Current State of Biomedical Engineering Education in Armenia and Perspectives of Development with TEMPUS IV BME-ENA Project

Biomedical Engineering (BME) is a modern and dynamic specialty that is predicted to grow over the next decades, partly due to increasing penetration of technological processes and devices into the healthcare system and medical practice, education and research. BME education is regarded as an important tool to support development of healthcare systems and medical industry. BME education in Armenia has been present at certain higher education institutions (HEIs) for some period of time, however the existing study programs need to be updated according to modern standards and practices, and the capacity of the institutions delivering the program needs to be expanded. The 3-year curriculum development project "Biomedical Engineering Education Tempus Initiative in Eastern Neighboring Area" (BME-ENA) financed through the EU's Tempus IV funding instrument, involves 17 institutions from 11 EU and ENA countries and is aimed primarily at development and implementation of an innovative joint MSc program in BME amongst the participating universities. Armenia is represented by two leading HEIs - the State Engineering University of Armenia (SEUA), and the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University (RAU), and an NGO working in the field of medical technologies - Armenian Association of Telemedicine (AATM). The project team from Armenia has by now held several working meetings locally and with the international partners, which have resulted in development of the new curriculum outline for the joint BME program, incorporating approaches and recommendations of the European project partners. The BME-ENA project is expected to provide an important platform for modernizing BME education in Armenia and bringing it in accordance with current European standards.