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Hall of Fame

Inductees

James Wear, PhD, CCE, CHSP, FAIC, FAIMBE, FASHE, FACCE  
 

 

Dr. Wear has been inducted into the Clinical Engineering Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact on two generations of clinical engineers through education, teaching, and mentoring.  In the early days of the profession, the late 1960s and early 1970s, he established the first teaching periodical in clinical engineering.  His pioneering work also included the establishment of the training center that became U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs National Engineering Training Center.  Over the course of his career, Dr. Wear has taught aspects of clinical engineering worldwide and taken on leadership challenges in clinical engineering education and advocacy.
 
Education:
  • Bachelor of Science (1959), University of Arkansas
  • Master of Science (1960), University of Arkansas
  • Doctor of Philosophy (1962) in Physical Chemistry, University of Arkansas

Certification, Registration and Peer Recognition:

  • Certified Clinical Engineer (CCE), International Certification Commission
  • Certified in Clinical Engineering (CCE), Healthcare Technology Certification Commission
  • Certified Healthcare Safety Professional
  • Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists
  • Fellow of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering
  • Fellow of the American College of Clinical Engineering
  • Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering

  Summary of Career:

Dr. Wear began his career in 1961, working as a research chemist at Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM.  In 1965, he became a research chemist at Southern Research Support Center and Nuclear Medicine Department, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Little Rock, AR.  In 1966, he developed the Central Research Instrumentation Program (CRIP) to move research equipment around the VA and became the Chief of that program which is how he got into the medical instrumentation field.


In 1971, Dr. Wear was on a committee of six that determined that the VA needed a program to maintain medical equipment.  This was the beginning of the VA biomedical engineering program and since Dr. Wear did not want to go to Washington, DC, he developed the training program at the VA Medical Center in Little Rock, AR. This became the National Engineering Training Center in 1972 initially for BMET training and then Clinical Engineer training followed by all engineering and safety training.  At the same time, he developed the Department of Biomedical Instrumentation Technology, College of Health-Related Professions, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and became the Chairman and Professor from 1971-2000.

Below are some extracts from the material provided for his nomination:

“With a colleague, in 1969 he created Scientific Enterprises, Inc. which created the first CE teaching periodical and Clinical Engineering Manual.  Many an older CE got early training in hospital safety and CE management from these sources; Jim continues to answer questions from subscribers today. He continued in other VA educational leadership roles to 2007 and was visiting Professor in Hong Kong in Health Technology/Informatics in 2007”.


“Jim’s professional and personal volunteer roles are legendary, too numerous to mention but a few.  He has served as ACCE’s Membership Chair 2011-6, Education Chair 1991-2007, HTCC, CE & BMET Board of Examiners, numerous AAMI and ASHE committees, and the Health Technology Foundation-HTF Board chairing their Patient Safety Task Force.  He also chaired the US certification board for health safety professionals.  This family man, an Eagle Scout, has served many other community organizations, as well.  He has hundreds of presentations & book chapters that continue today, and span 60 years.”  He has 62 years in Scouting and has received the National Outstanding Eagle Scout Adult Award.  He was Arkansas Outstanding Young Man in 1973.


“Jim would tell you a special joy has been his international work.  Since 1991, he led curriculum development for ACCE’s global workshops and participated in eight, leading the ACEW in Nepal in 2001.  He provided CE management training in Hong Kong 2004-2008, participated in numerous WHO programs since 2009 (e.g., CE-HTM training in East Africa), and has taught in Taiwan, Brazil, Malaysia, South Korea, Hungary, Spain and several times in People’s Republic of China in recent years.”  He received a Distinguished Collaboration Award for Exceptional Contribution to the CE Profession in China in 2016.  He has been active with the IFMBE Clinical Engineering Division since 2000 and has been awarded the IFMBE Clinical Engineering Division Award for 2017.  He is co-founder and president of the Commission for the Advancement of Healthcare Technology Management in Asia (CAHTMA).


“Jim is certified in CE and Healthcare Safety, a Fellow of ASHE, ACCE, AIMBE & American Institute of Chemists (AIC).  He received the ACCE/HTF Marv Shepherd Patient Safety Award in 2008, and ACCE/AAMI’s Robert Morris Humanitarian Award in 2011. A colleague notes: ‘I’ve known Jim 30 years; his productive career (encouraging peers to pursue continuing education), desire to train (young CEs) and to volunteer to help (our community meet its goals) are no less intense today than 45 years ago.’ (ACCE website, narrative for 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award)”.


“Jim was the ACCE 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award winner.  He remains a leader in the field, stepping down as Chairman of the ACCE membership committee in 2017 and participated as a member of the nominating committee for the HOF in 2015-17.  He continues his international outreach, most recently as faculty member and a Program Committee Chair for the ICEHTMC 2017 held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.” 

Administering Clinical Engineering Certification (CCE) oral exam in China (2014) ​Dr. Wear, keynote speaker, Conference on Technology Schools in Malaysia (2012)
 

 

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