Empowering the Biomedical/CE Professional
An Idea or a Plan
I have an idea. Or is it a plan? Many times we use these terms interchangeably in our daily use. I read something in a magazine, attend a conference, talk to a friend and think, “I could do that where I work.” I share it with my boss or coworker and say I have a plan to do… But is that a plan, or is that an idea? Now I maybe splitting hairs, but I believe there is a difference between them. But before I tell you what my idea is of each of these, I have to tell you...
After being in the business of biomedical equipment now for over 25 years, I tend to be like many of you and just take many aspects of what we do on a day-to-day basis for granted. Aspects of any professional job bring on stressful situations we all must deal with. As a BMET/CE you may be worried about such things as, “Will I reach my 90 percent PM completion rate?” or “How on earth am I going to find these last 14 devices in the next three days?” as you have probably already been searching for them for the last...
Screening BMET Students for Employability Factors
2011 was both a terrific and a terrible year for us at Texas State Technical College Waco. On the positive side, enrollment has been consistently up and the trend shows no sign of ending anytime soon. On the bad side, we lost a terrific instructor and budgets continue to be cut. 2012 should prove to be interesting as we get closer to implementing the new funding formula. In the past, schools like ours have been funded on contact hours; in other words, the number of hours students spend in the classroom per semester. The more students we have, and the...
What I did during my summer of 2011
I am sure there has been at least one time that you have written a paper for grade school that was titled what I did for my summer vacation. Well, here is mine from 2011. It was a very different summer than previous years. Normally classes are finished around the first week of May, exams are graded, final grades are submitted and my biomedical engineering technology students are just starting their internships. This is my vacation time; time to relax. Time to update course content, prepare for accreditation visits and get caught up on all of the paperwork that has...
No standards, regulations, accreditation or resources for a biomed tech
Supporting medical equipment here in the united states has become a complex process over the past years. There are standards, which are voluntary decisions of actions that can be performed so you are doing what your peers are doing in the profession. There are regulations, which are laws from federal, state and local authorities that must be followed to prevent a fine, medical licensure loss or imprisonment. There are accreditation organizations, which measure, evaluate and provide feedback on the quality, programs and effectiveness of what we do. These standards, regulations and accreditations affect medical equipment support from the design, product...
A Lesson in Assumptions
Two graduation s in two months, and I never get tired of them. I have probably attended at least 40 or 50 since working at Texas State Technical College Waco and each one makes me glad to be an instructor in this field. This past week, I attended the high school graduation of my son, who lives in Pennsylvania. He is off to college in the fall and unfortunately, I couldn’t talk him into the medical service profession. Instead, he is planning a career in the criminal justice field. Spending time with him was great, and we both learned a...
$500, the gift that keeps on giving
What would you do for $500? If someone deposited it into your account, would you take it? What if they handed it to you? What if you have to wear some crazy clothes and do strange things like a game show, would you do it? Or what about something more challenging like writing a paper or speaking in front of a group? That is just what some students did at Penn State New Kensington in the Biomedical Engineering Technology program. When John Krieg asked me to help with a new magazine he was preparing to publish, I was honored and...
Most everyone is familiar with the news headlines lately focusing on budget deficits – both on the federal and state levels – and the cuts that are coming to balance those deficits. The state of Texas is no exception and in fact may face one of the most brutal budget-cutting sessions in recent history. With a projected shortfall of approximately $27 billion (plus or minus a few billion depending on who you listen to and the particular day of the week), it is more than obvious that education, including higher education, is directly in the crosshairs of the legislators. This...
