"You may not receive the recognition you deserve," reads a notice on the California Medical Instrumentation Association's website, "but the CMIA wants to thank you for being a biomed."

The notice appears in honor of the biomedical engineering/clinical engineering appreciation week, which runs May 22-28.

Local biomed associations encourage hospital biomed and clinical engineering departments to mark the occasion by recognizing the best employee, holding an open house for the hospital or throwing a lunch for the boss.

One group, CMIA, is also offering $300 in prizes for the two best articles from hospitals and vendors about biomeds and the association.

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, which is an event sponsor, says the purpose of the week-long event is to help the public recognize and appreciate what biomedical equipment technicians do -- keep medical equipment in working order.

AAMI also suggests using the occasion to drum up interest in the profession by passing out career brochures. Biomedical equipment technician was one of U.S. News & World Reports' top 50 careers for 2009. According to AAMI's brochure, median salaries range from $43,00 a year, for entry-level biomeds, to $89,000 a year, for departing directors.

The profession also has a healthy job outlook for the next decade. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's most recent estimates, the profession should grow 27 percent from 2008-2018, employing 52,600 people by 2018. In 2008, there were 41,400 biomeds in the United States, according to the department.

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