Developing a Structured Clinical Engineering Internship Programme for Nigerian Biomedical Engineering Graduates

The transition from biomedical engineering academic training to professional clinical engineering practice in Nigerian hospitals is poorly structured, with most graduates entering employment without formal supervised clinical internship experience, resulting in inadequate preparation for independent device management responsibilities. This study develops a structured clinical engineering internship programme for Nigerian biomedical engineering graduates, drawing on needs assessment data from employers, recent graduates, and university programme coordinators across all six geopolitical zones. Needs assessment employed a structured questionnaire administered to forty hospital clinical engineering departments, thirty recent biomedical engineering graduates, and twenty university programme heads, supplemented by focus group discussions in Lagos, Enugu, Kano, and Port Harcourt. Graduates and employers consistently identified hands-on medical device maintenance skills, clinical environment professional practice, health technology assessment methods, and regulatory compliance knowledge as the largest skill gaps at employment entry. The designed programme specifies a twelve-month internship structure with defined rotation blocks across medical equipment management, clinical instrumentation, health technology assessment, and digital health systems management. Competency assessment milestones, supervision responsibilities, and record of experience documentation requirements are fully defined. A host hospital quality assurance protocol ensures consistent internship experience standards. A national coordinator role within an existing professional body, the Clinical Engineering Association of Nigeria, is proposed for programme administration. Financial sustainability is addressed through a modest intern registration fee and hospital internship hosting recognition scheme. The programme was reviewed and endorsed by ten senior clinical engineering professionals before finalization. Keywords: clinical engineering internship, biomedical engineering graduates, professional development, supervised practice, Nigeria.