Polishing Soft Skills for The Future HTM Professional

Abstract

The Biomedical Technology Department of the Tucson, AZ branch of Brown Mackie College (a family of 25 colleges in 15 states), offers an intensive two-year program leading to the degree of Associate of Applied Science in Biomedical Equipment Technology. According to the college website, the program focuses on technical training aspects, and provides “training in electronics and computer technology, with a special emphasis on medical applications, operations, and procedures.”However, there is more to the program than meets the eye. Recognizing the importance of communication in the career of a healthcare technology management (HTM) professional, the department's instructors have implemented an informal and innovative program to polish the soft skills of incoming students.The department team includes Anthony J. Offret, dean of academic affairs; Tim Bush, campus president; Scott Percy, department chair and director; and a group of instructors who teach a “range of topics including physics, business communication, writing, and everything in between” says Percy.The two-year curriculum includes coursework on biomedical equipment and instrumentation, medical terminology, solid state electronics, and information technology. Students are, the college prospectus states, prepared for “entry-level employment in tertiary healthcare settings, the manufacturing industry, and service companies.”The college encourages the development of practical skills by also including the option of an externship—described as an unpaid position for which the student garners college credit—and recruiting instructors with extensive field experience. For example, Percy is keen to hone his students' technical skills and pass on crucial real-world experience in equipment management—gleaned from 34 years in the pharmaceutical industry designing medical equipment at Boehringer Mannheim (now Roche), Abbott Labs (MediSense), and Eli Lilly and Co.“I usually meet prospective biomed students prior to their matriculation, take part in their orientation on the first day and see them routinely as they progress from class to class,” says Percy. When he joined the college several years ago, these initial meetings confirmed what he knew from talking to recruiters and hiring agencies: There has been a downward trend in the communication abilities and soft skills of new graduates. “Their technical skills are fine, but kids across the country and across programs cannot communicate,” he says.The entrance requirements for the college's biomed tech program include passing advanced mathematics, and achieving a required set of composition scores in the entrance examination, but do not specifically include soft-skill assessment. As a result, some students have a high degree of training, including soft skills, whereas others lack communication skills, or have other impediments.At the Tucson branch of Brown Mackie College, as at many other colleges, students come from diverse backgrounds, and have differing degrees of maturity, training, and professionalism.The first problem instructors faced was how to structure classes for students with such a range of abilities: Would they have to formulate rules on behavior, interpersonal interactions, and professionalism? Would they need to develop a manual for students on how to become a professional in three days? “Teaching the students the science is the easy part. It's what they missed the first 20 years of life that is the challenge,” Percy says. And soft skill development is a large part of that first 20 years.“When I talk to professional agencies,” says Percy, “they are looking for biomeds who can dovetail into an organization, who can work in any environment.” The department began an intensive initiative to polish student's soft and professional skills to prepare them for an HTM career, in addition to developing rigorous technical skills and instilling an extensive knowledge base.It is not until after a class or two that the instructors can glean what drives that particular cohort of students. “All students are individuals. Not everybody needs this [soft skills] program,” he says. “There are some people we have to start from the ground up. Others are extraordinarily prepared, and we have to determine what we can do for each student: tutoring, professional assistance, or speech lessons.”Instructors tackled the challenge by going back to basics with students lacking soft skills. The current incarnation of the initiative can be divided into the following six efforts:The investment of time and energy on the part of the instructors is substantial: Instructors work overtime and go above and beyond the call of duty when necessary. For example, when one student became homeless, the instructors teamed up to help the student find temporary and then permanent lodging.There are plenty of success stories. “It takes a while for our kids to realize the importance of the tools we are providing them,” Percy says, “but from the first day to the end of the two-year course, we see how much they grow and develop.” Instructors see the students transform into professionals.Students have high praise for the program, instructors and college. Efrem Gardoni, who will graduate in 2013, remarks that prior to joining the program, he was “underemployed, depressed, and lacked confidence. Now, after finishing my three-month block of biomedical equipment repair, I have started down the final semester of my journey towards a new life. I have a newfound confidence.”Mentors are valued by their students. George Speelman, a BMET V at the University of Arizona Medical Center Clinical Engineering Department in Tucson, mentored two students during their one-month externship at the medical center. The students praise Speelman as “one of their best friends, mentors, teachers, and role models.”The college instructors too are recognized for their excellence by professionals in the field: “The staff's commitment to further the biomedical engineering profession is evident in the quality of its graduates, as well as their desire to connect with the local biomed community,” says Naomia M. Rivera, clinical engineering manager at St. Joseph's Hospital, part of the Carondelet Health Network, in Tucson.John Taylor is a former honors student who is now a BMET in the Clinical Engineering Department at St. Mary's Hospital, also part of the Carondelet Health Network. He mentors externs at the hospital. “While mentoring/teaching the students, I've found the best way to get them to understand a lot of the concepts is to try to find a process that they are familiar with and relate it to the work that needs to be done so they can understand the process”—an approach used by the college instructors.The department at Brown Mackie has placed graduates in many of southern Arizona's healthcare facilities, as well as in facilities across the nation. “Incoming students who never thought about life outside of Tucson are thinking nationally and globally when they graduate,” says Percy.And what advice does he have for other biomed programs? “Walk the walk. Talk the talk. If you want professionalism, be professional. Show up on time. If you want people looking sharp, look sharp yourself. I shine my shoes everyday—an old military habit.” And his most important piece of advice? “Laugh at yourself at least daily. It's a soft skill. It humanizes you. And you really need it in our field.”