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The differences between clinical engineers and biomedical engineering technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a clinical engineer has an average salary of $75,883, which is higher than the $59,711 average annual salary of a biomedical engineering technician.
The top three skills for a clinical engineer include patient care, medical devices and patients. The most important skills for a biomedical engineering technician are medical equipment, biomedical equipment, and customer service.
| Clinical Engineer | Biomedical Engineering Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $75,883 | $59,711 |
| Hourly rate | $36.48 | $28.71 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 80,770 | 79,647 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Associate Degree, 53% |
| Average age | 38 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | - |
A clinical engineer is responsible for designing and creating medical equipment and technology for medical procedures and examinations. Clinical engineers maintain and inspect the performance of machinery regularly to ensure the accuracy of results and prevent potential hazards. They also conduct quality control tests to locate system failures and perform immediate troubleshooting as necessary. A clinical engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in identifying the most needed equipment for treating and diagnosing patients.
A biomedical engineering technician is an individual who is responsible for repairing and maintaining medical equipment used in hospitals, nursing homes, and doctors' offices. By using a variety of tools and computer applications, biomedical engineering technicians must perform tasks such as preventive maintenance, installations and calibrate equipment, and repair electronic medical devices. They must keep computerized service logs and report issues to their supervisors to ensure that equipment is maintained according to their compliance standards. Biomedical engineering technicians should assist medical staff members on how to operate medical equipment properly.
Clinical engineers and biomedical engineering technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Clinical Engineer | Biomedical Engineering Technician | |
| Average salary | $75,883 | $59,711 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $102,000 | Between $43,000 And $81,000 |
| Highest paying City | Redwood City, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Regeneron | PeaceHealth |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a clinical engineer and a biomedical engineering technician in terms of educational background:
| Clinical Engineer | Biomedical Engineering Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Associate Degree, 53% |
| Most common major | Biomedical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Pennsylvania State University |
Here are the differences between clinical engineers' and biomedical engineering technicians' demographics:
| Clinical Engineer | Biomedical Engineering Technician | |
| Average age | 38 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.3% Female, 22.7% | Male, 80.6% Female, 19.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 14.1% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 8.0% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 6% |