JCE Clinical Engineering Today

The first part of this episode spotlights three extremely successful women in clinical engineering, Izabella Gieras Jordan Anderson, and Arleen Thukral. In their conversation with host Michael Levin-Epstein, editor of the Journal of Clinical Engineering, they discuss how the industry is becoming less male-dominated and the various paths they took on their professional journeys in this space. Gieras, director of the clinical technology department at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, CA, says she started her career in electrical engineering, where there were only a couple of other women, but in her senior year, took an elective course that got her interested in biomedical engineering and then attended the University of Connecticut, one of the premier CE programs in the United States. Anderson, chief of clinical engineering at the Providence VA Medical Center in Providence, RI,  RI,  notes that she started her career at the VA Medical Center as an intern. She worked in research labs as part of her undergraduate career at the University of Pittsburgh and then attended University of Connecticut’s Clinical Engineering Master’s Program. Through the UCONN program she fell in love with learning about medical technology and being closer to patient care. Thukral oversees 10 biomedical engineering departments as health care technology manager covering  VA facilities in New York and New Jersey. She+ received an undergraduate and master’s degree from RPI, doing research in tissue engineering before being accepted into an internship program at the VA, which led to becoming chief biomedical engineer at the Fresno, CA, VA and moving to Seattle before coming back to the East Coast for her current “dream job.” In the second part of this episode, Scott Siegel, Senior Director of Product Management at PartsSource, talks about the multiple challenges that HTM specialists face in automation and data optimization, and how PartsSource is constantly partnering with providers to innovate and deliver cutting-edge solutions to these challenges. This episode is sponsored by PartsSource, www.partssource.com

In the first part of this episode, host Michael Levin-Epstein welcomes three HTM professionals to discuss the future of the industry. The guests, Stephen L. Grimes (Principal Consultant at Strategic Health Care Technology Associates), Alan Gresch (Vice President of Healthcare Strategy at Accruent), and Don Armstrong (Biomed III at Renovo Solutions) talk about the continuing rapid evolution of clinical engineering and health technology management. They touch on a range of impactful issues, from AI to dealing with the looming shortage of clinical engineering professionals. In the second part, Gresch is joined by Mara Pare´, Vice President of Client Solutions at PartsSource, to discuss time constraints facing HTM professionals and the need for consistency in parts ordering. This episode is sponsored by PartsSource, www.partssource.com

In this first episode of Clinical Engineering Today, Michael Levin-Epstein, the editor of the Journal of Clinical Engineering welcomes the Journal’s Editorial Board: Frank Painter, Ashley O’Mara, and Izabella Gieras. The group discusses how the clinical engineering industry has changed in the last 10 years, reflects on the response to COVID-19, and share insights on how HTM departments can increase their visibility inside their organizations. They also delve into professional development in the clinical engineering industry and discuss their current projects.

In the second part of this episode. Carol Davis-Smith and Jason Behm, co-authors of an informative article in the April-June issue of the Journal discuss the market forces that affect clinical engineering and the challenges faced when accessing repair parts. They also share ways to leverage data in the industry and increase margins. This episode is sponsored by PartsSource, www.partssource.com