What does a clinical engineer do?
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.
Clinical engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real clinical engineer resumes:
- Develop and manage in-house maintenance program utilizing a balance of OEM, third party, and in-house talent.
- Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
- Direct support of cardiovascular unit, surgery and relate services.
- Support all phases of software development life cycle through FDA approval & commercial launch.
- Handle complaint reporting, return material authorizations and assure effective timescales are applied, per the FDA.
- Plan, coordinate and complete each project on schedule and little down time to the radiology department.
- Design a device for use in keyhole surgery to inject cells or drugs into the wall of the heart.
- Assist with mandatory CMS documentation education/in-services.
- Provide LabView solutions to data acquisition problems.
- Implement data management procedures compliant with HIPAA regulatory requirements.
- Investigate medical device failures that injure patients and present analysis for root cause determinations.
- Develop and launch custom LabVIEW base automation programming for use in federal and pharmaceutical clinical trials.
- Plan and execute software validation and verification procedures for a variety of products relating to vital signs of patients.
- Support guide wire and balloon dilatation catheter projects, requiring similar activities associate with development of stent delivery systems.
- Analyze healthcare claims data to develop primary care physician attribution logic and collaborate with the technology team to implement and validate.
Clinical engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Clinical Engineers are proficient in Patient Care, Medical Devices, and Patients. They’re also known for soft skills such as Math skills, Problem-solving skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Clinical Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patient Care, 11%
Facilitated meetings with key medical personnel to establish appropriate placement, integration and use of patient care medical equipment.
- Medical Devices, 11%
Provided Engineering management and technical support for implantable medical devices (cardiac pacemakers & defibrillators).
- Patients, 10%
Planned and executed software validation and verification procedures for a variety of products relating to vital signs of patients.
- FDA, 7%
Compose Manufacturer Device Reports (MDR) to the FDA and international vigilance reports to the respective regulatory reporting agencies.
- Preventative Maintenance, 6%
Developed preventative maintenance practices, created documentation on repair processes, and transitioned responsibilities from other departments to the new position.
- Biomedical Equipment, 5%
Designed and implemented hospital-wide receiving inspection program, electrical safety program, and biomedical equipment preventive maintenance program.
Common skills that a clinical engineer uses to do their job include "patient care," "medical devices," and "patients." You can find details on the most important clinical engineer responsibilities below.
Math skills. The most essential soft skill for a clinical engineer to carry out their responsibilities is math skills. This skill is important for the role because "bioengineers and biomedical engineers use calculus and other advanced math and statistics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." Additionally, a clinical engineer resume shows how their duties depend on math skills: "developed data analysis algorithms and tools using matlab, r, python, mathematica, shell scripting, awk. "
Problem-solving skills. Many clinical engineer duties rely on problem-solving skills. "bioengineers and biomedical engineers typically deal with intricate biological systems," so a clinical engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways clinical engineer responsibilities rely on problem-solving skills: "improved and advanced patient care by incorporating biomedical and managerial solutions to hospital problems for a 900+ bed hospital. "
Creativity. clinical engineers are also known for creativity, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to clinical engineer responsibilities, because "bioengineers and biomedical engineers must be creative to come up with innovations in healthcare equipment and devices." A clinical engineer resume example shows how creativity is used in the workplace: "collect, clean, fix and deliver medicine equipment, patient care, and open and close orders inventory patient care"
Analytical skills. A big part of what clinical engineers do relies on "analytical skills." You can see how essential it is to clinical engineer responsibilities because "bioengineers and biomedical engineers must assess the needs of patients and customers prior to designing products." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical clinical engineer tasks: "supported protocol adherence and data collection for fda post-market surveillance studies, clinical trials, and pre-market releases for different components. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a clinical engineer to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what clinical engineers relies on this skill, since "because bioengineers and biomedical engineers sometimes work with patients and customers and frequently work on teams, they must be able to express themselves clearly in discussions." How this skill relates to clinical engineer duties can be seen in an example from a clinical engineer resume snippet: "improved communication of device issues serving as a liaison to engineering, clinical studies and marketing resolving technical issues. "
The three companies that hire the most clinical engineers are:
- Intermountain Healthcare15 clinical engineers jobs
- Nes Holdings12 clinical engineers jobs
- RWJBarnabas Health11 clinical engineers jobs
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Compare different clinical engineers
Clinical engineer vs. Engineering associate
An engineering associate is an individual whose job duties include analysis of project plans, development of product designs, and maintenance of equipment. The engineering fields where an engineering associate can find a job include civil, mechanical, and environmental. The requirements to qualify for the position include obtaining a bachelor's degree in engineering, familiarity with a specific industry, prior work experience related to the field, and possessing strong technical skills.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a clinical engineer are more likely to require skills like "patient care," "medical devices," "patients," and "biomedical equipment." On the other hand, a job as an engineering associate requires skills like "python," "java," "cad," and "c++." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Engineering associates really shine in the energy industry with an average salary of $88,950. Comparatively, clinical engineers tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $80,106.engineering associates tend to reach similar levels of education than clinical engineers. In fact, engineering associates are 4.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Clinical engineer vs. Research and development engineer
Research and development engineers generally execute research and tests on product ideas, develop new products, and perform redesigns. They are employed in many industries, including manufacturing, electrical, and science-based companies. Their duties vary and depend on the industries they work in. Responsibilities of these engineers include developing new technologies, designing products, and managing the projects until they are completed. Additionally, they lead the project team members to manage their schedules, design the project plans, and collaborate with key departments in developing new products.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that clinical engineer responsibilities requires skills like "patient care," "preventative maintenance," "biomedical equipment," and "radiology." But a research and development engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "python," "r," "c #," and "solidworks."
Research and development engineers earn a higher average salary than clinical engineers. But research and development engineers earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $107,654. Additionally, clinical engineers earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $80,106 annually.In general, research and development engineers achieve similar levels of education than clinical engineers. They're 4.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical engineer vs. Product development engineer
A Product Development Engineer is responsible for creating and testing new product designs. They collaborate with market researchers to evaluate market needs, existing competition, and potential costs.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from clinical engineer resumes include skills like "patient care," "patients," "preventative maintenance," and "biomedical equipment," whereas a product development engineer is more likely to list skills in "cad," "solidworks," "product development," and "project management. "
Product development engineers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $86,062. On the other hand, clinical engineers are paid the highest salary in the manufacturing industry, with average annual pay of $80,106.product development engineers typically earn similar educational levels compared to clinical engineers. Specifically, they're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical engineer vs. Product design engineer
A Product Design Engineer designs new products that customers will want to purchase. They are responsible for designing, modeling, and testing prototypes for products.
Types of clinical engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
