A former cable installer interested in becoming a biomedical imaging technician and a promising clinical engineering student motivated by a family health scare are this year’s winners of the AAMI Foundation’s Michael J. Miller Scholarships.
When she was a senior in high school, Shelia Thomas developed an interest in radiology, learning about it from her aunt, an X-ray technician. However, there were no schools offering radiology classes when she graduated from high school, so she became a medical administrative assistant. She eventually gained experience as an X-ray technician at one office, filling in when the radiologist wasn’t there. She left the medical field after a while, going back to school for electronics and then working as a cable television installer.
A move to Waco, Texas, to be closer to her son and his family, changed Thomas’ life. When her friend enrolled at Texas State Technical College (TSTC), Thomas’ interest was piqued.
“She was starting at TSTC working toward a dual degree in biomedical equipment technology and medical imaging technology,” Thomas recalled. “I had no idea what that was really about until I began talking to her about some of the classes and glancing through some of her textbooks. When I found out what it was all about, I was so excited to get started. I had found the job I had been looking for all my life.”
Thomas, who worked at a Walmart store before entering the program, said she is leaning toward being a field engineer. She graduates in August.
For Samantha Herold, a graduate student at the University of Connecticut, it was a health scare with a family member that brought her into clinical engineering.
“Although I had grown up in hospitals — my mother was a nurse and my grandmother had countless back procedures — it wasn’t until my grandfather became sick that I wanted a career in the medical field,” she said.
“I initially pursued biomedical engineering to utilize my problem-solving and technical abilities to design the devices that helped my grandfather survive as long as he did.”
She quickly discovered that she was passionate about working directly with patients and clinicians. Last year, she enrolled in a master’s program for clinical engineering, and ABM Health hired her as an intern at the Women and Infants’ Hospital of Rhode Island. The internship has allowed her to see what clinical engineering is all about, including a major software update of the facility’s temperature monitoring system for breast milk refrigerators, an initiative which she leads.
The AAMI Foundation has awarded scholarships to students since 2009, honoring those who have demonstrated academic excellence, technical aptitude, and a commitment to healthcare technology management.
