Keeping Medical Equipment Running: EWB-USA to Launch Digital Training for Biomedical Equipment Technicians
In hospitals across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a lot of medical equipment sits unused. Autoclaves stop sterilizing. Patient monitors go dark. Anesthesia machines get pushed into storage rooms. Estimates suggest that up to 70% of medical equipment in these settings stops working, often within five years of arriving. Usually the equipment isn't the missing piece. The missing piece is the trained people who keep it working. EWB-USA is responding with the Digital Biomedical Equipment Technician (BMET) Training Program, an open-access course with a certificate pathway, launching in early 2027.
Why Biomedical Training Matters
Biomedical equipment technicians keep a health system running. When a device fails, a BMET determines whether a delivery room has light, whether surgical instruments get sterilized, and whether a patient gets a diagnosis. In a department like sterilization, the BMET may also train clinical staff and look after infection-control practices. Even so, many BMETs in LMICs have little access to practical training, continuing education, or professional recognition. University programs often teach strong theory but little of the hands-on skill needed to keep equipment working. In-person training costs a lot, reaches only a few places, and is hard to deliver across widely spread health systems.
The equipment adds to the challenge. Many health facilities in low-resource settings rely on donated or second-hand devices, and much of that equipment was designed to be repaired by the manufacturer's own technicians, often with special tools. As Dr. Catherine Mohr, President of the Intuitive Foundation, explains:
"In the secondary medical device economy, where a lot of the equipment is either donated or purchased second-hand, it doesn't come with servicing support or even a repair manual. So users have got to figure out how to service it themselves."
Most existing BMET training was also built for high-income settings
In these situations, failed parts can often simply go back to the manufacturer, and spare parts are easy to get. Technicians in low-resource hospitals often can't count on that kind of support, so health workers are left to improvise. To make repairs that protect patients, technicians need to understand why a device is designed the way it is, what its failure means clinically, and which technical compromises are safe.
When hospitals do have a trained technician, the results show up quickly. Megan Lavery, Program Engineer for Community Health at EWB-USA, has watched equipment come back to life in hospital after hospital after simple fixes, like replacing a fuse or tightening a loose connector.
"Most administrators quickly realize that having a trained biomedical technician on site allows lots of equipment to be restored to working order. means better care for patients, as well as cost savings and additional revenue that can be used for other needs." - Megan Lavery
A Course Built by BMETs, for BMETs
EWB-USA has long worked on water, sanitation and energy infrastructure, particularly within the setting of healthcare facilities. Its move into biomedical training comes from what it has seen on the ground. As Melissa Montgomery, Chief Programs Officer at EWB-USA, notes;
"The same communities that struggle with basic infrastructure often lack functioning equipment in their hospitals as well."
The program is a self-paced, competency-based course designed for biomedical equipment technicians, and people moving into that role, who work in hospitals and clinics in LMICs. It draws on the real experience of technicians in low-resource settings. It is organized by hospital department rather than by device manual. Each module starts with the clinical purpose of the equipment, then links design features to reliability, infection control, and patient safety, and only after that moves to repair steps. The goal is technicians who understand health systems, not only individual devices.
Training videos are filmed in real healthcare facilities in Uganda, Guatemala, and Peru, so learners see the environments and equipment they actually work with. Short lessons work with low bandwidth, on smartphones, tablets, or shared computers. Content will launch in English and Spanish, with more languages planned. Preventive maintenance runs through the whole course, beginning with the sterilization department, where equipment failure hits patient care hardest.
Two Ways to Learn
Core training content will be free to anyone at www.ifixit.com/biomed. The library EWB-USA operates there already holds more than 20,000 manuals for biomedical technicians. Participants will also be able to complete the entire structured course on EWB-USA's learning platform, which will include assessments and progress tracking, and receive a certificate when they finish. In many places, formal biomedical credentials are rare. A certificate confirms a technician's skills, strengthens their resume, and supports the professional standing of the BMET workforce.
Looking to the Future
The program builds on EWB-USA's long experience in biomedical training and health systems strengthening, including nearly a decade of work with local partners improving the energy, water, and sanitation infrastructure of healthcare facilities. The Intuitive Foundation is supporting the program's development.
"The single most cost-effective action that you can take in a hospital, is to invest in your biomedical engineers. Everything gets better when you do." Dr. Mohr said
The first cohorts will begin in early 2027 with partner hospitals in Uganda and Guatemala, along with participants from several other countries. Each participating facility will receive a locally sourced biomedical toolkit so that what technicians learn online can be used right away on the hospital floor. What EWB-USA learns from these first cohorts will shape how the program grows. The long-term goal is to work with ministries of health on nationally recognized learning pathways that support workforce planning and give BMETs the professional recognition their role deserves. To get there, EWB-USA is looking for more partners and supporters to help bring the program to regional and global scale.
Ministries of health, healthcare facilities, biomedical technicians, funders and other partners interested in the program can email community-health@ewb-usa.org to learn more. Our team will be glad to set up a time to talk further.
Equipment only saves lives when it works. Together, we can make sure it keeps working.