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Other health care workers

How to become a Clinical Engineer

Operates life-support equipment such as ventilators, dialysis machines and heart-lung machines under a doctor's direction, and maintains, checks and manages many kinds of medical equipment.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say vocational college (senmon gakko) or university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

When you pass the national clinical engineer exam and apply to the exam and licensing office of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, you are entered on the register of clinical engineers and receive a licence from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. To become eligible for the exam you can study for three years at a clinical engineer training school after high school. You can also become eligible by taking the required specialist subjects at a school for a health profession (such as medicine, nursing or another medical technology field) or a university course in medical engineering and then completing a one- to two-year short course, or by completing designated subjects at university and graduating. There are also certifications run by professional societies for qualified clinical engineers, such as certified dialysis technologist and certified perfusionist. They aim to build clinical engineers' ability to do more advanced and specialised work and to improve medical care. Because the work involves people's lives, you need to stay calm and composed when something goes wrong. You need to work carefully at all times and pay close attention.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Clinical Engineer?

When you pass the national clinical engineer exam and apply to the exam and licensing office of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, you are entered on the register of clinical engineers and receive a licence from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. To become eligible for the exam you can study for three years at a clinical engineer training school after high school. You can also become eligible by taking the required specialist subjects at a school for a health profession (such as medicine, nursing or another medical technology field) or a university course in medical engineering and then completing a one- to two-year short course, or by completing designated subjects at university and graduating. There are also certifications run by professional societies for qualified clinical engineers, such as certified dialysis technologist and certified perfusionist. They aim to build clinical engineers' ability to do more advanced and specialised work and to improve medical care. Because the work involves people's lives, you need to stay calm and composed when something goes wrong. You need to work carefully at all times and pay close attention.

How much does a Clinical Engineer earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,541,500 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Other health care workers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Clinical Engineer?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 45% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Allied Health degrees; Vocational college (専門学校) course: Other medical courses.

Will AI change the work of a Clinical Engineer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026