We adopt a three-level scheme for the pump - amplification process in 1.48 mum pumped Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers, which reproduces the main experimental features of amplifiers with short and long fiber lengths. Continuous wave amplification in a simplified slab waveguide structure is simulated by means of the scalar Beam Propagation Method, taking into account signal and pump propagation through the waveguide. Results from the simulation are compared with measurements done by the COST 217 Project Group. The method may be well suited for the project of Integrated Optics Optical Amplifiers based on rare earth doped waveguides.