Atlantic Canada Clinical Engineering Society

ACCES is proud to announce its 2019 bursary recipients: Jack Gillies, son of ACCES member Bob Gillies (New Brunswick); and Cameron Spencer, son of ACCES member Kelly Spencer (Newfoundland).

Clinical Engineering departments across Atlantic Canada celebrated the National Biomedical and Clinical Engineering Week last year from May 20-26. As part of the celebrations, ACCES launched its annual photo-contest to registered members.

The criteria were simple: snap a picture of Clinical Engineering week activities or celebrations – with the ACCES logo visible in the photo. We were quite surprised with the creativity, smiles, and cakes in this year’s submissions. In the end, the judges were finally able to agree on three winning submissions...

In late October, one of our very own clinical engineering technologists, Felicity Chevron MacKay, went on a special trip: she joined a volunteer task force made up of nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals committed to delivering and improving healthcare in Guatemala. ACCES was glad to offer some financial support in the form of a $300 donation for Felicity and the Refugee International volunteer group’s mission. Felicity was more than happy to share her story with us once she returned from her mission.

The Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society will be have their 42nd conference in Ottawa from May 21-24, 2019.

More information is available HERE.

Did you know that ACCES members are eligible for preferred rates with CMBES? In 2015, ACCES signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society (CMBES), to foster collaboration and communication between our Societies and realize common goals. This agreement allows ACCES members to become members of CMBES with a 50% discount on membership fees. For more information on how you can take advantage of this wonderful offering, contact our Director of Membership.

Each year, as part of the ACCES Educational Seminars and Trade Expo, fundraising activities are held during social & networking sessions. Funds raised during these sessions are donated to local hospital foundations throughout Atlantic Canada.

Biomedical and Clinical Engineering departments across Canada are celebrating the National Biomedical/Clinical Engineering Appreciation Week on May 19-25, 2019. As part of the celebrations, ACCES is once again launching a photo contest to all its registered members in Atlantic Canada.

ACCES is proud to announce its very first bursary recipient in January 2018: Nicolas Chassé, son of ACCES member Mario Chassé. Nicolas will be using the $500 bursary to attend a course in electronics engineering technology, intending to follow in his father’s footsteps and to one day become a clinical engineering technologist (pictured above: Nicolas Chassé with ACCES member and proud father Mario Chassé). Congratulations, Nicolas, and best of luck!

Dear ACCES Community,

Along with the ACCES executive team, I would like to start out with welcoming you all to 2018. This year will bring one of the biggest Clinical Engineering Educational Seminars and Trade Expos held in Atlantic Canada for some time with CMBES and ACCES combining efforts in Charlottetown during the second week of May.

Biomedical and Clinical Engineering departments across Atlantic Canada celebrated the Biomedical and Clinical Engineering Week last year from May 21-27, 2017. As part of the celebrations, ACCES launched its annual photo-contest to registered members.

The criteria were simple: snap a picture of Biomedical and Clinical Engineering week activities or celebrations – with the ACCES logo somewhere in the photo. We were quite surprised with the creativity, smiles, and cakes in this year’s submissions. In the end, the judges were finally able to agree on three winning submissions for this year...

Dear ACCES members,

It is that time of year again, in which we are in the midst of the initial planning stages for the next ACCES Educational Seminars & Trade Expo. As you should already know, this year’s conference will be hosted in Charlottetown PEI. Its organization will be no small task, as this will be a combination of the ACCES and CMBES conferences: ACCES23/CMBEC41. Already, we have a strong base in forming the multiple committees needed for putting this event together, with representation from across the country.

This Fall’s spotlight article moves away from New Brunswick and into Nova Scotia where we meet Brian Seidel, one of the newer Biomedical Electronics Technologists (Biomed) to the province’s healthcare scene… but not new to healthcare. You see, Brian started as a Biomedical Technologist back in 2008 in the military.

This year marked the 22nd anniversary of an annual event that brings together clinical engineering professionals and key healthcare technology players in Atlantic Canada: the Atlantic Canada Clinical Engineering Educational Seminars and Trade Expo. Over 120 delegates, vendors, and speakers were present for this event in Moncton, New Brunswick, from May 17-19, 2017.

Service New Brunswick’s Clinical Engineering branch was recently recognized as a finalist for ECRI Institute's 11^th annual Health Devices Achievement Award. Clinical Engineering utilized a concept called critical percentage to better improve completion rates of inspection and preventative maintenance (IPM) on medical devices throughout the province.

The ACCES board of directors recently held their Annual General Meeting, which took place on Thursday, May 18^th 2017, in Moncton, New Brunswick. The floor was opened for nominations to the vacant Director of Education position, but none were received. However, after a few members showed interest in lending a hand, an Education Committee was formed.

The Education Committee has since met, and together they have laid the groundwork for a series of educational offerings through online webinars based on speaker sessions from ACCES22. Expect emails to be sent to the ACCES distribution list as soon as webinars are scheduled and available. Coming soon!

Dear ACCES Members,

It is finally nice to see that summer has arrived to the Atlantic Provinces, bringing with it the nicer weather, which we all deserve. Especially deserving are those individuals who participated in hosting ACCES22 this year in Moncton.

In May 2015 ACCES (Atlantic Canada Clinical Engineering Society) and CMBES (the Candian Medical and Biological Engineering Society) signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between out two Societies.

CMBES is Canada's principal society for engineering in medicine and biology. It is a member of Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC)and affiliated with the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE).

This Spotlight article features Dan Burrill, an ACCES member who is based at the Moncton City Hospital and who has quite a unique career progression, from his formative years to his soon-to-be retirement. Dan grew up jumping between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as his dad was a pastor and was required to move about to help some of the smaller coastal communities. Dan’s first memory was that of growing up in Mace’s Bay near the Point Lepreau area in New Brunswick, but he considers Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, as his childhood home.

This Spotlight article features a member from Saint John, New Brunswick, where another of Clinical Engineering’s veterans resides, Bertram McDonald, or who we all know as Bert.

Bert grew up with nine brothers and sisters in Prince of Whales, not a spot located somewhere in Scotland, but a community just a stone’s throw from Musquash NB, where he attended the proverbial one room “little red school house” from grades one to three. With the closure of many rural schools he would finish grades 4 through 9 by taking the short drive to West Saint John where he graduated from Saint John Vocational High School. 

This month’s Spotlight features Mike Smith from the Fredericton Area. Although Mike didn’t always live in the area as he was originally born in Goose bay, Labrador in 1963. At the age of three though he packed up (or his parents did) and the family moved back to Fredericton, their home city.