New Blogger: Here to Help You
By Patrick K. Lynch, CBET, CCE
Hello.
This is the first of what I hope are many opportunities I will have to talk with you. Let me use this first installment to tell you a little about me and why you may benefit from reading this blog.
I live in Charlotte (actually just across the border in South Carolina) and work as a clinical engineer. I have developed a "cocktail party" description of what I do--"I fix heart monitors in hospitals." This is highly inadequate, but it suffices for the casual acquaintance that doesn't really care. But what I do is much, much deeper than this description implies.
Since 1975, I have been fixing, repairing, testing, and managing all types of medical equipment. I have done this for a 900-bed hospital, a major equipment manufacturer, a not-for-profit service company, a large hospital system in Atlanta, a private hospital ownership company, and now, a privately held company. I managed up to 125 people in an area as large as one-third of the U.S.
Educationally, I have an AAS as an electronics technician, a BET as an electrical engineer, and an MBA in organizational change. I like to think that these credentials enable me to converse equally well with a repair technician, a design engineer, or a hospital executive.
Professionally, I am an active member of more than 40 national, regional, and local medical equipment associations and serve as a board member, officer, or advisor to about eight of them. I have been involved in the certification of biomedical technicians (BMETs) and clinical engineers during most of my career.
I'm lucky that my employer
Global Medical Imaging has hired me to write, blog, educate, promote, and generally help further the medical equipment maintenance field by helping local technicians and associations to prosper. I call myself a professional do-gooder. Having no direct operational responsibilities in my company, I am free to help others find resources and to mentor new managers and help them further their careers. I recently went to Rwanda, Africa, with
Engineering World Health for the purpose of training local technicians to repair their own medical devices. That will be in my next installment.
I am 58, married (No. 2 and final), with three daughters and five grandkids. All live within 30 miles of me. My wife is an attorney, so we have very many lively dinner discussions. My greatest pleasure in life is helping others to become the best that they can be. I look forward to telling you about medical maintenance in hospitals. There are many success stories, and it will be my mission to bring you the good and to help you avoid bad or overly risky decisions. If you have a question, please leave a comment on my blog. Like I said, I have no operational responsibilities, so I exist to help you. Until next time.