The “pay it forward” concept has caught on across the country in various forms. Those who pay it forward are a true blessing to the recipients of their time, talent and generous spirit. Some people pay knowledge forward and provide others with the fruits of their studies and experience.
One of those people is HTM professional Tedd Koh. Koh works at the Olive View Medical Center, a Los Angeles County facility in Sylmar, Calif. He started in the profession while living in Korea.
“In 1987, I had started to work for a medical equipment manufacturer in Korea as an R&D manager,” Koh says. “My company had produced electrical stimulators, such as low frequency and ultrasound stimulators. Back then, I did not know anything about medical devices, thus I had to study these new types of devices and was able to design simple electrical stimulators.”
He completed a biomed course at Los Angeles Valley College. Part of that course covered electronics.
“I had learned basic theory of various medical devices such as EKG, defibrillator, ventilator, X-ray and so on. During the course, we had some hands-on experiments to do, but it was not enough,” he says. “It was a two-year program and I had completed the course in 2008.”
Koh has worked as a field service engineer handling GE and CR X-ray machines as well as portable X-ray at Fuji Medical Systems USA.
“I was a BMET II at CHLA and Marina Del Rey hospitals and I am now a Medical Electronic Tech at Olive View UCLA Medical Center,” he says.
With CRES certification, Koh’s area of specialty is imaging. He has also kept up his skills to service computer-controlled devices and has recently earned his CompTIA A+ certificate. He also specializes in networks, and is Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certified.
Taking on Challenges
“We have very limited resources here. But I can use Internet and vendor websites to collect information. Then, I built an electronic library of service manuals and knowledge base,” Koh says. “All our staff can share this information because I placed the information on our network drive.”
There have not been opportunities for vendor training, but Koh’s employer does have service contracts for Cath Lab, CT, MRI and PACS.
“Except for those devices, our biomed shop takes care of all services, PM, repair and other type of services. For example, one Philips central station was down last Sunday night. But no one at our shop is trained on this,” Koh explains.
“I walked in on Monday and one of my co-workers was working on the computer. But he wasn’t having any luck. I called Philips and got some brief instructions, then I pulled a new hard drive from our storage and cloned it from another station,” he adds. “Then, I changed the computer name and configured the network settings. Then, I tried to connect it to the server. It was not successful in the beginning, but it was finally connected and downloaded all the configurations from the server and installed the application software and drivers for thermal printers. Then, it worked finally.”
Leisure Time
Away from work, Koh pursues pastimes that offer up a dose of exercise.
“Yes. I like to hike, thus my wife and I joined the Alpine Club in Los Angeles. We are climbing different mountains every Sunday. I had climbed many mountains already, including some that are more than 10,000 feet high. My other hobby is playing table tennis.”
Koh and his wife have two sons.
“My first son just graduated from Cal Tech and my second son will go to university this fall,” he says. “He will study at MIT and his major will be computer science. My wife helps my kids and me.”
When he was nominated as professional of the month, it was noted that Koh is very generous with his knowledge. In true “pay it forward” style, Koh explains what he would like to achieve with what he has learned.
“Well, I want to share my knowledge and experience with others, thus I have been conducting study groups since 2009, such as a CBET class, A+ and NET+,” he says. “I am now doing a NET+ class at Glendale Adventist Hospital. My goal is to grow together, not only myself.”
“OEMs keep launching new devices with advanced technology. Thus, we have to keep our knowledge updated,” Koh says. “ I hope your readers of TechNation will come to know me as their good biomed friend.”
Favorite book: I loved to read novels by Dan Brown such as “The Da Vinci Code.”
Favorite movie: I saw “Spiderman II” recently. It was pretty good.
Favorite food: I like Japanese and Korean food, particularly sushi and noodles
Hidden talent: I can speak Korean, some Japanese.
Favorite part of being a biomed: “I love this job because I am part of a lifesaving area. Many doctors and nurses heavily depend on our devices. I feel a very strong responsibility, that’s why I strive to do my best when I perform my job.”
What’s on my bench?
- Hot Chocolate: This hot drink makes for a peaceful mind.
- The database that I built: I keep updating this and reorganizing it. Then, it is accessible when I need to review manuals before I start my job.
- EKG Simulator: This is my toy. I carry this all the time, even if the service call is not related to EKG. You never know if the caller did not mention one more problem, and I’ll I have my tool handy.
- Small Notepad: I write in this after my job is done before I input it into the computer. I keep it for my future record even though we have a computer.
- My Smart Phone: I take pictures or video for evidence or explanation purposes.
If you would like to submit yourself or someone you know as our “Professional of the Month” please fill out the form below.
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