Becker’s Health IT & CIO Review | Clinical Engineering Firm Establishes Apprentice Program to Fill Key Positions

Tech Knowledge Associates (TKA), a national clinical engineering firm based in Orange County, California, saw a growing need for trained biomed staff to manage large inventories of biomedical equipment that are critical to the hospitals that they serve. Therefore, company leaders decided that the best way to address a shortage of trained professionals was to establish an Apprentice Program.

In 2012, Stephanie Shultis, became the first apprentice for TKA. She underwent extensive on-the-job training at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Sonoma County, California, learning how to repair and service various equipment within the hospital setting. She also had in-class instruction on anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, basic physics and chemistry, as well external vendor training. Once she demonstrated that she could diagnose and troubleshoot and follow manufacturers’ procedures with little to no intervention of senior techs, she was approved to work on equipment without direct supervision. More…