AAMI

percentage of those retirements will occur in key management positions. Among respondents holding managerial positions, nearly 6 in 10 reported being 50 or order, with more than 15 percent over the age of 60. Exacerbating the problem, “U.S. colleges are being forced to drop their BMET programs due to budgetary constraints,” said McGeary. “This only serves to widen a training gap between the county’s most senior and soon to be retiring BMETs and the next generation of HTM professionals.” Fortunately, one of AAMI's core strategic initiatives is to help increase the HTM personnel pipeline. AAMI’s new BMET Apprenticeship program approved by the U.S. Department of Labor matches prospective apprentices with organizations nationwide. Participating organizations are offered state tax credits for taking on apprentices. The National Apprenticeship Act of 2021, recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, may also provide support as soon as early 2022. Healthcare’s Second Front Making sure well-trained professionals are ready to manage sophisticated healthcare devices is only half the battle. During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the professionals involved in the development and regulation of medical devices also worked tirelessly to ensure hospitals and treatment centers were equipped to take on a global health crisis. For more than 50 years, AAMI has been at the forefront in developing voluntary consensus standards and technical information reports for the medical device space. These documents, developed through the coordination of more than 2,500 volunteers from around the world, are used to ensure the safe and effective production, distribution, and use of health technology. Standards also aid the regulation of these essential products, as the documents serve as state-of-the-art guidelines for regulatory compliance. Representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) participate in many of AAMI’s more than 150 standard committees and working groups, while