospitals
to third-party services to manufacturers, from San
Diego
to
San Francisco, and from BMET to manager. Click
here to visit the Positions Open page.
CMIA north Conference & Expo
Thursday, August 19 in Concord
This year’s 3 Northern CMIA Chapter Conference & Expo will be held at the Crown Plaza, Concord, CA Thursday, August 19th from 4:00 PM to 8:30 PM and feature:
Keynote speaker Carol Davis-Smith, Director of Premier, Inc.’s Consulting Solution Division
Vendor Expo with over 40 booths displaying the latest in medical instrumentation products and services.
Networking opportunity for clinical and biomedical engineering
Carved roast beef dinner, drinks, appetizers
Door Prizes and Vendor Gifts
Cost: CMIA members are FREE! Nonmembers $25 which includes one year CMIA membership
The 2010 AAMI Conference saw participation of CMIA on several fronts. Eddie Acosta, David Sieminski and Paul Conrad gave a presentation to a group of 50 from Biomed organizations throughout the country on how the CMIA communicates with state Biomeds. Click here to view the presentation.
In keeping with its goals of furthering the education of Biomeds, Eddie Acosta on behalf of the CMIA donated $1000 to AAMI President Mary Logan. The funds will support the AAMI Michael J. Miller Scholarship Program in its effort for grooming the Future Leaders of Medical Technology Management.
New Be a BMET Video
AAMI's what is a BMET
Want to know more after viewing the video click here. This will lead you to the "Be a BMET" section where you may view a more detail video originally given to the board of a large Northern California hospital, that PowerPoint presentation, other text material and opportunities for formal training in California.
Your First Biomed Job
After Completing School or “The Service”
You are in college progressing towards that Biomed degree or you are in the Service as a technician and pondering, “How do I get that first civilian Biomed position in California?” These questions are often sent to cmia.org. There is no pat answer, in speaking with newly employed Biomeds each has a unique story but there are a number of common threads. Finding a job is a process, hopefully you are using the following techniques in landing a “first” job.
Gus Sakis is now the Southwest District Sales Manager for OMED of Nevada LLC for Southern California according to founder and former CMIA Board Chair, Dave Ogren. “Gus is an experienced salesperson with in-depth knowledge of multiple aspects of the biomedical industry. He is well known in the biomed community through his work as a board member of CMIA's San Diego Chapter." Gus can be reached through 619-723-6790, or via email at gus@omednevada.com
Eddie Acosta, CBET, CLRT, and CMIA Chair Pro-Tem, was named Professional of the Month by MD Publishing's Medical Dealer Magazine's December issue. He currently is a clinical systems engineer at Kaiser Permanente, Northern California Region, where he supports cardiology for more than 20 hospitals and 50 clinics and its patient-monitoring data-integration project. Eddie is the current President of the CMIA Capitol Region Chapter and is expected to become the CMIA State Board Chair.
George Panyarachun, MS, BME, GNG, Lifetime CMIA and longtime LA Chapter member was featured in the October issue of 24x7 magazine's cover article Managing Risk. He is currently manager of the biomedical engineering department at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) devoting much time to taking the guesswork out of risk management.
George appeared several times in 24x7 including the May. 2009 article Caught in the Middle about Biomeds caught in the middle of vendors reluctance to share information regarding maintaining and integrating their proprietary technologies.
James Knight is featured in the 24x7 magazines April, 2009 edition's article about the ongoing efforts of Adventist Health internal maintenance programs and continuing education.
Click to read the article about James and Adventist Health.
Speakers Shine
George Mills, The Joint Commission
&
Mary Logan, AAMI President
The 2010 CMIA Symposium banquet featured two great speakers. George Mills of The Joint Commission and
Associate Director, Standards Interpretation Group as the keynote speaker receded by Mary Logan the new President of the Association for the Advancement of Medical
Instrumentation (AAMI).
"What's new in 2010 Joint
Commission Standards" covered recent changes in their procedures, and how easy it is to follow guidelines. George also provided insight into possible changes that will cost Biomed departments dearly. To learn more about George Mills click here and to view the presentation click here.
Mary Logan gave banquet attendees a glimpse into the future of Biomeds and clinical engineering. First the hospital will be one large interconnected system. Second the Biomeds will have a skill set to apply the systems approach to clinical equipment. And third they must insure corporate management (C-suite) knows the Biomed's worth to achieving the organization's success. View Mary Logan's notes for the presentation by clicking here.
After answering numerous questions from the audience, Mary Logan and George Mills receive souvenir CMIA beer steins from Eddie Costa.
new cmia officers
Board Elects Leaders
The annual CMIA conference is also the venue for annual state officer elections. This year saw the exit of Dave Ogren as Chair being replaced by Eddie Acosta; the election of Gus Sakis as Chair Pro Tem and David Sieminski replacing Rick Rambo as Secretary.
Outgoing Board Secretary, Rick Rambo, is about to receive a plaque for service, but not before giving a ribbing to outgoing Chair, Dave Ogren.
Paul Kelley
2010 Professional of the Year
The CMIA is very proud to announce that Paul Kelley, CBET and Supervisor, Biomedical Engineering at Washington Hospital Healthcare System was chosen the 2010 CMIA Welch Allyn Professional of the Year! Paul began an illustrious career in California Biomedical/Clinical Engineering with UCLA, and Santa Clara Valley Hospital, serving a number of senior positions in the CMIA including a founder of the Bay Area chapter, member of AAMI Board of Directors and AAMI Foundation, an Editorial Advisor for “Healthcare Technology Horizons” and “IT Horizons” magazines. His presentation and video the function of a hospital Biomedical Engineering department is the most popular educational material on cmia.org.
The presentation of the award and check for $1,000 was made during the annual banquet in San Diego on January 30th.
Click here to learn more about Paul and to learn about previous winners click here.
Paul Kelley (center-left) receiving award.
PROFESSIONAL
OF THE YEAR
Who Will be the Best for 2011?
The California Medical Instrumentation Association in conjunction with Welch Allyn Inc. created the Professional of the Year award. This annual prize is presented in January to an individual who has given personally and professionally to the field of Biomedical / Clinical Engineering as well as to their local community. The winner receives $1,000.00 and a plaque identifying them as the CMIA Professional of the Year. The winner is also nominated for a national award by AAMI. Congratulations go to Paul Kelley named the 2010 Welch Allyn, CMIA Professional of the year.
Click here to learn more about the CMIA Professional of the Year. Nominations close October 15th, applications forms after that date will be considered for the award the following year.
join
cmia online
Credit
Card or PayPal
The CMIA and its chapters are offering membership
application and payment via credit card or
PayPal online.
Individual and chapter corporate membership are
through your local chapter.
Statewide corporate membership, which includes
logos on the left of our pages, is
through the state organization.
Since
each chapter and the state are independent the service
is being rolled out at their own pace. Today you
may join online for:
Capitol
Los Angeles
San Diego
State
The remaining chapters will be added shortly.
What Is a BMET?
Popular Video
What does a hospital’s biomedical engineering department do? Paul Kelley, former CMIA Board Chairperson, answered that question to the Board of Directors of Washington Hospital in Fremont, CA. By clicking on the links you can watch the video and/or view his presentation. Paul covers the beginnings of biomedical engineering technology, what is happening in today’s modern department, who they serve, and their responsibilities. You can learn more about becoming a BMET by clicking here.
