Build a biomedical and clinical engineering career caring for Veterans as a VA health care technology management professional

Medical instrumentation plays a critical role in healthcare, but only when devices are fully functional, carefully calibrated and professionally operated.

That’s why the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is headed to Cleveland from June 7-10, on a mission to find the health care technology management (HTM) specialists who make sure Veterans benefit from lifesaving diagnostic equipment.

Attendees at the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) Exchange 2019 are invited to visit VA Careers inside Room 5 on June 8 and 9 to talk with recruiters and actual HTM professionals who work at VA.

AAMI Exchange 2019 aims to connect the full gamut of AAMI stakeholders — biomedical and clinical engineers, technicians, cybersecurity and sterilization experts, and hospital administrators and managers — with the industry’s leading service and solution providers, including those from VA.

“HTM professionals who stop by VA’s table in Room 5 can learn more about open positions, review the benefits of a VA career and pick up information to share with family and friends,” said Darren Sherrard, associate director of Recruitment Marketing at VA. “Attendees can explore VA’s competitive pay and benefits package, including premium-support group health insurance, generous leave and schedule flexibility.”

Rewarding innovation

Beyond career recruitment, VA has a strong presence at this year’s exchange, where HTM professionals trade information related to the ever-changing medical technology industry.

Two VA HTM professionals are being honored with the AAMI & Becton Dickinson’s Patient Safety Award for making significant advancements in the protection of Veteran patients.

Shelly Crisler, CCE, a biomedical engineer at VA St. Louis Health Care System, and Katrina Jacobs, CCE, a biomedical engineer at the VA National Center for Patient Safety, are receiving the award for their guidebook on how VA personnel can enhance patient safety through organized, rapid response to medical device incidents.

“We’re incredibly proud of Shelly and Katrina’s achievement,” said Michelle Baquie, biomedical engineer at VHA Office of Healthcare Technology Management. “We know that when we provide VA career specialists with the space to problem-solve, they devise promising new methods to improve the health outcomes of Veterans and potentially of all Americans.”

Sharing expertise

Conference attendees can also gain health practice, career and research insights from VA HTM professionals taking part in the following sessions:

• June 8: Ranking Equipment Requests Using Multicriteria Decision Analysis.
• June 9: Identifying and Preventing Mid-Career Burnout, A Biomed’s Guide to Network Virtualization, HTM Professional Career Development, Creating a Consolidated Enterprise Risk Analysis of Networked Medical Systems and Using Data Modeling for Tracking Technician Workload.
• June 10: Using Data to Decrease Corrective Maintenance Turnaround Time.

Serving Veterans and reaping rewards

In addition to opportunities to innovate and share knowledge with industry colleagues, VA’s HTM professionals may receive performance-based salary increases, accelerated raises and higher education support. VA HTM careers also come with these perks:

• Ability to work at VA locations across the United States and the territories.
• Up to 49 days of paid time off each year, depending on specific leave tiers.
• Paid vacation that accrues right away, unlimited accumulated paid sick leave and 10 paid federal holidays.
• Compressed schedule flexibilities.
• Premium-support group health insurance, which may become effective on the first full pay period after the start date.
• Access to a three-tier retirement plan comprised of Social Security, basic federal retirement benefits and the Thrift Savings Plan.

Choose VA at AAMI Exchange 2019

• SPEAK to a VA recruiter in Room 5at #AAMIExchange2019.
• CHECK out the conference agenda.
• EXPLORE VA careers in Healthcare Technology Management and apply.
• LEARN about the benefits of a VA career.
• CHOOSE VA for today at www.VAcareers.va.gov.