GE Healthcare and the Association of Medical Engineering of Kenya (AMEK) hosted the inaugural biomedical excellence day in the country, training over 100 biomedical engineers.
The training on August 8 attracted biomedics from both government and private health centers from across Kenya’s 47 counties, who were trained by local and international experts.
In a statement, GE Healthcare said the objective of the Biomedical Excellence Day was to provide biomedical engineers with the latest information and knowledge on the use of advanced medical equipment.
“The full day event also provided a platform for knowledge sharing to foster best practices in maintenance of healthcare systems,” the firm added.
Biomedical engineering is a multidisciplinary field in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field that combines biology and engineering. Also known as BioMed, bioengineering or BME, it applies engineering principles and materials to medicine and healthcare.
Healthcare professionals who study biomedical engineering are expected to have a knowledge in subjects such as maths, chemistry, physics, computer programming, molecular biology and genetics.
GE Healthcare East Africa Managing Director Andrew Waititu said the hosting of the Biomedical Excellence Day was a move to reinforce the firm’s commitment to support continuous training for healthcare professionals.
“We believe that in order to provide sustainability of healthcare solutions, training programs for healthcare professionals need up-dating to remain relevant to their practice and to reflect advances in healthcare innovations,” he said.
In June 2016, GE Healthcare launched a Ksh1.3 billion Healthcare Skills and Training Institute in Kenya in collaboration with the government to promote training of biomedical engineers and other healthcare workers. To date, over 1,600 professionals have been trained.
The Secretary-General of AMEK, Eng. Millicent Alooh, said, “Training in the latest medical technologies is critical for Biomedical Engineering professionals to efficiently provide quality Healthcare technology management to Kenyans through treatment, consultation, diagnosis, monitoring, administration, equipment preventive maintenance, surgery among other services.”
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