(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Every hour of every day, in hospitals and doctors’ offices everywhere, patients trust that the equipment being used to diagnose, prevent and treat their illnesses is working properly.
More and more, however, there are not enough technicians who can calibrate, troubleshoot and repair that equipment to go around.
The Biomedical Equipment Technology program at Texas State Technical College trains students to meet the demand.
Mia Satterfield, a Harlingen resident now in her fourth semester at TSTC, said having been a patient herself motivated her to join the program.
“I experienced a heart condition, and a medical team at Valley Baptist Medical Center monitored me to find out what I had,” she said. “The process of learning how to fix medical equipment such as an EKG, an X-ray machine and other devices gives me motivation to help patients.”
Navy veteran Randy Wood is also in his fourth semester. He chose the program because it teaches skills that are similar to those used in his former job in the military.
“I used to work as an aviation technician,” the Los Fresnos resident said. “I enjoy working with electronics — especially disassembling and reassembling items. I found that connection with the Biomedical Equipment Technology program.”
Wood added that the demand for biomedical equipment technicians gives him a promising job outlook.
“It’s comforting to know that there will be a company who will hire me,” he said. “I’m learning as much as possible to be marketable, and networking.”
Ray Longoria, TSTC’s Biomedical Equipment Technology program team lead, said the troubleshooting skills of the program’s graduates have caught the interest of many medical companies.
“An advantage our program has in the Rio Grande Valley is the partnerships we have created with our industry partners,” he said. “Our fifth-semester students get the opportunity to shadow an actual engineer for the remainder of the semester. That exposes them to a vast amount of medical equipment.”
TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology at its Harlingen and Waco campuses, as well as an Associate of Applied Science degree in Medical Imaging Systems Technology Specialization at the Waco campus.
According to onetonline.org, the average annual salary for medical equipment repairers is $50,600 in Texas, where the number of jobs in that field was forecast to increase 18% between 2020 and 2030.
Registration for TSTC’s fall semester is underway. For more information, visit tstc.edu.
