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American College of Clinical Engineering
Celebrating 25 years
Founded on June 19, 1990
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Congratulations From Current and Former ACCE Members!The thing to do, as we celebrate ACCE 25th anniversary, is to raise a cup of tea. In a salute to bigger but similar act of expression, the famous Boston Tea Party, we too asked who represents the clinical engineers’ interests?
And that is how we started. A group of visionaries with tall order of professional compassion and commitment for bringing profession recognition agreed, 25 years ago, that clinical engineers are the right representatives of the profession. With guts and hard work the ACCE organization grew, overcame the doubters and other challenges to be high quality well-respected organization. We achieved much and I call on all clinical engineers to join ACCE in the continuing work of building the professional home we are all proud to be part off.
Cheers!
Yadin David, Ed.D., CCE
(Member of the 1990 group)
ACCE President, 1990-1991
Those of us in that hotel conference room in Houston in 1990, who officially declared the existence of the American College of Clinical Engineering based on the vision and hard work of so many others, might have had a hard time imagining ACCE (or ourselves) twenty-five years later. Small in membership, huge in impact, ACCE has become an institution to be reckoned with. Let’s keep the vision before us as we move into ACCE’s second quarter-century. Matt Baretich, Ph.D., CCE
(Member of the 1990 group)
ACCE President, 1991-1992
Congratulations to ACCE on 25 years of success! Many remember a classic Technical Iconoclast presentation where I successfully swayed the audience that Mothers Make Better Clinical Engineers. ACCE has survived the teenage years and moved nicely into adulthood. I still remember one of my first meetings where Joe Dyro cornered me, cigar in hand, and insisted I join the board. I am glad I did, as it has been a true pleasure to work with such a fine group of Clinical Engineers and pioneer the way for many other fantastic motherly leaders! Everyone who has been involved in the leadership of ACCE should be proud of where we were and how far we have come. The next 25 years should prove to be just as exciting. I look forward to watching and participating in the future success of ACCE.
Cheers! Jennifer Ott, MSBME, CCE
ACCE President, 1999-2001
In its first 25 years, ACCE excelled in leading our profession by providing international workshops in clinical engineering, championing CE Certification, and forging the partnership between clinical engineering and healthcare IT. Today, our members work with and are respected by people at all levels. I have no doubt that the next 25 years will bring continued growth and excellence for Clinical Engineering through ACCE. Ray Zambuto, MS, CCE
ACCE President, 2002-2004
ACCE has seen a tremendous growth over the last 25 years. The strategic partnerships that formed are a true testament to the organization’s strong leadership and its diverse membership on national and international level. In my two years as the President and quite a few more on the Board and various Committees, I have been fortunate to see some of these changes and partnerships flourish, however most importantly I enjoyed the friendships I have developed that will last a lifetime. I look forward to the next 25 years with ACCE! Izabella Gieras, MS, MBA, CCE
ACCE President, 2004-2006
I remember getting a phone call from Izabella Gieras inviting me to join the ACCE Board as a member at-large. That phone call (and many great experiences afterwards) helped open my eyes to what clinical engineering can bring to the world. For me, the organization and its members continue to serve as a source of leadership, warmth and zeal. And this unique community thrives on blazing new trails in health technology management for the benefit of future generations of clinical engineers. Jennifer Jackson, MBA, CCE
ACCE President, 2008-2010
In 1979, a talented group of clinical engineering pioneers published an article with the title Clinical Engineering -- An Enigma in Health Care Facilities. So were we a paradox, conundrum, problem, mystery, riddle, puzzle, question, or a perplexity? In 1979, after being in the practice of clinical engineering for 7 years, I would agree that we all of those things.
In 1990, a group of clinical engineers met to establish a professional society designated for clinical engineering. The mission, vision, and definitions of the new society helped give clarity to an ongoing professional endeavor.
Enigma no more! Gerald R. Goodman, Ph.D., CCE
(Member of the 1990 group)
Board Member, 1991-1992
I had the privilege of being with Yadin and others on February 17, 1990 when ACCE began, and joining the first board. We were passionate about CEs being all we could be; certainly balancing domestic concerns as well as partnership with international colleagues were early goals. Look at what we have done, and consider what we might do now. Tom Judd, MS, CCE
(Member of the 1990 group)
ACCE Vice President, 1994-1996
It's been an honor to be associated with the American College of Clinical Engineering. I was fortunate to be one of the Founders in 1990 and to be the chair of the committee that developed the Definition of a Clinical Engineer that was approved by the Board in May 1991. The definition was later adopted by the Canadian Medical & Biological Engineering Society (CMBES), the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) as well as the US Board of Examiners for Clinical Engineering of the international Certification Commission (ICC). Some of us are fortunate to still have the original ACCE Member T shirts that Yadin wore with impressive results.
Our members have been at the forefront of all of the major issues in the field since its inception and will continue into the future. I’d like to recognize several key activities and the individuals who were involved through the earlier years.
The first Advanced Clinical Engineering Workshop (ACEW) was held in Washington DC, May 15-June 7, 1991 with attendees from 24 countries. It was the culmination of two years of hard work by Tom Judd, Binseng Wang, Yadin David and Frank Painter and was supported by the IFMBE and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
ACCE crafted a response to the FDA when they published regulations regarding Medical Device User Facility reporting under the Safe Medical Devices Act of 1990. The letter signed by Matt Baretich was published in the March-April 1992 of the ACCE News. In our response, we offered many suggestions to improve the proposed regulations and posed many questions that we felt the FDA should address.
Under the leadership of Mo Kasti, ACCE submitted a detailed response in 1992 to the FDA’s proposal for Device Tracking Requirements for User Facilities. The letter was signed by President Dyro and also submitted to Congressmen John Dingell and Henry Waxman.
Wayne Morse designed the attractive and elegant ACCE lapel pins that we so proudly wear. In 1995 we began the first ACCE Teleconferences with the topic Understanding the Healthcare Marketplace. These courses were conceived by Wayne Morse and were implemented by James Wear, the ACCE Education Chair at that time.
With the leadership of Al Jakniunas, we developed the ACCE Guidelines for Donating Medical Equipment to help both the donors and recipients to effectively transfer technology with practical information.
ACCE developed a position paper in 1995 to address the FDA’s initiative to regulate medical device servicers and particularly hospital based service providers as part of the Current Good Manufacturing Practices Final Rule. We argued that the rule did not establish a factual basis for a concern that inadequate servicing led to significant risks to patients and that the potential benefits did not justify the excessive expected expenses. The effort along with input from many others was successful and the provisions were dropped and in-house departments do not have to report all service events to the manufacturers.
In 1997, Biomed Bubba was created by Joe Dyro as the antithesis of a real clinical engineer. He was heard to proclaim loudly and frequently “Biomed Bubba is my name and Electrical Safety’s my game.” I believe Biomed Bubba has finally retired as our focus has transitioned toward systems thinking for medical device safety, medical informatics, interoperability, and clinical alarms management.
In May 1998, Ira Tackel hosted the first ACCE Symposium on The Future of Clinical Engineering at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Additional ACCE Symposiums have since been held in conjunction with every AAMI Annual Meeting.
Engaging the FDA regulatory process again, Binseng Wang led the effort in 1998 and ACCE presented a formal response to the FDA’s proposal to require servicers, refurbishers and reconditioners to register with the FDA and comply with the GMP/Quality System regulation.
We continue broad collaboration efforts with AAMI, HIMSS and the FDA on current issues involving medical device safety and have initiated the Clinical Engineering Hall of Fame to recognize those incredible individuals who have done so much to advance the profession.
Congratulations and thanks to all our members, a warm welcome to members-to-be and my best wishes for a fantastic future for the American College of Clinical Engineering. Tom Bauld, Ph.D, CCE
ACCE President, 1994-1996
It is hard to believe that we are already celebrating ACCE’s 25th anniversary. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to work with not only the founders of ACCE but truly the visionaries of our profession. What an amazing journey. Thank you Yadin for hosting our first meeting in Houston and thanks to the group that was there to work out our issues and agree on what is now the most recognized clinical engineering organization in the world. Wayne Morse, MSMBE, MBA, CCE
(Member of the 1990 group)
ACCE Secretary 1990-1994
It is hard to believe 25 years have past since the inception of ACCE. Many have past through the doors of ACCE, and we are all better for their collective contributions.
As is usually the case, it is a team effort, and the success of any organization is greatly dependent on those who all contributed. That said, it is gratifying that several had the vision and tenacity to start such an endeavor. I am glad to have been a part of that effort. Congratulations to all who helped to found the organization, but also to all those who kept it going and provided a meaningful service to the profession of Clinical Engineering. Ira S. Tackel
(Member of the 1990 group)
ACCE Treasurer, 1992-1996
I have had the honor of being a member of ACCE for nearly all of the organization’s 25 year history and have had the privilege of serving as a committee chair or board member for almost half of that time.
While ACCE’s membership has more than doubled in recent years … thanks in large part to the efforts of recent board members and our secretariat … we remain relatively small as professional organizations go. However a great source of pride in my association with ACCE is that our size belies our impact. The appropriate boxing euphemism is that ACCE has always “punched above our weight.” Our members have always been the thought leaders in the HTM/CE industry. ACCE members have always represented a high proportion of the authors of HTM/CE journals and speakers at a healthcare technology conferences. Our members are conspicuously leading standards development and initiatives such as collaboration between the CE and IT professional communities. ACCE members have helped shape the world of healthcare technology over the past 25 years and I’m confident we can foster new talent and continue punching above our weight for the next 25. Congratulations to all my ACCE colleagues for a job well done … but remember the job continues and there’s a new generation to inspire.
Steve Grimes
ACCE President, 2006-2008
Congratulations to a wonderful organization on 25 years of invaluable service to the clinical engineering profession and healthcare organizations worldwide. ACCE provides great opportunities for friendship, leadership, and professional growth. I am proud to be a member and to have served in leadership roles on our Board, including during my Presidency from 2012-2014. Thank you to my ACCE friends and colleagues for all of your help and support during my time on the Board. James P. Keller, MS
ACCE President, 2012-2014 |
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