Mark Woods, a healthcare technology management professional for more than three decades, is feeling especially proud about his work these days, and it’s all because of a test.
This past June, Woods took and passed the new certification exam for healthcare technology managers (CHTM).
“It is my 35th year in this field, and it just felt great,” said Woods, who started his career in the U.S. Navy as a biomedical equipment technician and now works as director of clinical engineering at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, New Hampshire. He already had several certifications under his belt, including the one for biomedical equipment technicians (CBET), but he felt this new certification reflected his career and strengths today.
“This certification provides the opportunity to demonstrate your operational and management skills, and it does measure a significantly different skillset than CBET,” Woods said.
Elizabeth Smith, another proud recipient of the CHTM designation, agreed.
“Certification was a personal goal for me,” said Smith, the capital asset manager for the University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “I have been in healthcare technology management for more than 20 years.”
The certification focuses on two major areas: the management of healthcare technology operations and the management of personnel.
Jennifer DeFrancesco, a lead biomedical engineer with the Department of Veterans Affairs, is also newly certified. She urged more colleagues to consider taking the exam.
“I think anybody who is looking to continue in this field for the long run should be looking into certification,” she said.
The CHTM exam is a closed-book two-hour exam which consists of 100 multiple-choice questions. The exam is offered four times a year during a testing window. If you have questions about the exam, please visit www.aami.org/certification or write Director of Certification Programs Sherrie Schulte at sschulte@aami.org.
The Benefits of a Mentor Relationship
For most of his professional life, John Weimert has enjoyed the guidance of mentors.
He had one as a teenager in Houston, Texas, while working for a newspaper company. He also had a mentor in the U.S. Navy and later had mentors when he moved into the private sector, working as a biomedical engineer.
So, with a sense of gratitude and a desire to give back, Weimert, the assistant director of biomedical engineering at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, signed up for AAMI’s Mentorship Program, wanting to guide younger professionals with the same dedication he experienced.
“These mentors taught me how to act responsibly, how to speak in a professional manner, how to respond in a critical situation, how to carry myself professionally,” Weimert recalled. “In short, I would not be who I am today without having learned from strong mentors.”
Launched at the start of this year, AAMI’s Mentorship Program is a match-making exercise of sorts: pairing AAMI members new to their respective fields – whether healthcare technology management, sterilization, or another discipline – with veterans who have learned the ropes and want to help those who are just starting in their careers.
“Clearly, there are mistakes to be made, and I would like to help guide a younger biomedical engineer through the mine field,” said Weimert, who is working with one such younger professional, Priyanka Upendra, a clinical technology analyst with Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, California.
The two have bimonthly phone meetings, each set for about one hour. In between those meetings the two correspond via email. The two have discussed The Joint Commission survey processes, clinical alarm management, budget forecasting, staff development, crucial conversations, capital equipment acquisition and equipment planning.
“Throughout the program, not only have I gained a deeper understanding of how to run HTM operations, I have also learned how to understand and motivate my team to perform better, respond to conflicts, hold crucial conversations as a manager, and lead a team toward effective delivery of program and project goals,” Upendra said.
For more information about AAMI’s Mentorship Program, visit www.aami.org/mentorship.
An Essay Contest for High School Students
Do you know a high school student who is interested in healthcare technology? If so, encourage that student to participate in AAMI’s essay contest about the future of healthcare technology. AAMI wants students to describe their ideas for a new medical device or systems, explaining how they would function and how they would improve patient care.
The deadline is Dec. 1, 2015, and essays should be sent to Patrick Bernat at pbernat@aami.org.
Applicants are asked to use the following format for file names and email subject line: ESSAY-MMDDYY-LASTNAME. For example, a submission from Bill Smith on Nov. 22, 2015, should have “ESSAY-112215-SMITH” in the email subject line and “ESSAY-112215-SMITH.doc” as the file name.
Members of AAMI will vote on the submissions. Winners will be announced the second week of January 2016. Prizes will be awarded as follows: first place: $500 gift card; second place: $300 gift card; and third place: $200 gift card. Additionally, the top three authors will receive a complimentary one-year AAMI student membership. Also, the top submission, along with an article about the author, will be published by AAMI.
Pitch a Product Idea to AAMI
Are there resources for healthcare technology management or medical device industry professionals that you would like to see developed? Let AAMI know.
While AAMI already has an impressive array of books, manuals and videos available for sale, the association wants to develop additional resources to meet the needs of the healthcare technology community.
If you have an idea for a new product, please send it to Special Projects Editor Melissa Coates at mcoates@aami.org
In your email, please describe the idea, both the proposed content and format, and indicate whether you’d be interested in leading development of the product.
“We want to develop products that are both relevant and timely, and those who are on the frontlines of healthcare technology are in the best position to say what those resources might be,” Coates said. “What resource or guide would you like to have?”