Supporting patient care through life-saving healthcare technology
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Biomedical Engineering Technology (BET) focuses on keeping healthcare technology safe, accurate, and ready when patients need it. From heart monitors and infusion pumps to defibrillators and ventilators, medical equipment must work properly at all times—and trained technicians make that possible.
Now offered at Penn State Greater Allegheny, this associate degree prepares students to test, inspect, maintain, troubleshoot, and repair the medical equipment healthcare teams rely on every day. BET graduates work behind the scenes in hospitals and healthcare facilities, ensuring life-saving technology functions safely and effectively.
Career Opportunities
This long-standing Penn State program has graduates working in hospitals and healthcare systems throughout the Pittsburgh region and beyond. If you have ever seen a patient monitor, IV pump, or defibrillator in a hospital room, someone trained in this field is responsible for keeping it operating properly.
Graduates of the program pursue careers such as:
- Biomedical Engineering Technician (BMET)/Clinical Engineer: Installs, inspects, repairs, and maintains clinical equipment like infusion pumps, defibrillators, and patient monitors.
- Field Service Engineer: Travels to healthcare facilities to install, maintain, and repair equipment for manufacturers or third-party service providers.
- Imaging Engineer: Inspects, troubleshoots, repairs and calibrates, medical imaging equipment including x-ray systems, ultrasounds, and CT scanners
- Medical Device Integration Analyst: Works at the intersection of biomedical equipment and IT systems, ensuring connectivity and data exchange between medical devices and electronic health records.
- Repair Technician: Performs bench-level testing and repair on specific medical devices and would be employed by manufacturers or third-party service provider
Curriculum Highlights
- Hands-on technical training in equipment operation, inspection, preventative maintenance, and troubleshooting
- Foundational coursework in electronics, physiology, chemistry, and computer networking
- Experience with real medical devices including patient monitors, defibrillators, pacemakers, infusion pumps, electrosurgical units, and anesthesia machines
- Internship experience at more than 50 approved healthcare facilities in the Pittsburgh region, with additional opportunities available outside the area
- Preparation for Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician (CBET) certification
Official course requirements and suggested academic plans are available in the Undergraduate Bulletin .
Many U.S. states and territories require professional licensure or certification for employment in certain fields. If you plan to pursue a position in a licensed profession after completing this program, visit the Professional Licensure/Certification Disclosures by State interactive map for more information. The Biomedical Engineering Technology program prepares students for employment as a biomedical engineering technician and for Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician (CBET) certification. A Professional Engineer (PE) license is not required for employment in this role.
